As an area of academic and popular interest it is generally acknowledged that migrant British players and coaches were instrumental in football's global diffusion and that different technical and tactical emphases developed according to particular geographical locations and cultural milieu. As the twentieth century unfolded the trend reversed with increased inward flows of elite foreign playing and coaching labour into the upper tiers of UK football, challenging the distinctive and erstwhile dominant occupational culture of the English game. This study examines this process of sub-cultural adaptation. It is principally concerned with critical evaluation of the dynamics of occupational culture modification and any resultant tensions evidenced between expatriate and indigenous coaching talent and other interest groups operating within the higher echelons of English professional football.