Log in
Salford Business School researchers were commissioned by PA Sport, the sports division of the Press Association, the Football Association Premier League (FA), and FootballDataCo, which handles the rights to football data for the FA, to develop the quantitative analysis and models for an objective index of football player performance. The official player ratings system of the English Premiership, Championship and the Scottish Premiership and first of its kind:
Football has significant sporting, cultural and economic impact with reach around the globe. Despite this, football has long been resistant to evidence-based practice. Football-related research at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES) includes match and training analysis and various aspects of player preparation and recovery. This research has been translated into evidenced-based practice to produce impact within multiple layers of football in the UK and abroad. RISES research has provoked significant developments in match-analysis procedures underpinning the global uptake of this technology within elite football. RISES research has also changed practice associated with player preparation and recovery in elite clubs and the English National team. RISES research has underpinned scientific support throughout the games as well as the development of player and coach education programs in elite football clubs and a number of National Associations. The successful translation of RISES research has enabled practitioners within the modern game to use evidence-based models for their activity.
This case study describes the effects of a new performance management system, developed in China and adopted by organisations facing complex management challenges. To date, seven public and private sector organisations have successfully used the `3E' (Effectiveness, Efficacy, and Efficiency) system for tasks as varied as developing performance indicators, improving management communication and designing appraisal systems that work under conditions of rapid growth and change.
The participating organisations include the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Hunan University, Tonsan Adhesives Inc, Xingxiang Insurance, Sun-rivier local government, Liao-ling Plaze hotel and Hua-bao International Holdings. Their adoption of the 3E system has resulted in improved performance management within these organisations.
The outcomes of this research have directly influenced practices and policies for injury prevention and player health in both rugby league and rugby union. Besides giving a detailed analysis of injury profiles in rugby league, the research has served to raise the profile and awareness of two major issues, heat stress and concussion.
Presentations of research findings to members of the Rugby League Medical Association (RLMA) have enhanced CPD workshops, and resulted in bylaw changes in Rugby Football League medical standards. More recent work has highlighted the seriousness of concussion in both rugby league and union.
The Football Association (FA) now incorporates player-centred evaluations of international tournaments into its policy as a result of longitudinal research at Loughborough University aimed at raising the profile and application of psychological principles in youth football. In addition, FA coaching award courses and coach development courses have integrated a specific focus on core psychological factors (known as the 5C's), and these have been promoted by the FA to their 14,900 licensed coaches and 20,587 Twitter followers worldwide. These principles have also been adopted and embedded within English professional club academy programmes. Further to this, research conducted within coaching behaviour has resulted in the development and marketing of coach behaviour analysis software that has been sold to professional youth academies and is integral to coach development initiatives.
The Centre for Sports Engineering Research (CSER) has carried out public engagement activities for many years to create a dialogue around its research with those outside higher education. Specific research is described in tennis, aerodynamics, 3D motion-capture and performance analysis and ways in which findings have been used in public engagement. The impact of the activities is a raised public awareness of sports science and technology from 165 public lectures and workshops; an interactive science exhibition with 390k visitors; an increasingly popular blog with 248k hits; 15 popular science articles with a readership of over 835k; 10 interviews on TV and 46 on Radio; 8 short films with 25k downloads; and 101 articles in the national and international print press with 256 additional articles on their websites across 22 countries.
Professor Richard Bartle's `player types' model outlines the types of players who play Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). Critically, his research shows that for MMORPGs to remain sustainable, the virtual worlds in which they are set must appeal to a balance of these different types of players. This insight enables commercial developers to design games that have broader and more sustainable appeal. Bartle's work has been widely adopted across the MMORPG industry and the principles of his research have informed the development of numerous games, a notable example being BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bartle's work is credited as a key influence in transforming the online games sector from niche to mainstream.