Captivating Captaincy

The English national soccer team always has a media circus following its every move. Sometimes, the actions of those involved in the team mirror those of circus performers, with the likes of John Terry and in the past Paul Gazza Gascoigne acting like clowns. Terry's clowning around was off the pitch, with his affair with another player's wife, whereas Gazza chose to be a clown after scoring one of the most memorable goals in English history against Scotland at Wembley stadium during Euro '96, and also holds the nickname of being the Clown Prince of England. A clear difference between John Terry and Paul Gascoigne is that John Terry has been captain of England whereas Gazza has never had that prestigious honor. It comes down to leadership.

The current media circus for English football (soccer) is surrounding the resignation of Fabio Capello and his eventual successor. Capello, an Italian, resigned after the FA stripped John Terry of the England captaincy due to a racism row. Since his resignation, speculation of who the next England manager will be has been relatively subdued, with current Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp being the overwhelming favorite. It seems as though the FA are going to allow Redknapp to complete his club season at Tottenham, before making any official approach or announcement, and in the interim have appointed Stuart Pearce, who is the England Under 21's manager. Pearce recently named his first squad for the friendly game against The Netherlands, and also gave current Tottenham player and recent recipient of the 2011 English national team player of the year Scott Parker the honor of being captain.

Being the captain of your country, according to Stuart Pearce is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a player. Pearce was captain of the national team from 1992 - 1993, and since then the armband has been officially worn by 15 other men, with another 9 wearing the armband unofficially. The greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a player should be reserved for those players who deserve it; a player who comes along once in a generation, a player who is iconic for his passion for England, a player who the other players can get behind - a player like Stuart Pearce himself.

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It is possible that Scott Parker could well become the permanent England captain, if Pearce continues to select him and if Redknapp does become the next England manager. So what makes a great captain, what makes a great leader in sports? Is Scott Parker the man who ticks all the boxes for England?

 In order to determine if Parker is captain material, we first need to identify the characteristics of a leader, and this is where sport psychology comes in. We see a variety of aspects of leadership throughout sport. For example, in cricket the captain is influential in the decision making and team selection process. In football (soccer), the role of a captain is to lead by example and motivate players on and off the field, and arguably, no one in the history of football (soccer) emphasized this trait more than Manchester United's Roy Keane. Another aspect of leadership that the captain of a team needs to portray is the art of delivering feedback to both his/her teammates as well as from his/her teammates to the manager, which takes the skills of building a relationship and diplomacy.

The most interesting distinction between different leaders is that there are two main ways that people become a leader. You can be appointed as a leader, which is known as prescribed leadership, and is the case with Scott Parker and the current England football (soccer) situation. The other method of leadership is that of an emergent leader, and a great example of this was when Jonny Wilkinson emerged as the logical new captain of the English Rugby team in 2004 following his consistent performances during the 2003 World Cup victory. This is most exemplified by the last second game winning drop goal against Australia, an image that defines English Rugby to this day.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Whichever method of leadership you feel is best, there is plenty of support, both empirical and anecdotal for both. Scott Parker has the potential to be a great captain for England, he certainly demonstrates many of the characteristics that have been identified as defining leadership in sport. The media circus will soon move on from Parker being appointed captain, and will move on to who the next permanent England manager will be, and that, as always, will prove that Sports Are Mental!