Since our inception, Hudl Statsbomb has been at the forefront of educating the next generation of football analysts. We’re committed to providing materials and resources to develop the skills needed to enter the industry, from free datasets and code to industry-standard education and training courses. We’ve opened the doors to our extensive knowledge base, all to help aspiring analysts hone their craft.
One of the most common questions we receive is, “How do I get started in football analytics?” This article is our answer — a comprehensive guide that gathers all our resources in one place, designed to be your go-to reference for both inspiration and education. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to upskill, you’ll find everything you need here.
Foundational knowledge
For those at the very beginning of their journey in football analytics, understanding the roots of the field is crucial. Both historical context and foundational knowledge are needed to build your skills.
The Hudl Statsbomb Archive is an excellent starting point: a curated collection of 10 of our most popular articles dating back to 2013. These pieces capture the evolution of analytics over the past decade, providing a view into how the field has developed and progressed since it began.
There is a lot to learn from here. For instance, Colin Trainor’s work on PPDA in 2014 remains one of the best resources for seeing the thought process behind creating football-relevant metrics – one that is still used in the field today. James Yorke’s work on Pass Footedness and Euan Dewar’s deep dive on Aston Villa in 2020/21 demonstrate how to produce highly effective visualisations and stories from football data. And there’s plenty more. The Archive is a treasure trove for anyone looking to understand the foundations of the industry.
For a distilled and specific resource for learning the basics, then our Introduction to Football Analytics course could be the place to start. Originally taught to Football Associations and professional teams around the globe, the course is designed to get anyone – from professionals to aspiring analysts and fans – up to speed in understanding the sport through the lens of data and analytics. The course regularly receives 5* reviews from those who have completed the course and received their certification.
Practical Skills
Once you understand the foundations of the discipline, it’s time to develop some practical, hard skills. There's only one place to start: the data.
When we started out, freely available industry-standard event data was difficult to come by. Aspiring analysts of the past were held back by a scarcity of publicly available football event data to analyse and experiment with, so, upon founding as a data company, releasing data for free became one of the first initiatives we implemented.
After six years, there are now 3,000 matches of free Hudl Statsbomb event data – the same industry-leading event data used by elite clubs around the world - available to you, the analytics community, to analyse. That works out to approximately 10,000,000 rows of event data. Both of those are insane numbers and represent an incredibly fertile resource on which to practice and hone your data skills.
The variety of datasets means you can attempt to answer virtually any football question. Longitudinal analysis can be performed on the Lionel Messi Data Biography. Modern tactical trend analysis on Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen’s Invincible 2023/24 Bundesliga season. Historical comparisons with the Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cruyff datasets. More comprehensive modelling on the huge 2015/16 Big 5 Leagues dataset. There are plenty of other releases, too, many of which contain our Hudl Statsbomb 360 data: on-camera player location data around every event.
Those with coding experience will be able to tuck right in. But for those who’ve never written a line of code before, we’ve got you covered, too: our recent R and Python webinars are the perfect starting point here.
Aimed at complete beginners, these webinars guide you through the process of setting up your workspace, loading the data in, writing your first lines of code and performing your first analysis. They include all the necessary materials – installation guides, example code, and further resources – and we walk you through each stage of the process step-by-step. Best of all, they’re free.
We also have Spanish versions here: Python and R
It’s common for modern-day analysts to have some understanding of both data analysis and video analysis. Understanding data analytics tends to make video analysts better at their jobs, and understanding tactical analysis tends to make data analysts better at theirs. To that end, our Analysing Football Using Video course will benefit those of you looking to develop your tactical knowledge and video analysis.
The course was created by former Hudl Statsbomb Tactical Analyst Carl Carpenter and launched in 2023, covering all the key components of successful video analysis. Each module is packed with practical insights, from breaking down matches to integrating video with advanced data for in-depth analysis.
For those with a view to getting into scouting and player recruitment, our Modern Scouting & Data-Driven Recruitment course, led by Hudl Statsbomb Director of Football James Yorke, delves into the integration of data and traditional scouting methods to enhance recruitment decisions. This course is ideal for anyone keen on modern recruitment techniques, and offers a comprehensive look at the process of team analysis and squad building, scouting workflows, advanced data integration, player evaluation, and more.
Industry Experts
Learning from those who have already navigated the path from aspiring analyst to industry professional is invaluable. We’ve had the privilege of hosting and working with some of the brightest minds in football analytics, and we’ve captured their insights across a range of platforms.
The 2024 Hudl Statsbomb Conference will be the fifth edition of the event. We know that not everyone can be there on the day, so we make a selection of talks available to watch on-demand afterwards, and that accumulation over the years means there are now 64 sessions available to watch and learn from.
These talks are delivered by industry experts and cover a broad spectrum of topics—from data-driven decision-making in front offices to the challenges of communicating analytical insights to stakeholders. You’ll find discussions on what data can and cannot reveal, the importance of getting buy-in for analytical projects, and real-world examples of the problems that analysts and data scientists at professional clubs are working to solve. The wisdom contained in these sessions is immense, and they’re a great place to start for anyone looking to understand how analytics is applied at the highest levels of the game.
- Hudl Statsbomb Conference 2023 playlist
- Hudl Statsbomb Conference 2022 playlist
- Hudl Statsbomb Conference 2021 playlist
- Hudl Statsbomb Conference 2019 playlist
Our Ask the Analysts article offers another valuable resource. We spoke with professionals from our customer clubs and asked them one simple question: “What do you wish you knew before you started your first job working for a team?”
The answers were as varied as they were insightful, with several key themes emerging. These interviews distil the hard-earned lessons of those who have already walked the path you’re on, providing practical advice and guidance that can help steer your journey.
Finally, the Hudl Statsbomb Originals series bring together the stories of long-time analytics practitioners who started out much like you — poking around spreadsheets in their spare time. All interviewees started writing for StatsBomb in the early 2010s; today, they’re leading careers in the industry. These interviews explore what inspired them to start, the first projects they worked on, potential ideas that still need solving, and where they see analytics heading in the future. Their journeys are a testament to what can be achieved with passion, dedication, and a little bit of curiosity. In ten years, with the right focus and effort, you could easily find yourself in their shoes, sharing your own journey and insights with the next generation of analysts.
Click the image to be taken to the full Hudl Statsbomb Originals series.
Final Advice
Read people’s work. Dedicate time to learning your craft. Produce your own content. Share it. And connect with and seek feedback from people whose work you like and opinions you value. Like any pursuit, there’s an element of luck and timing involved, but many people we know who got hired into the industry did so because they were ready for the opportunities that presented themselves. There's no reason that couldn't be you in the future.
Best of luck,
The Hudl Statsbomb Team
