Thomas Hughes

Upon the completion of my placement with Preston, I was offered a full time role ahead of the 24/25 season. Initially the role was based around the capturing, filming, coding and databasing of training as well as opposition individual analysis for upcoming opponents. My role was altered after a few weeks of the season as I moved into the role of Set Play Analyst whilst also continuing with my responsibilities around training. My role as the set play analyst involved the creation of data reports for every match day as well as video analysis which incorporated the telestration tool Studio to help deliver messages that would be key for upcoming opponents. Visualising set plays ahead of each match was also a key part of my role, these would give players the information they needed around their role for both attacking and defensive set plays. Alongside this I assisted in the collection of data for larger projects that may have been built-up over the course of a season regarding the performance of individual players. Utilising Hudl, Wyscout, Statsbomb and Opta over the course of the season allowed me to build my skills working with large sets of data as well as utilising video to help convey messages to the team.

My first experience in professional 1st team Football came at Preston North End. as an intern I was in charge of the filming, capturing and coding of training as well as ensuring that the sessions were readily available for all coaching staff to review ahead of upcoming games. As well as this I created opposition individual analysis clips for any potential threats that the team may have faced in upcoming games ensuring that this was available to all players in plenty of time for the players to review the clips.

During my second year as an undergraduate student I undertook a placement within the academy at Preston North End Football Club. This particular placement allowed me to build upon the foundations I had laid for myself at Blackburn Rovers but also to develop new skills that can be used both as a performance analyst but also as an active member of the sporting community. Over the course of my placement I worked with different squads which allowed me to utilise different equipment but also different strategies where I could explore the effectiveness of my own analysis. The placement with Preston also allowed me to begin forging new relationships with coaches and analysts enhancing my social skills further than before. My placement involved me implementing the philosophy and style of play throughout the academy with coded footage and other individual elements of analysis that could help improve player development on an individual and collective basis.

The placement also helped me to improve my time management skills as work had to be completed on a much tighter timeline than previously expected. However this provided a positive experience on the whole as it allowed me to truly experience and thrive in a professional environment.

• My first year of experience within the performance analysis field came within the academy at Blackburn Rovers. This experience gave me my first experience in a professional environment with my first experiences in data capture, collection and analysis all coming within the 12 months internship with Blackburn. I also began to develop my proficiency with software such as Sportscode, Wyscout and Microsoft products. One of the key elements towards the end of my placement was helping aid the opposition analysis process which was my first experience of being delegated a particular role within a performance analysis department. Upon the conclusion of my placement I felt in the best possible position to be able to continue my development as an effective performance analyst.