How Data Won the Premier League: Liverpool and the Rise of Modern Metrics | Part One

Welcome to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. This week co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper are joined by journalist, broadcaster and author of 'Expected Goals: The story of how data conquered football and changed the game' Rory Smith. In today’s episode we explore the fascinating journey of data analytics in football. From the early days of Charles Reep and Valeriy Lobanovskyi's basic data collection to the revolutionary 1990s that saw a surge in clubs like Liverpool using a data-driven approach under Ian Graham and Michael Edwards to lead to Premier League success. We also look at how clubs like Bolton Wanderers under Sam Allardyce leveraged data to gain a competitive edge and and the cultural shift towards data in football management. Tune in to understand how data played a crucial role in some of the greatest footballing successes of the modern era. 00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Rory Smith 00:42 The Evolution of Data in Football 01:29 The Role of Data Collectors 05:04 Prozone and Early Data Pioneers 11:17 The Culture War: Nerds vs. Scouts 12:17 Sam Allardyce: The Unlikely Data Advocate 23:32 Moneyball and Its Impact on Football 27:24 Decision Technology and Early Predictions 28:06 The Role of Data in Football Predictions 28:48 The Fink Tank Column and Its Impact 31:09 Spurs' Missed Opportunity with Data 32:56 Tottenham's Early Adoption of Data Analytics 41:11 Liverpool's Data-Driven Transformation 47:10 The Cultural Shift Towards Data in Football 58:44 The Importance of Communication in Data Utilisation 59:45 Conclusion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.