It's a grab bag
Sometimes there's a theme and sometimes there are just disparate thoughts.
It's the latter today, and in the grab bag are: the future of TV analysis, the future of football data job ads, the future of athlete health and technological development. Alright, maybe there's a theme after all.
Let's get the least shiny out of the way, because it's to do with football's big bureaucracies, FIFA and UEFA.
Leading from the front
Back earlier this year, FIFA cracked a champagne Docker container over its Innovation programme, relaunching it on the high seas of technology. (There's a 'VC' pun in there that I desperately wish I could've made work). I don't have an opinion on the value trade-offs of the scheme, but I think it's indicative of direction of travel; last month, four new areas were added to the list of things that FIFA are interested in:
- audio transcription tool
- basic (affordable, reliable) referee bodycams
- professional (TV broadcast-grade) referee bodycams
- 'innovative' (and broadly accessible) talent development tools
The details about each category vary, but here's a snippet from the basic refcam one:
Recorded data, whether stored on the device, a personal device, or transmitted to a secure repository, must be protected using strong encryption aligned with recognised security standards. AES 256-bit encryption is recommended, but alternatives providing equivalent protection will be considered.
Secure storage solutions must include role-based access, audit logging, and safeguards to comply with relevant data protection legislation.
Solutions that use the referee’s personal devices (e.g. smartphone) as the recording device are highly encouraged.
That's quite a bit of specific detail!
Meanwhile, UEFA recently coordinated a consensus statement on best practices for athlete menstrual cycle tracking in football, including drawing together a view on where further research is needed. From the 'Background' section of the work:
However, despite increasing research interest, the evidence base regarding the physiological effects of the menstrual cycle on performance and injuries remains fragmented and incomplete and perpetuates misconceptions[...]
Most studies have focused on traditional endurance sports (eg, long-distance running, cycling and rowing), often excluding team sports such as football[...] Technical precision, tactical decision-making and intermittent high-intensity performance are key components of the women’s game in football. Understanding these specific demands in relation to the menstrual cycle would facilitate football-specific training and performance strategies and improve our broader understanding of player health in the women’s game.
It feels worth noting that not only did UEFA's medical unit put this together, but the focus is fully holistic, recognising not just physical impacts but the tactical/technical associations and athlete privacy/comfort/welfare as well.
As somebody who got into football analytics when it was a clear 'outsider' thing, it feels quite significant that these large organisations - with the resources and network that they have - are taking on these tasks. There's been some critique of FIFA particularly in recent years over their roles as both administrators and tournament organisers, and - while some of that is still relevant and valid - the use of the administrative capabilities for more than just calendar coordination is interesting and nice to see.
Seeing it through their eyes
As a rule, Get Goalside doesn't do shout-outs for individual companies, because it's far too easy to do someone's PR for them. That said...
Dan Crossen
This clip from the BBC's Match of the Day is the best use of VR in football that I, personally, have seen. (A far cry from Jamie Carragher gamely wearing a headset and controllers in-studio to try and talk the viewers through a clip). Part of this is that the player body positioning in the Match of the Day clip is so clear - a function of data and technology - and part is purely an editorial maturity. The tech is no different to choosing the best camera angle with 'real' cameras.
I'd argue that what makes the above clip work isn't that it "lets you see what Martín Zubimendi sees" (if I could see what Zubimendi sees on the pitch, I'd be a better player) it's that it's the best angle for the job - showing the time constraints Zubimendi had and the way that the relevant space was briefly available. It may be unsurprising that the camera angle that best shows this is the one from Zubimendi's angle, but it's the clarity for the viewer rather than Zubimendi's perspective that makes it valuable.
When the Saints go hiring in
Job ads for data gigs in football can still be pretty hit and miss in terms of 'how informative is this about the job' and 'how likely is it that the hiring team know what they want'. So it's interesting to see job ads like this six-month contract as an AI Engineer at Southampton, awash with fairly specific tasks and technologies that the role will be fulfilling and using.
This comes shortly after Newcastle United advertised for a Principle Scientist, whose 'Your Impact' section I'll copy and paste for future reference as much as anything:
We’re after someone who knows when to use a well-tuned statistical model and when to unleash deep learning. You’ll be comfortable working with large-scale time series data, building bespoke metrics, and integrating diverse models to create rich, layered analysis. If you’ve worked with football data providers like StatsBomb or Second Spectrum, even better.
You’ll need a Master’s or PhD in a quantitative field, strong Python skills, and extensive experience applying core machine learning libraries such as Scikit-learn, XGBoost, or LightGBM to structured data problems. The role may also involve developing and deploying deep learning models using frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow where appropriate. Experience with version control (Git) and applying software engineering best practices is essential. Familiarity with MLOps principles and integrating cloud-based data platforms like Snowflake and Azure is a plus.
There's nothing particular to add to this other than 'this is an interesting development'. But there are always Get Goalside bonus points for naming your data providers, a black-and-white marker (no pun intended) for the ebb and flow of popularity.
The bag holding the thoughts together
There's a phantom of a cohesive thread holding these three things together.
Obviously, they all relate to maturation of the football data/technology/analysis industry. The VR use in TV and the club job ads are cases of those spaces developing somewhat 'naturally' though (to an extent), while the FIFA/UEFA input is a case of 'stewards of the game' observing the landscape and saying 'these are places where we need to step in and support the progression ourselves'. In the case of the basic refcam strand of FIFA's Innovation Programme, it is also 'supported by the English FA and [IFAB]', like some kind of 'stewards of the game' Avengers. (Does that make Gianni Infantino Nick Fury, or is it Arsène Wenger, or someone else?)
If nothing else, this is a sign of a sport in the 21st century, embracing and innovating technology from multiple angles: not just from science-y wonks, not just from corporate efficiency-driven investors, not just from That One Club That Read Moneyball.
It's interesting.
If there's anything Quite Interesting that you've seen recently that hasn't been mentioned here, get in touch!