Abstract

This ethnographic study explores performance culture, identity, and team dynamics in non-league football in the United Kingdom, examining the performative nature of social interactions within a team environment. Grounded in dramaturgical analysis, narrative inquiry, and sports sociology, this research captures the lived experiences of players, managers, and staff over a six-year immersive fieldwork period.

Using Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, and Carl Jung’s framework of architypes, this study conceptualises football as a theatrical performance, where individuals adopt, negotiate, and manage their masculinity, and identities both on and off the pitch. Through in-depth interviews, participant observation and field notes, the researcher uncovers how leadership, team cohesion, and social hierarchy are performed and reinforced in a sporting context.

Findings reveal that football dressing rooms function as microcosms of broader social structures, where players navigate shifting roles, impression management, and group allegiance. This study highlights the psychological and cultural dimensions of leadership, player identity formation, and the ritualistic nature of performance within team sports.

By integrating academic theory with creative storytelling, this thesis contributes to the sociology of football, sports psychology, and the discourse on performative identity in sport. These insights advance understanding of how performance culture shapes individual and collective experiences within teams, influencing leadership, cohesion, and the emotional landscape of sport.