Men's health, physical activity, and ageing in a professional football club community organization programme

Professional sport club community organizations (CCOs) are regarded as important neighbourhood settings for men's health promotion. However, little is known about how age, and perceptions of ageing and masculinity, shape physically inactive men's engagement in CCO-led health programmes. This study addresses this international knowledge gap by presenting novel insights on the lived experiences of 17 physically inactive men (aged 30-71) involved in the Active Blues programme based in north-west England. Men who engaged in the programme initially regarded it as an important opportunity to return to competitive sport. However, it was the facilitation of traditional masculine values of banter and camaraderie with new like-minded peers which was essential for men's continued engagement, and which helped them manage age-related health conditions. Those who did not engage in Active Blues were more likely to have accepted socially constructed deficit-focused narratives of ageing which, for some, meant 'slowing down'. Fulfilling family commitments and caring responsibilities also prevented some men's engagement. The findings emphasize the need to develop more diverse and culturally nuanced understandings of engaging men in gender-responsive CCO-led health promotion programmes which are underpinned by conceptions of positive, strengths-based, healthy masculinities and which reinforce notions of peer support, camaraderie and openness.