Hosted online via Zoom, Jobs in Analysis 2023 delivered a number of presentations and discussions centered around all things related to employment as an analyst in football.
Professional analysts in a wide variety of roles gave their advice and insights on club internships, specialist analysis roles, public portfolio’s of work, non-club employment, analysis education and much more. Each discussion will included a question & answer opportunity from the audience.
Enjoy lifetime on-demand access to the presentations via APFA website, so you can revisit the discussions anytime.
While we’d love to deliver this for free, large webinar packages are expensive. The event is priced as low as possible, aiming only to cover the APFA’s hosting costs as we continue to work tirelessly to provide value to the football analysis industry.
Jobs in Analysis 2023 was moderated by Chris Gill & Liam Henshaw. Chris & Liam have both built stellar reputations for offering insights & advice into analysis employment in recent years and their deep knowledge base will help to drive discussion and pick relevant questions from the audience.
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Conference Presentations
Building a Public Portfolio of Work & Non-Club Employment
Originally designed as two separate presentations, it soon became clear these two subjects go hand-in-hand. Hear from some leading public analysis figures like Tom Worville & Carl Carpenter, who both showcased their early-career work publicly on social media before landing a role in football. Also joining us will be Jeremy Steele, (Owner/CEO of Analytics FC) & Tim Keech (Founder, MRKT Insights) who have both employed talented analysts after noticing their great work online. Find out what these industry leaders have learned through their journey and what advice they have for an aspiring analyst.
Internships - The Pro’s & Con's of a Controversial Practice in the Football Industry
Hear from Matt Owen (Middlesborough U21 Analyst) & Esther Wills (Head of Performance Analysis & Football Insights, Welsh FA) as they discuss the ins and outs of internships in professional football. Hear about the potential benefits of taking an internship, and the reasons there’s been push back within the analysis community in recent years regarding this practice. You’ll also hear some key insights about what to look for in an internship, and how to spot some potential red flags in the application process.
Is Specialist Analysis the Future of Football?
Football analysis is changing rapidly, and club are beginning to innovate ass they look for marginal gains. In recent years the specialist analysis industry has rightly gathered momentum and we now see individual analysis, coach-analysts & set-piece analysts commonly employed by club. In this discussion you’ll hear from Stuart Reid (freelance set-piece analyst) & Nathan Hurst (Head of Academy Performance Analysis & Individual Development Analyst, Southampton) about their more niche roles in analysis, and their career pathway to get there.
The Changing Face of Analysis Education
As football analysis changes, so must the way analysts are educated. Join Alex Delves, a former university lecturer in analysis, now working at Sheffield United, APFA CEO Oliver Gage, & Performance Analysis lecturer Nathan Cobb. Hear their thoughts on the current educational landscape, the pros and cons of different pathways and gain a sneak-peek into the APFA’s educational plans for 2024 & beyond.
Presenting Yourself as an Attractive Candidate
A guest presentation from Football Careers, a world leading football recruitment agency with an excellent track record of helping candidates land jobs and achieve promotions via bespoke CV design, Linkedin profile reviews, help with interview preparation, professional presentation design.
Meet The Hosts
Chris Gill
Chris has been involved in the sports analysis industry for almost 15 years. This includes starting out as an intern, and then having spells as an academy, first team, and recruitment analyst. More recently, Chris is a founder and director at In-Play Sports and also has a YouTube channel where he shares advice and tips on how to break into the sports analysis industry. The channel includes a podcast where Chris interviews current industry professionals to share their journeys and offer further advice. The channel is a great resource for analysts at all stages of their careers. You can learn more about Chris, over on his website, where you will be able to download a free professional CV template to help you secure your next interview.In-Play Sports – www.in-playsports.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb60z8UyQJOFnXcDLmME-0A Website - www.chris-gill.com
Liam Henshaw
Liam is a Data Analyst and First Team Scout for Heart of Midlothian FC. His professional journey in football analysis began at Leeds United, followed by roles at Bradford City and Wigan Athletic, throughout which he's accumulating a wealth of experience in the intricacies of player recruitment.In addition to his club roles, Liam founded a Football Recruitment Consultancy, collaborating with various football clubs and agencies in England, and specializing in the use of data in player recruitment.For those interested in exploring his insights further, he maintains an online presence on LinkedIn and Twitter (@henshawanalytics) and operates a website at www.liamhenshaw.com. On the site, you can also subscribe to his weekly newsletter, "Scouting Spotlight," where he distills key observations from the world of football analysis and scouting.Twitter: @HenshawAnalysis Website: www.liamhenshaw.com
Guest Speakers
Esther Wills
Esther started her analysis career at UWIC’s (Cardiff Met) Centre for Performance Analysis working across a number of sports. She then spent 6 years as a self-employed performance analysis consultant, mainly working in rugby before moving to Football Association of Wales in 2008.
