The Portal · Free guide
Get Started in Football Analysis
What the job involves, the skills it takes and how to start building them.
By Harry Lowe · Guide · PDF
Video, data and tools
Understanding the game
Presenting and feedback
Trust with staff and players
Introduction
A performance analysis module at university changed my direction. I started filming and analysing the university team, then joined Swansea City as an intern. Club and national-team work in China followed, before FIFA.
This guide brings together what I have learned along the way: what the job involves, the skills it takes, how the thinking works and how to start. Everything in it links to a lesson, a task or an article where you can go further.
01
What an analyst does
An analyst helps coaches and players understand the game through evidence they can follow. At a club, the work follows the rhythm of the week.
Tournament analysis has a broader purpose: understanding how the game is being played across many teams and matches, and sharing what it teaches. The match is still the starting point.
02
The four skill areas
The tools get the attention, but the job needs four kinds of skill. They work together: good technical work is wasted if nobody trusts it or understands it.
Collecting and organising video and data, and turning them into something useful.
- Coding a match and building clips
- Working with data and evidencing findings
- Presenting video and data in a clear way that is easy to understand
Start with: Build your first match report
Understanding the game well enough to see what matters and why.
- Recognising patterns and mechanisms
- Explaining what happened, how and why
- Knowing what a coach is trying to achieve
Read: What? How? Why? on The Debrief
Making the work easy to understand and act on.
- Writing short, clear findings
- Presenting to staff and giving players feedback
- Using the language the coaches use
Building trust with coaches, players and colleagues.
- Being reliable, honest and consistent
- Knowing when to speak and what to leave out
- Working as part of a team under pressure
03
How the thinking works
Stating what happened is only the start. The analysis is in explaining how the team did it and why it worked, or did not. Then comes the most valuable part: finding the solution to overcome the problem.
- What?The outcome
- How?The mechanisms
- Why?The reasons
- NextThe solution
Consistency matters too. Use the same terms each time, in the language the coaches already use, so the staff never question what you're referring to in your work.
04
What clubs look for
Job adverts for analysts commonly ask for the same kinds of work. These are the outputs you will be expected to produce.
How the next opponent plays, and what to do about it.
What happened in our match, with clips and data.
Short, annotated clips for one player or unit.
Meetings with staff and players, built around a few key points.
And these are the kinds of tools you will use. You can start with free ones.
Watch full matches on official channels, such as those run by clubs, leagues and broadcasters, and note timestamps rather than downloading.
The free practice dataset from The Portal, for practising charts and analysis.
PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides. Clear slides matter more than clever ones.
Many clubs set a task as part of the interview, often an opposition report or a piece of analysis on a match. The best preparation is having done that kind of work already.
05
How to get started
You do not need a club to start working like an analyst. Five steps:
- 01Watch with a question
Pick one team and one question before the match starts. It turns watching into analysing.
- 02Build one report page
Take one mechanism and build it into a page: description, video, data, graphic and solutions.
- 03Learn one tool well
Start free, then build towards the software clubs use. The thinking matters more than the tool.
- 04Keep a portfolio
Save every finished page. A small set of clear, well-evidenced work shows what you can do.
- 05Get feedback
Share your work with people who will be honest about it. You can submit any Portal task. A small group of submissions is selected for feedback.
06
Take the guide with you
The full guide as a PDF, to read offline or come back to.
07
Submit your work
Finished the tasks in the Starter Workbook? You can send them in.
Optional
Your work is yours to keep. Submitting is only for anyone who wants feedback.
What happens next
Every submission is read. A small selection are chosen, and those analysts receive direct feedback on their work. Your work stays private unless you agree to share it.
Send your Starter Workbook.
All submissions go through one place on The Portal. Choose "Get Started in Football Analysis" when you send it.
Submit your work →08
Go further in The Club
The Portal is where you start practising. The Club is where you build every skill in this guide, with people who do the job.
Founding members
The first cohort is chosen from the waitlist.
The Club opens in early 2027. Joining the waitlist is free, with no payment and no commitment. Membership is paid; prices are released soon. It supports your development; it does not guarantee work.
