How stats were put to work for Brewers in the battle to stay in League One

INFORMATION has been emerging about the role played by data analysts in Burton Albion's recent successful escape from the clutches of relegation from League One.

- By COLSTON CRAWFORD

It is not something the club - in keeping with most clubs - has said anything about publicly.

It is as if data is still a taboo subject in the game - used by virtually everyone but blamed for failure, not praised when used successfully and regarded with suspicion by supporters.

One thing is for sure, the use of statistics, the analysis of them and the application of them in real world situations has become an industry itself within the football industry.

But tell the average supporter that you are employing a “data-led” approach and they fear the worst - especially when a team makes the sort of start to a season that the Brewers did.

The reality is that combining data with the best aspects of an old-school human approach - using the statistics but not letting them rule you - has a good chance of working.

Burton Albion employ a chief analyst, Michael Mackin, but he has never been formally announced or introduced to the media as a manager, coach or player would be.

Look at their training ground pictures, though and he’s the bearded chap with a laptop in the midst of things.

And they have been working, since midway through the season, with a company called Twelve Football, listed as Stockholm-based and with the slogan “leading football clubs to victory with data expertise.”

Twelve Football’s chief data officer, Dominic Jordan, who was previous director of data science with Manchester United, broke cover this week with the fascinating story of how the company helped the Brewers - they have dubbed what we call the great escape as “The Miracle on Grass.”

Again, it has not been widely publicised but it has been found online by enterprising Brewers fans keen to seek out such things.

Jordan’s story paints a picture of how manager Gary Bowyer successfully combined his traditional work ethic with embracing the information the analysts were bringing he and Mackin.

Here are some extracts from it.