Discussion
RECRUITMENT, SAID, RECRUITMENT
Our analysis shows that EuroFIT was largely implemented as planned in professional football clubs in four countries, that coaches delivered the program as intended and that the program worked largely as expected for participants.The research project paid for deliveries of EuroFIT within the trial context which facilitated recruitment of professional football clubs to deliver the program, although the fact that we had to identify additional clubs when three dropped out, suggests that it might be more difficult to recruit clubs if funding for deliveries was not readily available. Coaches responded well to the training provided in EuroFIT session delivery, although high turnover of staff was a problem in some clubs. Recruitment strategies proved successful in all countries, but especially Portugal and the UK and it is possible that the ‘draw’ of the football club was not so clear amongst men in the Netherlands and Norway. The UK has a long history of community development activity in professional football clubs [Attendance at program sessions, e assumed would be necessary to initiate change, was good. Fidelity, assumed necessary for successful outcomes, was also good; and coaches responded flexibly to participants’ perceived needs, a feature of the program we think it essential to retain in subsequent implementation [EuroFIT was one of the first studies to deliberately engage motivation theory behaviour change strategies into the protocol. From both self-determination and achievement goal theories, we incorporated BCTs associated with autonomy, relatedness, competence, mastery and self-referenced goal strategies and coaches were very successful in using those strategies to foster behaviour change. Self-monitoring using the SitFIT and the setting of self-referenced goals were seen as particularly important by participants and coaches and reinforcement of BCTs was also important to maintain changes through the program. MatchFIT, on the other hand, did not seem to play an active role in encouraging maintenance of behaviour change in most countries, perhaps because of the technical difficulties encountered in its use, and unlike in the FFIT program[EuroFIT was not successful in supporting men to make long-term improvements to their sedentary behaviour. While there is good evidence for different approaches to, and the benefits of, becoming more active [That said, the mechanisms through which changes in physical activity were likely produced – i.e. goal setting, self-monitoring, action planning, social support and problem solving – are consistent with both the theory of change and with literature relating to behaviour change for physical activity in men [A novel feature of EuroFIT was its use of bespoke technologies. The SitFIT activity tracker [Our study suggests that it is possible to implement EuroFIT in different club settings. It also indicates ways in which clubs tailor EuroFIT to their own contexts and characteristics. Future research and practice relating to the delivery of health interventions in professional sports settings should ensure programs are designed with flexibility in mind, to ensure that variations in resource availability do not present barriers to implementation, although the key elements of how the program functions should be maintained. Given the significant public health benefits that have been demonstrated by such interventions [A final point of discussion raised by our study relates to harnessing the appeal of professional sports club settings and in being with other like them to attract participants to health interventions. As we have reported, our findings generally support the body of literature which argues that professional sports club settings are a powerful motivator for intervention participants, and perhaps particularly men [