The Portal · Free guide
Get Started in Football Analysis
What the job involves, the skills it takes and how to start building them.
By Harry Lowe · Guide · PDF
Video, data and tools
Understanding the game
Presenting and feedback
Trust with staff and players
Introduction
A performance analysis module at university changed my direction. I started filming and analysing the university team, then joined Swansea City as an intern. Club and national-team work in China followed, before FIFA.
This guide brings together what I have learned along the way: what the job involves, the skills it takes, how the thinking works and how to start. Everything in it links to a lesson, a task or an article where you can go further.
01
What an analyst does
An analyst helps coaches and players understand the game through evidence they can follow. At a club, the work follows the rhythm of the week.
Tournament analysis has a broader purpose: understanding how the game is being played across many teams and matches, and sharing what it teaches. The match is still the starting point.
02
The four skill areas
The tools get the attention, but the job needs four kinds of skill. They work together: good technical work is wasted if nobody trusts it or understands it.
Collecting and organising video and data, and turning them into something useful.
- Coding a match and building clips
- Working with data and evidencing findings
- Presenting video and data in a clear way that is easy to understand
Start with: Build your first match report
Understanding the game well enough to see what matters and why.
- Recognising patterns and mechanisms
- Explaining what happened, how and why
- Knowing what a coach is trying to achieve
Read: What? How? Why? on The Debrief
Making the work easy to understand and act on.
- Writing short, clear findings
- Presenting to staff and giving players feedback
- Using the language the coaches use
Building trust with coaches, players and colleagues.
- Being reliable, honest and consistent
- Knowing when to speak and what to leave out
- Working as part of a team under pressure
03
How the thinking works
Stating what happened is only the start. The analysis is in explaining how the team did it and why it worked, or did not. Then comes the most valuable part: finding the solution to overcome the problem.
- What?The outcome
- How?The mechanisms
- Why?The reasons
- NextThe solution
Consistency matters too. Use the same terms each time, in the language the coaches already use, so the staff never question what you're referring to in your work.
04
What clubs look for
Job adverts for analysts commonly ask for the same kinds of work. These are the outputs you will be expected to produce.
How the next opponent plays, and what to do about it.
What happened in our match, with clips and data.
Short, annotated clips for one player or unit.
Meetings with staff and players, built around a few key points.
And these are the kinds of tools you will use. You can start with free ones.
Watch full matches on official channels, such as those run by clubs, leagues and broadcasters, and note timestamps rather than downloading.
The free practice dataset from The Portal, for practising charts and analysis.
PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides. Clear slides matter more than clever ones.
Many clubs set a task as part of the interview, often an opposition report or a piece of analysis on a match. The best preparation is having done that kind of work already.
05
How to get started
You do not need a club to start working like an analyst. Five steps:
- 01Watch with a question
Pick one team and one question before the match starts. It turns watching into analysing.
- 02Build one report page
Take one mechanism and build it into a page: description, video, data, graphic and solutions.
- 03Learn one tool well
Start free, then build towards the software clubs use. The thinking matters more than the tool.
- 04Keep a portfolio
Save every finished page. A small set of clear, well-evidenced work shows what you can do.
- 05Get feedback
Share your work with people who will be honest about it. You can submit any Portal task. A small group of submissions is selected for feedback.
06
Take the guide with you
The full guide as a PDF, to read offline or come back to.
07
Submit your work
Finished the tasks in the Starter Workbook? You can send them in.
Optional
Your work is yours to keep. Submitting is only for anyone who wants feedback.
What happens next
Every submission is read. A small selection are chosen, and those analysts receive direct feedback on their work. Your work stays private unless you agree to share it.
Send your Starter Workbook.
All submissions go through one place on The Portal. Choose "Get Started in Football Analysis" when you send it.
Submit your work →08
Go further in The Club
The Portal is where you start practising. The Club is where you build every skill in this guide, with people who do the job.
Founding members
The first cohort is chosen from the waitlist.
The Club opens in early 2027. Joining the waitlist is free, with no payment and no commitment. Membership is paid; prices are released soon. It supports your development; it does not guarantee work.