In my last blog I highlighted the reasons as to why you may purchase a shirt and if you do really need it. During a break in reflection, I had the opportunity to see what I had in my collection and collated some information. There were a number of shirts that I totally forgot I had (we’ve all done it), including a 1996 away shirt from Juventus. I picked this one specifically, as I saw one online recently and considered the purchase. For whatever reason, I held back and decided not to. Later on in that week, I sorted through my shirts and found the exact same shirt that I saw on twitter. This was a bit of a shock to myself and due to this (near) moment of forgetfulness, I decided to sort everything out properly.
Fast forward to today and we’re in a position to buy another shirt that we’ve identified. This could be on your ‘want’s’ list, or it is something that has really taken your fancy. Either way, we’re now making an approach to the seller.
Before we do this, we previously created a small checklist to specify about the potential purchase and new addition;
Have a collecting philosophy
Does this new shirt fit into the collection?
Does it add value?
Do you need it to complete a set or enhance your chances of reaching an objective?
> I’m now a conscious collector and making purchases that I need, which I mentioned in my last blog post. If you are an unconscious buyer, you may default to ‘auto pilot’, where you may just make rash decisions and buy shirts that you don’t really want, or need <
Before making a purchase, ask yourself those 4 questions and see what position it puts you in, as you are then questioning your first decision.
You then need to finally ask yourself a further 2 questions, which require an honest and accurate answer;
Do I NEED the shirt?
Or……
Do I WANT the shirt?
Needing the shirt – Objective
You have specified that you need this certain piece to fulfil a space in your collection and it’s contributing to a larger intention.
Wanting the shirt – Subjective
You see a shirt that you like for whatever reason. You now need to determine if it’s going to fit your philosophy or are you just going to make the purchase, because you like the colour for example. This shirt might not necessarily contribute to your overall intentions.
While there is no consequence for the above actions, this process could again help you understand where your collection is moving and if your purchases are contributing. If you don’t have any objective of what you want to achieve (team X shirts), your individual intentions (purchasing) are some what lost and going into different directions. This could obviously lead you down other paths that you don’t necessarily need to walk, but it was the want that took you there.
These decisions as we know, will have a financial cost, so consider the walk you wish to take, what direction it is going and where it will end up. By doing this, you will finish those collections that you NEEDED!
One point to note with this, is that a philosophy can always evolve as this is simply your how (application) of the original what.
What – I want collect team ‘X’ shirts
How – By purchasing them online
There is nothing wrong in assessing where your collection is going or even expanding it. My advice is, have a plan and save money on stuff you don’t really want.
It’s been a while since I last posted a blog on shirt collecting, due to a number of other things taking priority.
Now that I’m back and have given plenty of time to think of what I could possibly write about next, I want to look at what our intentions are, when we purchase a shirt. To make this easier for everyone to understand, I’m going to use football management as a metaphor, in order for you to think and reflect on if you really need a certain shirt.
The manager of team ‘X’ has 11 players on the field and during a game they apply their ‘how’ (decision making) to execute the intentions of the team. Before the match the manager highlighted to the team that they need to apply explosive pressing, high up the pitch, in an attempt to win back ball possession. For this to be successful, he will need certain players to ‘fit’ this style of play. There is a problem though…he has a superstar in his ranks who doesn’t like pressing, so now he looks out of place and this doesn’t work for the team.
The manager then has a decision to make. Does he keep this superstar in the team, but by doing this, he doesn’t contribute to the overall intention? Or, does he sell him and look for a replacement?
Hopefully you are now understanding the picture and the correlation between football as the game and shirt collecting.
Let’s now look at the shirt side of things.
Even before looking for that new shirt or old classic, you have to have a certain idea that you wish to progress with. This idea could be known as your ‘philosophy’ and what you stick to when collecting. For example, you could have a philosophy of only buying Inter Milan shirts. This is ‘what’ you want to do. Now, you have to determine ‘how’ you will achieve this objective of collecting Inter Milan shirts. You could use Twitter, eBay or Facebook for example, to achieve your how.
One evening you’re scrolling through social media and a classic River Plate shirt is for sale at a very reasonable price. What do you do now? Do you stick to your philosophy and scroll on, or do you make a commitment to buy the shirt? After all, it’s a lovely shirt at a great price, so why wouldn’t you make the purchase?
The problem now could possibly be that this new shirt (like a football player), doesn’t fit your ‘style’ or ‘intentions’ as highlighted above.
If you then use this type of behaviour and your application in purchasing shirts (which is fine by the way), you may never have any clear direction of what you want your collection to look like. Only you will know exactly what you want, as this is your own decision. It could be that you have an emotional attachment from the ‘good old days’, hence seeing a certain shirt provokes that stimulus and then you want to purchase. Maybe the colour scheme or template attracted you and now you can’t see yourself not purchasing the shirt?
After a number of purchases we are still hungry and looking for that next shirt. Why do want to continually purchase you ask??…because of the dopamine hits we get each time. The more we feed it, the more we want. This can be extremely dangerous with a hobby that can be expensive, so my advice would be as follows;
Sit down and write what your shirt collecting philosophy is
Then explore how you will go about your business to achieve your objective
Consider external factors such as finance, space, how many shirts you have and if you do really need it (understanding the difference between wanting and needing is an interesting topic, that will be discussed in the future)
Does that next shirt ‘fit’ in your collection, just like that player in a certain style of play (would Chris Woods fit into the style of play that Pep implements, at Man City)
If a team has 6 centre forwards, would they pay another £80 million to have one sat on the bench or not even in the squad?
By answering the above questions, it should give you clearer direction and guidance in shirt collecting. While you can still purchase what you like, narrowing down the possibilities of your intentions, should give you a clearer path in reaching your objective.
