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What defines a captain?

October 30, 2009 10:31 AM | Posted by   Jason de Vos  

Wearing the captain’s armband is widely regarded as a privilege in soccer, yet there is no clear definition as to what the job entails.

When I was handed the captaincy at Dundee United at the age of 25, I knew nothing about the job other than the captains of both teams shook hands before the game and tossed the coin to see who would kick off first. I thought the position was largely ceremonial - there out of necessity more than anything else.

I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Over the years I learned the job as I went along, for there is no captain’s manual explaining how the role should be fulfilled. I made plenty of mistakes along the way, some of which were painful lessons in humility.

Learning on the job

It was only in the final year of my career - after nine years of on-the-job training - that I fully realized how important the captain’s role was: to be the voice of the coach in the dressing room and on the field, and to be the voice of the players in the coach’s office.

It can be a lonely job at times, because the captain often has to tell people things they do not want to hear.

In the dressing room, he is the coach’s right-hand man. He is there to support the principles and ideas of the coaching staff, and to make sure that their messages are being heard loud and clear. A certain amount of diplomacy comes into play in those situations, but a captain also needs to be a strong enough character to lay down the law when needed.

It is also the captain’s responsibility to help his teammates fulfil their potential, while at the same time ensuring that he is also fulfilling his own. Consistent performances are vitally important for a captain, because he cannot make demands on his teammates if he is not seen to be doing his own job first.

I have said before that it is unrealistic to expect 20 or more extremely competitive men to be best mates just because they wear the same uniform every Saturday. To be an effective leader, the captain does not need to be everyone’s best friend. What he does need, though, is his teammates’ respect.

The only way to gain that respect is to earn it. The captain does that by setting and maintaining the highest professional standards. The captain’s conduct and performance on and off the field is the measuring stick used to judge all other players.

However, the captain does not have to be the most talented player on his team - I certainly never was on any of the teams I played for - and the notion of giving the armband to the top goal scorer or the perceived ‘best player’ is a foolish one. Just because you can score goals doesn’t mean you have the characteristics of a leader.

The captain has to be someone who consistently performs his job to the best of his abilities. If the captain is not one of the most reliable performers on the team – someone who can be trusted to get the job done when everything is on the line - he will have a difficult time earning the respect of his teammates.

Consistency is the key

If the captain’s on-field performance starts to suffer, so too will the respect he gets from his teammates. If he is playing poorly himself, and harsh words need to be spoken by the captain in the dressing room, the first response he will get from his teammates is, “Stop worrying about us and do your own job!”

If there is discontent in the dressing room - and there always is when only 11 players out of a squad of 20+ can play at any one time - the captain has to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. He has to play the roles of coach, mentor, teacher and counsellor all at the same time.

In the coach’s office, he is the players’ advocate. He is there to lobby for their interests, to fight on their behalf. Even under the best of circumstances, this can put the captain in uncomfortable situations.

If the players are unhappy about training or tactics, it is the captain’s job to relay that information to the coaching staff, while at the same time maintaining the anonymity of the players. If he breaks the confidence of his teammates in the coach’s office, he will lose their trust and also their respect.

Work with coaches and players

The captain has to have the ability to work equally well with the coaches and the players, while at the same time taking the stance the he will do what is in the best interests of the team, rather than any one individual.

It was once explained to me that a captain essentially has to have one foot in the dressing room, and one in the coach’s room. It takes an individual who is not afraid to say what needs to be said, rather than what is popular in the dressing room to fully embrace the role.

If you get the right person in the job, your team will be in prime position to achieve its full potential. Choose the wrong person as the captain, and you will have a dressing room filled with conflict and excuses.

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