Performance Analyst (Academy / Lower League)

What the role involves

• Film and edit matches and training sessions
• Create clips and reports for coaches
• Maintain the video library

Ways in, with or without formal qualifications

Experience, knowledge and interests count in football. These routes are what people in this role commonly point to.

• Experience

  Analyse matches for a team

  Offer to film and tag matches for a school, university, amateur or youth team, and deliver short clips and reports.

• Education-light

  University and college football roles

  Student teams need managers, analysts, coaches, media and committee members. They are a safe place to practise and build a track record.

• Experience

  Work experience and internships

  Placements at clubs, associations, agencies and sports businesses. Often unpaid or low-paid, but the strongest way to get a first contact.

Qualifications and licences

These can strengthen an application but are not a gate.

• Degree

  Performance Analysis or Sports Analytics Degree

  Degrees designed for sports analysts, mixing video analysis, statistics and coaching knowledge. Helpful for analyst roles but not the only door.

• Degree

  Sport & Exercise Science Degree

  A degree covering physiology, biomechanics, psychology and research methods. It is the most common base for sport scientists, performance analysts and S&C coaches.

• Short course

  Data & Analytics Courses (SQL, Python, Machine Learning)

  Short courses and certificates in data skills. Their value comes from the projects you complete with them, especially football-based projects.

Skills and knowledge

• Video Analysis
• Tactical Knowledge
• Communication
• Event Data Analysis

Tools you may use

• Video analysis software
• Automatic match cameras
• Spreadsheets

Where this role is found

• Academies & youth development
• Lower-league & semi-professional clubs
• Women's professional football
• Schools, colleges & universities

Where this role leads

• First-Team Performance Analyst

  Helpful

  Provides match and training analysis for senior coaches and players.

• Opposition Analyst

  Helpful

  Studies upcoming opponents and prepares the match plan.

• Football Data Scientist

  Strongly preferred

  Builds models to support recruitment, performance and injury decisions.

Common stepping stones into this role

• Match Data Collector

Pay and context by region

Illustrative estimates scaled from a UK baseline. Check local job adverts and union or association data.