Part 3 — A Career in Football Analytics, The Reality
Beyond the pitch.
After one year in a football club, I decided to leave. Though I had worked hard to reach that childhood dream, it was a natural decision.
Not because the experience was bad — it was awesome — but because I feel it was enough. Football during a pandemic was not really football anymore and living in a new town without any friends or family nearly was a bit rough.
I moved. Without regrets. The experience was awesome.
Childhood dream fulfilled. Checked.
Moving like this allows me to be quite objective about the football analytics industry.
I guess.
I didn’t get awful relationships. I enjoyed the work. I had some starry-eyed moments.
Still, I also got annoyed. Been disillusioned. Like in any workbench.
This last piece is a step back. Trying to reconcile what’s the current state of football analytics and what it could be — what it should be — to reach the level of other common industries.
Not mature enough
We probably expect too much from the football industry.
Yes, it drives a lot of money, it captives a large audience. Still, this is a tiny world.