In profile: Twenty3’s New Business Manager Adam Fairclough

Twenty3’s Coaching & Analytics New Business Manager Adam Fairclough knows a thing or two about data, having spent almost nine years as Burnley Football Club’s Head of Performance Analysis.

With an abundance of knowledge gleaned from working at Premier League level, Adam has brought unparalleled insight to Twenty3 since joining earlier this year – understanding exactly what analysts need to improve their team’s performance.

We sat down with our recent recruit, to find out more about how he’s helping people in the industry make the most of their data with Twenty3’s Toolbox…

WE: It probably makes sense to start at the beginning Adam – how did you get into the world of performance analytics?

AF: I studied Sport Science at Liverpool John Moores University, but was pretty open-minded about what I wanted to do in the long-term.

This was in 2009, when analytics was very much in its infancy, but starting to become more prevalent within football clubs. It was nothing like now, with so many different providers, it was essentially just one company dominating the industry.

I was looking at going down the physiotherapy route but wasn’t really enjoying it. Fortunately, one of my lecturers – Allistair McRobert – suggested performance analysis, and I really found the module captivating.

I started working with different clubs and organisations through the university, like the Merseyside football teams and even Rugby League. When I graduated, I managed to secure an internship with Wigan Athletic for a season – the year they won the FA Cup.

That gave me the practical experience to go alongside my university background, and ultimately led to the Burnley job soon after I finished working with the Latics.

WE: What was it like working at Burnley’s Head of Performance Analysis? What did a typical week look like for you at Turf Moor?

AF: You probably hear this when speaking to a lot of analysts and people in the industry, but it was very diverse!

At the very start, back in 2013, it was just myself and an intern, so I did pretty much everything – live, pre-match and post-match provision, with both data and video.

The club progressed and retained Premier League status for a good number of years, which enabled growth, expansion and allowed us to cover different areas of our provision in more depth.

It developed to the point where I was head of the department by the time I left. I oversaw everything performance analysis wise – both first-team and in the academy – essentially ensuring that everything we produced across the whole club was to a high standard and ready to present to the end user, whoever that might be. 

On a typical gameweek, there would be the match on Saturday, from which we would produce video and statistical content for the players and staff to digest and debrief, before leading into individual player and unit meetings and upcoming opposition analysis as the week progressed. 

I worked closely with members of other departments, the manager Sean Dyche and the coaching staff, to finalise content for the players. The main opposition presentation would be on the day before a match, but your responsibilities don’t stop there – there is a live aspect too, feeding information to the bench on matchday, based on how the game is panning out. 

As you can imagine, there is a lot more detail that goes into the above steps and I could write a whole article on those processes, but that’s a general overview of my responsibilities.

WE: What did you find was the biggest challenge while you were working at Burnley?

AF: I think perhaps the biggest challenge was trying to deliver the best end product, relative to the budget we had available. We clearly weren’t a financial powerhouse with endless resources, but I always felt that we produced high-quality work, relative to our budget.

Also, being at Burnley for so long in football terms, it was a challenge to keep finding new ways to engage the end user. The analysis process can often be very cyclical, so it can sometimes be difficult to stimulate people continuously over a number of years.

I found that keeping abreast of developments in the industry – and implementing things I felt could add value to our analysis provision – was a good way of breaking that cycle. This was how I came across Twenty3’s offering…

WE: You started using Twenty3’s technology during your time with the Clarets. What was it that appealed to you, and what did you think were the best aspects of the Toolbox?

AF: We wanted to consolidate reporting, especially post-match. We had quite a few reports with both physical and technical metrics, with a lot of information available from a data provider perspective, so we wanted to streamline everything.

Those reports also used to take us quite a while to produce as a department, eating into valuable time that could be allocated elsewhere.

Essentially, I wanted to reduce all the information down into key performance insights that we were able to obtain from the data, before displaying that to the players and staff quickly, and in a professional format.

Twenty3’s Power Reports appealed to me in that regard, because they’re able to do exactly that. They take the various data sets from a physical and technical perspective – from data providers and your own manually derived metrics – and merge it all into one report. Those insights are then displayed professionally via world-leading visualisations, in a custom-branded reporting structure. They were the best I’d seen in any product.

Overall, as I said previously, I felt it was about distilling information down to obtain actionable insights. Players and managers – and me too, actually – tend to want simple visualisations that display information succinctly. They need to be easy to derive insight from and visually appealing. All of this should lead to a conversation, then either a decision or further interrogation. The Toolbox as a whole helped us to do that, but the Power Reports function was the main element that initially drew me towards using Twenty3.

WE: You’ve now swapped Burnley for Twenty3 – what made you want to make the switch?

AF: I feel like I have a lot to offer, in terms of being able to help analysts currently in the industry – both from my own experiences, and also what I think Twenty3’s Toolbox can do for them and their workflows.

When the opportunity arose to join a forward-thinking, dynamic company like Twenty3 – who are always trying to push boundaries within the data landscape – I felt it was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down.

Fundamentally, my job at Burnley was to oversee the analysis department and to present the final work that we produced. If it wasn’t to a high standard then I wouldn’t have been happy presenting it. The fact that I was comfortable using Twenty3’s technology is testament to the product really, and a key reason why I wanted to make the switch.

Ultimately, I believe in the Toolbox. I believe in how it works and how it makes a difference to people’s workflows.

WE: Are you finding that your background as an analyst is helping our customers get the most out of the Toolbox?

AF: Absolutely. I’ve utilised all areas of the Toolbox myself, in addition to the Power Reports aspect I previously mentioned. The Football Lab, Event Lab & of course Smart Reports & Visualisations… I used it all during my time at Burnley.

I believe, within any business, it’s important to have people who understand the industry. I think that my experience working in the Premier League is important, because I understand the pain points, the areas that analysts find difficult. I have been in their position.

For instance, a lot of analysts will tell you that one of the main challenges is time constraints. You sometimes have three games in seven days, but are still expected to produce the same quality and quantity of work as in a standard week. I think it’s important for analysts to solve or relieve those pain points when they have the opportunity to do so, and that’s something which the Toolbox can certainly help with.

WE: In summary Adam, why do you think people should use Twenty3’s Toolbox?

AF: As a previous customer myself, I always felt Twenty3 wanted what was best for you. Now I am an employee, I can see for myself that this is the number one priority.

As an analyst, nirvana with any software has always been to have a holistic solution, which provides value to your organisation. I think the Twenty3’s Toolbox delivers that in abundance.

It allows you to get straight to an answer, without delay – reacting quickly to the fast-paced, ever-changing landscape of professional football. All of this helps deliver actionable insights that offer value, in many different guises, to the customer.

If you’d like to chat with Adam to find out more about Twenty3’s services, please get in touch below.