Psychology of 'Cup Teams': Motivation or mental weakness?

Up in Scotland there's a nice little football team called Dunfermline Athletic (The Pars). Yes, I admit it they're "my" team. I'm pulling my hair out, like most of our fans, because in the league progress has been downwards for most of the last five-ish years and after half-threatening to push for promotion back to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) we are now again flirting with relegation.

Yet in the the cups we're giants; world beaters; nay SUPERHUMAN! Well, almost. A  snippet of our history in the last 5 years or so (mostly from the club's official site) is given below but take it as read that we have been like two different teams between the league and the cups.

The fans have a number of pet theories.

Probably the favourite is that the team performs better because they get paid bonuses in the cup but not the league. Due to an ongoing financial crisis (our total wage budget would not buy ONE decent player from the English Premier League) we do not pay win bonuses in league games.

However, the counter argument is that when the team crosses the white line on a Saturday, that's unlikely to matter. They are footballers. They want to win, right?

In professional sport, surely the absence of a financial bonus wouldn't impact on a team's desire to win? Would it? That's extrinsic motivation. Not 'proper' intrinsic motivation. Or as Herzberg would have put it, isn't the financial bonus structure just a 'hygiene' factor? But then, hygiene factors are things that need to be in place - they don't motivate especially but when they are missing....

Ah, wait a minute. So maybe rather than affecting a team's desire to win, the poor financial reward (let's face it, their base pay isn't much to start with) affects general satisfaction, and maybe even introduces stresses on players that you wouldn't necessarily expect in pro footballers, such as ability to keep paying the mortgage - especially when on short-term contracts.

Ok. So there may be something in that, though I don't think it's a 'Saturday afternoon thing'. I suspect that it has an impact on the players from day-to-day and gets in the way of creating a high performance culture.

What about alternative explanations?

Mine is that the differential in performance is a sign of mental fragility or weakness. Here's why. The league is where the pressure is from week to week. The cup is just a diversion for a team like Dunfermline. A good diversion - don't get me wrong - but a diversion. It isn't the main event. The league is what really matters. And mentally tough competitors peform when it really matters. Dunfermline, on the other hand, have not been consitently performing when it matters and have put in some superb performances (those cup finals haven't been all down to luck) when it doesn't really matter.

Dunfermline are a club that expect to be in the SPL, but don't really have the resources. Expectations, with the inability to exercise control mean that anxiety and stress are likely to be factors. Confidence is also likely to be lacking. Take away expectation, such as when a big SPL club comes to play us in the cup - and we're heroes again!

There you have it. Like everything, there's probably a mixture of factors involved, but the manifestation in this case is to create a "Cup Team". Do you recognise any of this in your team?


Dunfermline Athletic's 'Schizophrenic' Recent History

2004 Dunfermline achieve fourth place in the SPL and in the process reach their highest ever Premier League points total (53). The club also reaches their first Scottish Cup Final for 36 years, but were eventually beaten 3-1 by Celtic, and qualify for the UEFA cup. Immediately after the match, manager Jimmy Calderwood resigns to take up the manager's post at Aberdeen.

2005 Manager David Hay is sacked after failing to steer the club away from relegation. With just three games of the season to go, Jim Leishman is appointed as manager for the second time and works a miracle by keeping Dunfermline in the SPL. Despite appeals and an attempt to lay an improved artificial surface, Dunfermline are ordered by the SPL to replace the artificial surface with grass. The players accept a freeze on bonuses to help stave off financial problems.

2006 Dunfermline reach their seventh major national final but go down 3-0 to Celtic in the CIS Cup Final in March. After a disappointing start to the new season, manager Jim Leishman relinquishes the manager's post in October to return to his previous post of Director of Football. The Board makes a surprise appointment, with Irishman Stephen Kenny becoming the club's new manager.

2007 Poor league form put Dunfermline firmly at the foot of the table and despite a late rally were relegated. Despite that the club enjoyed a terrific Scottish Cup run to reach their third national final in three years. In the Final Dunfermline narrowly lost 1-0 to Celtic.

Dunfermline reached the Final of the Scottish League Challenge Cup only to lose 3-2 to St Johnstone. In December after continuing poor league form and the threat of further relegation, manager Stephen Kenny was dismissed to be replaced by Player-Manager Jim McIntyre.

My additions..

2008 Finished fifth in the Irn Bru First Division.

2009 Struggled again with league form, and currently sit in the bottom half of the first Division, but reached the Quarter Final of the CIS (League) Cup and are due to play Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semi final.

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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com