Esther developed the performance analysis department at the FAW as well as Lead Analyst role for Cymru men’s national squad under Gary Speed and Chris Coleman, and is currently Head of Performance Analysis & Football Insights there, overseeing analysis provision across all national squads as well as a wider role helping to implement the FAW’s High Performance Strategy.
Esther has run a student placement scheme for the last 13 years, making her a perfect resource to discuss internship-related topics.
Tom Worville
Tom is the Head of Football at Prospect. He's previously held roles with RB Leipzig as a Scouting Data Scientist and The Athletic, where he was a Football Analytics writer.
Tom's journey within the football industry started with him blogging, podcasting and Tweeting when he was a student, and he very quickly grew and captivated an audience for his insights.
Tom has experienced first-hand the power of building in public, and will be a fantastic addition to this discussion.
Carlon Carpenter
Carlon is the Head Video Analyst at Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.
Known for his ability to connect the theory with the realities of coaching, Carlon has become a prominent figure in football analysis writing and has featured on a number of different popular sites.
He previously worked for data analytics giants Stats Bomb, the US Soccer Federation and the University of Virginia., and these experiences make him a perfect contributor to our discussion on building a public portfolio of work and careers outside of club employment.
Jeremy Steele
Jeremy is a respected leader in the European football community, who's been a Sporting Director and Coach at the highest level, including roles at West Ham, Brentford & Chelsea.
He also founded Analytics FC, a leading football strategy and data analytics company working with the biggest clubs and players in the world. In this role, he's advised the likes of Liverpool, Flamengo, HJK Helsinki and Orlando Pirates on player recruitment & development. He's also strategically advised federations such as Premier League, US Soccer, and the Danish FA.
Jeremy has successfully hired and worked with multiple analysts based on their public portfolio of work , and will be a key contributor to our discussion on this topic, alongside advising on careers outside of football clubs.
Tim Keech
Tim is the Co-Founder of MRKT insights, a strategic consultancy firm who work with football clubs across the world on player & coach recruitment, squad planning, analysis processes and player development.
In his role Tim regularly works with Sporting Directors, Coaches and Owners of clubs to provide best practice recommendations in these areas.
Tim has hired a number of talented analysts who built a reputation online after showcasing their work, and will add huge value to this discussion for anybody looking to do this.
Alex Delves
Alex is a Recruitment Analyst at Sheffield United who's also worked in a First-Team and Academy capacity for the club. He's also been an Associate Lecturer in Performance Analysis at Northumbria University.
Alex's background in these areas gives him an ideal insight into analysis education as he joins our discussion on this subject.
Dan Ferrar
Dan is the Academy Performance Analysis Manager at Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion. Brighton run a well established student placement scheme and have successfully helped to educate dozens of Performance Analysts in recent years.
Dan will contribute to our discussion on internships and present how the scheme at Brighton works, and offer advice and insights for aspiring analysts.
Nathan Hurst
Nathan is the Head of Academy Analysis & Individual Development Analyst at Southampton FC. He has been at the club since 2015-16 where he started as a foundation phase analyst intern and has worked his way through the age groups. His main roles and responsibilities are to lead the department strategy as well as work with the professional development phase players to support their individual development plans.
Nathan's unique role at Southampton makes him a perfect addition to our discussion on specialist analysis, and he will offer valuable insight into the life of an individual development specialist.
Stuart Reid
Stuart is a freelence set-piece analyst with a proven track record of improving teams in this phase of the game. Beginning his career at Leyton Orient in 2017, he's worked with the likes of Luton Town, Blackburn, Forest Green, Spezia, Casa Pia and some international teams.
Stuart will offer a unique insight into the daily life and career of a specialist analyst.
Matthew Owen
Matt is in his second year as an U21 Analyst at Middlesbrough. Prior to this, he completed internship work placements at Leeds United and Wolves whilst undertaking Performance Analysis related university degrees.
He's been involved with age groups from U9's through to U23's, and given his internship experiences and career pathway will be an excellent addition to our discussion on the pro's and con's of internships.
Nathan Cobb
Nathan is a Senior Lecturer in Performance Analysis at Nottingham Trent University and has held this position for over 3 years. Prior to this, he was a a Match Analyst at Stoke City.
Nathan's insights into the educational side of the analysis industry alongside his experience within a professional club can offer attendees invaluable insight into how education can impact a career in analysis.
Oliver Gage
Oliver is the CEO if the APFA and a self-taught, former analyst who in recent years has been a Director of Football for the Canadian Premier League and a multi-club group.
Oliver designed and built the APFA courses with key input from industry professionals including the highly popular Individual Player Development course based on his work with individuals in the Premier League. He's also consulted to professional teams in the UK and North America and acted as a strategic advisor to an international team for their 2022 World Cup campaign.
Oliver's insight into future plans for the APFA will be invaluable to our discussion on the future of analysis education.
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