Acknowledgments

"None of us is as smart as all of us." — Ken Blanchard

A textbook of this scope and ambition would be impossible without the contributions, support, and inspiration of many individuals and organizations.

The Soccer Analytics Community

The modern field of soccer analytics has been built by a remarkable community of researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts who have chosen to share their knowledge openly. This textbook stands on their shoulders.

Academic Researchers: We are grateful to the scholars who have published foundational work in soccer analytics, including (but certainly not limited to): Lotte Bransen, Jan Van Haaren, Tom Decroos, Jesse Davis, Laurie Shaw, William Spearman, Javier Fernández, Luke Bornn, Patrick Lucey, and the many others whose papers have shaped our understanding of the game.

Industry Practitioners: The analysts working inside professional clubs have pushed the field forward in countless ways. While much of this work remains proprietary, we thank those who have shared insights through conferences, blogs, podcasts, and social media. The OptaPro Forum, Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and StatsBomb Conference have provided invaluable platforms for this knowledge exchange.

Open Source Developers: Special recognition goes to the developers of the Python libraries that make soccer analytics accessible:

  • mplsoccer — Providing beautiful pitch visualizations
  • socceraction — Implementing action valuation frameworks
  • statsbombpy — Enabling access to open event data
  • kloppy — Standardizing data formats across providers
  • pandas, numpy, scikit-learn — The foundational tools of data science

Your commitment to open source has democratized our field.

Data Providers

This textbook would be impossible without access to quality data for teaching and demonstration.

StatsBomb: Thank you for your extraordinary commitment to open data. The StatsBomb Open Data repository has transformed soccer analytics education, allowing students worldwide to work with professional-grade event data. Your documentation and support for the academic community set a standard others should follow.

Wyscout: Thank you for providing educational access to your platform, enabling students to experience professional-grade scouting tools.

Reviewers and Contributors

Early drafts of this textbook benefited from detailed feedback from reviewers across academia and industry:

  • Technical reviewers who caught errors and suggested improvements
  • Instructors who piloted material in their courses
  • Students who worked through exercises and identified unclear explanations
  • Practitioners who verified real-world relevance

Your careful reading and honest criticism made every chapter better.

Educational Institutions

We thank the universities and programs that have supported soccer analytics education, creating the demand for rigorous instructional materials and providing environments where this work could develop.

Conferences and Publications

The following conferences and publications have been essential venues for advancing and disseminating soccer analytics knowledge:

  • MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
  • OptaPro Forum / Stats Perform Conference
  • StatsBomb Conference
  • Barça Sports Analytics Summit
  • Journal of Sports Analytics
  • Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
  • International Journal of Computer Science in Sport

Personal Acknowledgments

Finally, we thank our families, friends, and colleagues for their patience and support during the many months of writing, coding, and revising that produced this textbook. Your encouragement sustained us through the challenging moments.

While we have acknowledged many contributors, any errors or shortcomings in this text remain solely our responsibility. We welcome corrections and suggestions for future editions.

The Authors