Workshop
Football Data Analytics
The use of data and analytics is an increasingly important part of any sport, and football is no different. From broadcasters using advanced stats like expected goals, to clubs harnessing bespoke algorithms for coach and player recruitment, to performance analysts harnessing tracking data to help players, every element of the game is using data.
This increased use, provision, and importance of data means that it’s more crucial than ever for players moving into roles within the professional game, from Sporting Directors to coaches to analysts to agents to broadcasters, to have a sound understanding of data.
This workshop will provide clear, practice-based insights into how data is used across the industry. It will target specific use-cases to explain how data are generated, analysed, and communicated. It will demonstrate how best to use data across a variety of scenarios, and how to integrate data use into day-to-day workflows in football.
Course Director: Jeremy Steele
Course Objectives and Target Audience
Course Content
An Introduction to Data In Football
- Why is data important for football - prediction vs. description
- How has data (and data roles) in football grown
- What jobs/roles are available in football which utilise data now
- What do these jobs look like (profiles) on a day-to-day basis
- What skills will I need and how can I incorporate data into my ideal role
- On-boarding: Data visualisation tools and data coaching and scouting tool
Data in Practice: Analysing and Explaining Teams
- Game phases and style of play: How to measure and monitor
- What’s your style of play? Using data to build your game model
- Case study: Creating and scoring phase - ‘Where goals come from’
- Opposition analysis: Identifying opposition strengths, weaknesses and strategic approach
- Case study: Day in the life of an opposition scout
Using Data to Scout Players
- Moneyball 2.0: How data changed scouting forever
- ‘Who would you sign?’ - How does more information impact player identification and selection?
- Player profiling: Using data to build player / positional profiles and utilise data-scouting methods
- Transfer committee - integrating data into the decision making process
- Case Study: Champions League Scouting Department
Using Data to Coach Players
- Identifying player technical and tactical performance strengths and weaknesses through data
- Key Performance Indicators
- Presenting data to players
- Data-driven individual development plans
Using Data to Understand Footballing Value
- Using footballing and other data sources to determine a player’s sporting and financial value
- Using data workflows to identify market trends and manage restrictions and regulations
- Case study: The boardroom - Signing a player
- Case study: The agent - Getting your player to the right team with the right deal
Using Data to Explain Football to Fans
- How do you talk about data? How do we make it understable to our audience?
- Adapting data for media - different methods and use-cases for different types of storytelling
- Case study: The rise of social media - Tifo & YouTube
- Case study: ‘Nerd nonsense’: Jamie & Gary
- Transfer deadline day: Analysing a transfer, creating a narrative and communicating the what, where and why your of a player signing
Course Delivery
Course Length
The length of the course is five months.
Language
This course is delivered in English.
Schedule
• Two cohorts per year, first starting in January/February and second in August, running for five months.
• One virtual session every two weeks, each lasting two hours.
Location
Online - PFA Business School Virtual Campus
Certification
Students will receive certification issued by the PFA Business School in Advanced Studies in Football Data Analytics.
Fees & Grants
The programme admission fee is £2,500. Current and former PFA Members can apply for a grant of £2,000 to enrol in the programme at a lower cost.
