How GPS tech is changing the way football is played, and watched by fans

The Premier League has begun with its usual pomp and unpredictability. With a new season, come new stars on multi-million-dollar deals, new kits, new fantasy teams, and new hopes. But the modern football fan wants more than just watching a match on their television.

Along with names, they want numbers – for excitement, for banter, and to win an argument. Data is as much part of today’s football following as the players and teams are. And this is about more than just goals and assists. It is about distance covered, speed, players’ reaction time, it is about biomechanics and heat maps and formations. If you haven’t already, it is time to dive deeper into the world of football data and analytics.

There is a saying in the sporting world which goes “football is a simple game”. While true in a lot of senses, the saying is at odds with the incredulity of detail that is generated from the players’ movements on the pitch using sophisticated technology. Comprehensive details like average acceleration and deceleration times, sprints, hydration, heart rate, G-force and impact on the body and even pinpointing high-intensity moments in which a player is involved, are covered. It is also part of mainstream football broadcasts.

Stats you see while you watch football

Channels which broadcast leagues also have tracking data, usually helped and manned by an ‘operator’. Tanish Ramani has worked as an operator for the Indian Super League, offering real-time statistics to enhance the quality of coverage on televisions. He calls his former job semi-automated, but there is a checklist of items he has to cover before the data starts getting collected.

“I have to set up some cameras focussed on the pitch, which is divided into three parts, with the cameras set at intersection points so that nothing is missed,” says Ramani. “These cameras recognise the colour of jerseys, so I have to tell the camera which dot is Sunil Chhetri and which one is Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, for example, and then manually keep marking them.”

“There is also a fourth camera which is free to move throughout the game – this one is player specific if one of them is having a standout performance,” he adds.

The data alone is not enough of course – it needs someone to make sense of it in terms of reasoning. If a player playing in midfield is covering just 7.5 km per game when they should be doing 10 km at least, might show a lack of match fitness. This is where analysts come in – people who know how to decode facts from stats.

Stats used by teams to enhance performance

The tracking of data happens much before you see it on screen during a match. It is collected in every training session to help teams decide which players are ready for a particular task. “There is a training plan in place, and a day starts with discussing that and then setting up the players with their trackers,” says Shlok Asher, who is the team analyst at 2021-22 Indian Super League champions Hyderabad FC.

“There is usually a discussion on the collected data after the session and the fitness and conditioning coaches will usually want a certain set of parameters as well. This is usually the training load, the effects of the session, the ability to cope with injuries and other details. Players are also very interested in these numbers,” he adds.

Top-level competitive sport has so much resting on every game that teams will use every little bit of information to get the edge. Something as simple as a coach knowing which players need to work on their speed, and which ones can skip that session and work on their technique alone can save time, effort, and create a more consistent side. That said, the sport is such that there is always a window of sweet uncertainty.

“The magic of the game will always be there. It might be unfair to say football will be lost without all this tech, but there is now a higher emphasis on winning, competing, and also injury prevention,” says Asher. “A top Serie A team assessed their players’ injury prone levels using data collected during a drill made of high jumps alone. So, it is about maximising on-field performances.”

How is the data collected?

The tech looks pretty simple – and is usually placed inside a sport vest either at the front on the chest or at the back. There is also a heart-rate device which is synced with the GPS tracker.

Most clubs will choose their devices not just based on the accuracy of detail, but also the software that was provided with them and how automated and well-visualised the data is. Another consideration is the fitting of the tracker in the vest – how snug it is, how light it is, and how unintrusive it is to the players when they are competing on the pitch.

The two leading companies in this sector are Catapult and STATSports, but with a football boom in India, there are local companies getting into this business as well. One such is Footrax which according to a user’s feedback, has to be worn on the waist and is a good starting point for movement metrics like acceleration and deceleration which form a big part of an athlete’s movements in any sport. “These devices are essential for grassroots-level players, emerging kids, sports teams, athletes, and coaches to help them improve their performance and achieve their goals,” says the product’s website.

There are plenty of innovations as well. One which Asher talks about is PlayerMaker, a company which makes a wearable fit over the boot and around the ankle to provide the most incredible data. “Imagine knowing the stride length, the swing length of the foot when you make a pass or take a shot. This kind of wearable taps into the biomechanics of the athlete’s body,” he says.

“Think of it this way: you would know the speed of the ball leaving the foot and when it is being received by a foot. Coaches might come to know if there is a threshold at which a particular player can receive a ball and if they need to work on their technique to get better at controlling faster passes,” Asher adds.

‘Built with a gyroscope and accelerometer that samples movement events at 1,000 times/sec, which allows the measurement of every micro-movement, including impact with the ground, with the ball and the rotation of each foot’ says the company website about their product.

Use of data in football coverage

Entire companies, like the extremely popular Opta, have based themselves on the intricacies of such data which make their way into media coverage of the sport. Take for instance Manchester City’s recent signing Jeremy Doku.

The 21-year-old Belgian was signed for more than £55 million in late August. Opta says, Doku completed 6.8 dribbles every 90 minutes since the start of last season and that “across Europe’s top five leagues, only Vinícius Júnior (112) and Lionel Messi (103) recorded more successful take-ons last season than Doku’s 96, though it should be noted that both attempted more as well (Vinícius 348, Messi 193, Doku 169).”

And this is just scratching the surface. Wearable tech is only getting better, and with that, sport and football especially, will only get more detailed.

Pulasta Dhar is a World Feed English football commentator who also loves writing on technology and fitness.