In my next blog, I’ll explore the situations you may find yourself in when making a purchase and when the process could possibly end!
At Park to Pro, we’re always exploring new concepts to encourage more children, to take part in the beautiful game.
We’re currently hosting a ‘Design a Football Kit’ competition, for all children to participate in at one of our company partners, St.Francis School. One lucky winner will win a signed Marcus Rashford shirt with other prizes up for grabs, including a signed football from QPR’s Albert Adomah.
Adam said; “After the World Cup there was so much interest in football and I wanted to keep it evolving. Not all children want to participate, so I was trying to think of ways in keeping the enjoyment factor. Since the template was released, we’ve had many entries”.
The kit competition closes on Friday 10th February, with the winner announced on Friday 24th February.
We will update our followers, when we have our prize winners!
We’re delighted to confirm that our head of player and coach development, Adam Clark, is spending a week at PSV Eindhoven in June. He will be participating in the FCE Pro Course, while also spending time with the Dutch club.
Adam said; “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to travel abroad and take part in some world class coach education. My last trip was to RB Leipzig (Germany) and Hajduk Split (Croatia), but due to the pandemic, everything was understandably restricted. Now we’re back to normality, I’m looking forward to spending some time in this environment”.
After the course has concluded, there will be a full update from Adam on his course findings and what that means for Park to Pro.
At the turn of the year, we’re afforded an opportunity to ‘start again’, ‘write a new chapter’ or ‘start a fresh’. Whichever way you look at it, moving into January gives you the opportunity to reflect on the past year and plan new goals, for the coming year. While the future is unknown, we can shape our destiny and give ourselves a better chance of achieving what we would like.
To give the goals some context and direction, we have to have our intentions aligned, to give ourselves the best chance of achieving them.
Firstly, I’m going to reflect on a number of events that happened last year, summarise with an evaluation and note the next steps, to give myself a better chance to improve.
Football Management
Accepting a position as manager, after the season has started
Summary – Stepping into a position that inherited someone else’s squad once the season was underway, was a lot more challenging than I envisaged. Games were coming around very quickly and making assessments on players, was needed in order to improve. The problem I then faced, was if I wanted to improve the squad, I had to approach players that were already with teams. The team I was with was struggling, so to persuade new players to sign, took the role to a whole new level.
Reflection – Winning games and having an impact on the short term, will possibly help in the long term. If potential new signings see that there is an improvement, they maybe more inclined to sign for the team. By not winning early on, it then made the job a whole lot harder.
Next steps – If I find myself in this position again in the future, it will be vital for me to get a win in the first couple of games and points on the board. The impact this could have for future recruitment and improvement, could make all the difference.
Business Growth
Interacting with more football players/coaches per week
Summary – After covid the growth of the business has now started to excel. It was a lot slower then I envisaged, but this is to be expected after what had happened. In the last 12 months, the business has grown in all departments, so it’s now important to maintain this level of service quality, while trying to grow again.
Reflection – Now that things are running a lot smoother, there are obviously a lot more options on the market which means Park to Pro will always have to offer something different. We attempt to make all of our services as professional as possible and align our ideas with the intentions of upcoming players and coaches.
Next steps – Ensure there is a high bar raised to ensure that our standards never drop. By learning and reflecting regularly, small improvements that may not be seen by all, should have an element of impact in the days/months afterwards.
Personal Growth
Experience more uncomfortable situations, to build learning
Summary – By stepping into the unknown and putting myself in as many uncomfortable situations as possible, will give me more opportunities to learn about myself. Last year, I participated in a Master of Coaching and this took up a lot of my time. I also learnt about reverse engineering and presented about this topic, after a 3 month preparation period.
Reflection – I learnt a lot in these above situations and it showed me many examples of, not knowing, what you don’t know. As coaches we need more of these situations, as it will only help us in the long run, once we’ve reflected.
Next steps – Get into further situations that make me feel uncomfortable. Already this year, I have a placement available on the UEFA A Elite License taking place in Ireland, as well as a trip booked to Holland, to take part in a course and spend some time at PSV Eindhoven.
Social distractions
Reduce interactions with my mobile phone
Summary – Mobile phones are hugely beneficial for certain situations, but with others, they can be a hindrance. Having accounts on a number of social platforms and using the device to communicate with people outside of my social circle, is one of the drawing factors to using it.
Reflection – Throughout the year, my phone was used for a variety of things. Looking at data, the amount of time I used on social platforms was the most, with other applications not getting as much usage. The ‘cheap’ and ‘quick’ dopamine hits that you receive from using the phone, is one of the biggest contributors and I feel boredom could be the reason for this.
Next steps – Remove the phone from situations where I need be focused, limit what I use the phone for (check emails and then end up scrolling needlessly through pages of junk) and restrict the amount of time I use it in evening times.
Improving my professional profile
Summary – I can draw attention to myself in many different ways and having the exposure on Linkedin for example, could give me a platform to improve and find new opportunities. While there are a huge amount of professionals within the football industry, it’s about being different and ‘standing out from the crowd’.
Reflection – My CV is always up to date and I’ve used my company website to detail numerous blogs over the last 12 months. By continuing to do this and possibly starting to share some of my work, then opportunities may present themselves.
Next steps – Review some of my most recent work and upload this to social platforms for feedback. By doing this, I would also be stepping into uncomfortable situations, which will allow me to learn further.
Those reflections listed above, are just a few of the many that I have listed for 2023. There are no guarantees that these will work, but what I have done is outlined my intentions clearly, which will give me direction and guidance towards my goals.
In my next blog, I will start to talk about my recent management role and further learnings.
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