The FIFA World Cup finished just over a month ago but the wheels of football never stop turning. As clubs in England and Scotland seek to maximise opportunity in the transfer window, one of the things they must wrestle with are the complex rules of the GBE system, which converts points gained by players for meeting certain targets into work permit eligibility.
Brexitball
In 2022, Analytics FC partnered with immigration specialists Fragomen to create a comprehensive report into the post-Brexit football landscape and how its new, complex features might affect clubs subject to the new rules.
The report was widely cited at the time and has been referenced again by the BBC in long piece on how the market for young domestic players is shaping up in the pre-2026/2027 transfer window.
Given the reshaping of the ESC rules, EPL clubs seem to be looking to the Championship or Scotland, rather than abroad, to find young talent. Analytics FC also analysed ESC when it arrived, but the new version applies only to U23 players, further narrowing the applicability of the rule. You can find all of Analytics FC’s GBE-related content on the site.
International Head Coaches and AI
The World Cup was also a busy time for data analytics. Analytics FC’s Coach ID service, a data-driven coach identiofiocation process used by clubs and federations across the world, was the subject of a piece in Front Office Sports. As Analytics FC CEO Alex Stewart explained, “There are phenomenally good coaches working in weird corners of the world”.
The piece looked at how data can be hugely useful when harnessed well to find head coaches for international teams as well as domestic clubs, but also interrogated the differences in approach needed. You can read more about Analytics FC’s Coach ID service here.
Analytics FC’s expertise in coaching was also touched on in this piece on how eventual champions Spain built a footballing powerhouse, again from Front Office Sports.
Data use at the World Cup was not confined to finding head coaches, either. Analytics FC shared insights on how AI is being applied across the game, and especially at the World Cup with FIFA’s own tool, in this piece in Wired Magazine.
Header image credit IMAGO / Visionhaus
