The aim of this study is threefold. Firstly, we aim to establish whether implicit leadership theories (ILTs), which are cognitive structures held by observer’s comprising traits and behaviours of leaders, exist in sports, and if so, how they differ from business ILTs. Secondly, we address the call by various scholars in the field (i.e., Van Quaquebeke, Graf, & Eckloff, 2014) to extend research on ILTs by establishing if a variance between ‘typical’ and ‘ideal’ leadership prototypes exists. Thereby, this research aims to clarify what constitutes ideal/effective leadership in professional sports. Whereas the ‘typical’ leader prototype refers to an average or the most frequent leader attributes (i.e. ILTs), the ‘ideal’ leader prototype refers to the most effective leader attributes (i.e. IELTs). We aim to introduce the content and structure of those implicit effective leadership theories (IELTs) for the two clubs, and will compare them with ILT structure(s) that have been considered meaningful for the sport context. Thirdly, we will answer the question whether IELTs in sports differ from business IELTs
