Data driven: How football clubs are using the numbers to inform decisions, and why it is so important for the business

Kitman Labs CEO Stephen Smith speaks to the Bottom Line

Stephen Smith, CEO of Kitman Labs (GETTY IMAGES)

Over the past decade, the importance of maximising talent and reducing risk in the transfer market has led to an increased focus on the underlying data.

North American sport has been ahead of the curve in comparison to England concerning this, with baseball’s adoption of sabermetrics, more commonly referred to as ‘Moneyball’ was popularised through the success that Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane with it.

Leaning on an idea by baseball statistician Bill James, Beane applied the sabermetrics model, where data and statistical analysis was used to find value in the undervalued when it came to Major League Baseball players, to his A’s team.

The A’s were a team, in the early 2000s, with one of the smallest payrolls in MLB, finding it tough as a small-market team to compete with the bigger franchises. But by using ‘Moneyball’, Beane helped deliver a record-breaking season for the team, with an American League West divisional championship (2002)  and a franchise record 20-game winning streak.

So enamoured with what Beane had done with the A’s, John W. Henry, in the days when Fenway Sports Group was known as New England Sports Ventures, and the only sports team in the portfolio for Henry was the Boston Red Sox MLB franchise, wanted to bring Beane to Boston.

In a scene depicted in the 2011 Hollywood film ‘Moneyball’, where Brad Pitt played Beane, Henry is portrayed by Arliss Howard, with the FSG chief seen trying, and failing, to coax Beane away from Oakland.

As it happened, Henry found his own Billy Beane through the hiring of someone who had a similar focus, Theo Epstein, and the Red Sox soon snapped an 86-year wait for a World Series with a 2004 success.

Henry wanted to bring data analytics to the Premier League and his ownership of Liverpool, giving the team two years to create a clear strategy and pathway for its implementation at Anfield. The benefits weren’t reaped immediately, but Liverpool’s approach to strategy is something that has led the way in what has been a data revolution in English football, one that has now seen its influence stretch Europe-wide.

In an age where transfer spending and payroll have ballooned, FSG attempted to spend less than their rivals by identifying what they were missing in recruitment, and ensuring that the academy style was something that was in line with what was expected of them at the first-team level. A uniform approach that was built upon data that informed decision-making.

Such an approach has produced a conveyor belt of talent that is still proving impactful and playing the Liverpool way under Jurgen Klopp to this day, while the price of players signed has significantly undercut their rivals.

The rise of the adoption of data saw a surge of firms become involved in the space. But not all have had the same approach.