Opposition Analyst

What the role involves

• Study opponents' patterns on video and data
• Prepare reports and clips for coaches
• Present key points to players

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.

• Self-built

  Tactical self-study

  Structured study of matches, coaching books, courses and interviews builds knowledge you can talk about and write about. It does not replace a record of practice.

• 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.

Skills and knowledge

• Opposition Analysis
• Video Analysis
• Tactical Knowledge
• Report Writing

Tools you may use

• Video analysis software
• Event-data providers

Where this role is found

• Top-flight clubs
• Lower-league & semi-professional clubs
• Women's professional football

Where this role leads

• Head of Analysis

  Helpful

  Leads performance, opposition and data analysis across the club.

Common stepping stones into this role

• Performance Analyst (Academy / Lower League)
• First-Team Performance Analyst

Pay and context by region

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