Oliver Gage

@RdScouting There's so much you can automate and hand off. A good vibe coder might be the next must have in the arms race.

A football club owner in Europe has mentioned to me: “I think we aren’t there yet in football, but, it’s coming. It’s where the industry is heading.”

In an era where entire companies are being run by armies of agents, aligning with SKILL.md of Claude Code, I’m wondering when we’ll see the first football club having scout.md, matchanalyst.md, director.md, etc. Soon, I believe.

The FA wrote the rules of football in 1863. The rules you actually play by? A greenhouse. In Sheffield. 1858. Two mates from the cricket club went for a walk one autumn afternoon. They wanted something to do when the cricket season ended. So they started a football club. The first one on earth. Their headquarters was a greenhouse. Their pitch was the field next to it. There was nobody else to play. So they split into married against singles. Then they wrote rules. No hacking. No tripping. No holding. Free kicks. Throw-ins. Corner kicks. The crossbar. Heading. Eleven players. Ninety minutes. Referees. All Sheffield. When they played London in 1866 and headed the ball, London laughed at them. Nobody's laughing now. In 1867 Sheffield hosted the world's first football competition. Four years before the FA Cup. The trophy went missing for 130 years. A Scottish antiques dealer found it. Worth over £100,000 today. When football turned professional, Sheffield refused. They chose the game over the money. And the game left them behind. William Prest died at fifty-two. His gravestone was removed from the cemetery. Nathaniel Creswick died in October 1917. Exactly sixty years after founding the club. In 2004, FIFA gave Sheffield FC the Order of Merit. The only other club to receive it? Real Madrid. Eighty thousand seats. One of the greatest clubs on earth. Sheffield FC play in the ninth tier of English football. Two thousand seats. Every corner kick. Every header. Every ninety minutes. Two friends. One autumn walk. A greenhouse. Sheffield started it all. The beautiful game had humble beginnings. So do we. Your support keeps us on the pitch. Be part of us. proudofus.co.uk/support Be Proud Of Us. 🇬🇧

Excellent advice here having been in this position myself. Day 1 your world is collapsing. Day 2-7 I threw myself into 16 hour panic work days. Slowing down is actually speeding up. In the moment it’s so hard to see that clearly. Reach out to others for support & advice.

I've reviewed hundreds of projects on behalf of @APFAnalysis over the years. Sometimes you get one that just blows you away.... One thing you'll get from ours vs others is the opportunity to build a project as you take the course, submit your work and have it reviewed!

@sahilgdwn @AshwinRaman_ apfa.io/posts/new-part…

@G4gey @AshwinRaman_ would you please share that with us?

Still can't quite comprehend this; it's genuinely apocalyptic as far as public football analysis goes.

@HenshawAnalysis We've had people with 0 idea of what an IDP looks like take courses and gain full-time employment within 12 months using their projects as the launchpad. It's not one-size fits all

@HenshawAnalysis It is - especially those who can't take 3+ years for a full time degree and internships. That being said (and I know I myself am biased here) I think education it still v important

I've had 200+ calls this year with analysts. Yet most overcomplicate breaking into football. People obsess over which course to buy or which certification proves credibility. Then wonder why applications disappear into nothing. From helping aspiring analysts land roles, I've learned something crucial. Success isn't about collecting qualifications. It's about following a practical system that decision-makers actually notice. I've broken this down into 7 steps (see the graphic): → Foundation skills that transfer from any industry → Free data sources you can access today → Software progression that builds systematically → Portfolio projects that solve real problems → Content balance that attracts opportunities → Strategic resonance over vanity metrics → Network building through genuine value The difference? These aren't theoretical steps. This is what worked for me and my transition. Moving from the gambling industry into football. And what I've watched work for dozens of clients. When I graduated in 2017, I thought my degree would be enough. It wasn't. What changed everything was building visible work while developing the employment skills nobody teaches. The steps in this graphic reflect that reality. Save this if you're building your path into football analytics. What's your biggest challenge right now - technical skills or getting noticed?

@Steviegrieve This is the way!

A BICYCLE-KICK GOAL IN A BLIZZARD ❄️🚲 ONE OF THE CRAZIEST GOALS IN ONE OF THE WILDEST ENVIRONMENTS DURING THE @CPLsoccer FINAL 😱

Jimmy Muir!

@JonnyHarrison4 Yes laaaad

Welcome to the world Ollie Anthony Harrison 🥹💙 Absolutely besotted. Hearing the roar from the top of Sheepfoot lane as GN9 heads home the winner whilst changing his nappy 🥰 Born into it now son, you don’t get to choose! 💙🧡 #oafc

@mixedknuts @BeGriffis Just not possible to tick all of the boxes.

@BeGriffis This is a 75-shot map. Now do 600 and look again.

This is a fun thread... Here's a challenge for ALL of the data vis people: Design ONE shot map vis that can handle shots for players AND teams across one match to one season. And it needs to handle all the important info, not just shots + goals. Let me know what you design!

Bouchy should be the highest transfer fee in USL history.

@KaylorHodges Thank you! Let me know if you need a guest on the show. Happy to open up some of the inner working of USL to the fans where I'm able to!

@G4gey The roster you helped construct is easily one of the most impressive I’ve seen while covering this league, especially considering the wage constraints. Wherever you end up next will be extremely lucky to have you.

@Zonal_Marking Hopefully, but six in a row is concerning for a league still focused on growth. Larger issue for me then invincible season.

@G4gey I largely agree with that. Just think this was a one-off, for now.

a very flat WSL season. No title fight, no relegation battle, few real star players and, worryingly, attendances down. The league is obsessed with its branding but should also consider ways to actually make the competition more exciting. nytimes.com/athletic/63461…

@Zonal_Marking Sort of my point though they were so dominant this season that it was boring. Football is more exciting in my opinion than high scoring sports because every single goal has a huge impact. Same can be said for individual games, you want the feeling that it truly means something

@G4gey maybe, although the previous five have come down to the final day (or stopped mid-season with a point in it). And I'm reluctant to put too much emphasis on Chelsea being good. But I think the lack of interest from 5th-10th-ish is a systematic issue and prob needs a fix