19/10/2026
You coached the game this weekend. But what did you miss?
As a grassroots coach for over 25 years, I think the answer for me is: plenty.
During a match you’re controlling substitutions, thinking about tactics, gauging individual performances, talking to players, encouraging the team, trying to keep some game stats, watching the clock — and that’s just your team.
So it really isn’t surprising that we miss some of the moments that matter.
What surprised me was that there is research to back this up.
One study looking at experienced, qualified football coaches found they accurately recalled only around 59% of the critical events from 45 minutes of a match — even though they were allowed to take notes.
That got me thinking.
If we’re making decisions based on what we think we’ve just seen, how much are we actually missing?
Good coaching has always been about experience, preparation, communication, understanding your players and having a strong coaching ‘toolbox’.
None of that changes.
But the demands on amateur coaches are growing.
We’re increasingly expected to analyse what is happening, recognise patterns, make informed decisions and communicate those decisions quickly — often while doing everything else ourselves.
Professional teams have analysts and support staff helping them do this.
Most grassroots coaches have themselves.
And maybe an assistant if they’re lucky.
We all have things in our coaching toolbox that we can reach for.
But do we always have the right information, at the right moment, to know which tool to use and when?
I realised I didn’t.
I was missing too much during matches.
And if I was missing things, that was affecting the decisions I was making.
The problem wasn’t that I needed another coaching course or more skills in my toolbox.
I needed a clearer picture of what was actually happening.
So I built something to help.
MatchDay gives me another pair of eyes.
It helps me remember what has actually happened, gives me useful information while the game is still happening and means my decisions can be based on what I’m seeing and what the game is actually telling me.
This isn’t about drowning grassroots coaches in data.
In fact, research into sports analytics increasingly suggests the opposite: more data isn’t necessarily better. Information is most useful when it is relevant, understandable and connected to a decision the coach actually needs to make.
That’s what I wanted MatchDay to be.
Not something that tells the coach what to do.
Something that helps the coach make better-informed decisions.
Because the coach still has the experience.
The coach still knows the players.
The coach still has the toolbox.
MatchDay just gives them a clearer picture of when to use it.
That’s why I built matchday.dotsportapp.com
It’s free to use, and it’s the first of a number of coaching tools I’ll be releasing over the coming months.
If you’re coaching this weekend, try it for one match.
Then tell me one thing:
What did MatchDay show you that you missed?
WHY SHOULD PROFESSIONAL COACHING TOOLS ONLY BE FOR PROFESSIONAL SPORT?
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Research referenced
Laird, P. & Waters, L. — Eyewitness Recollection of Sport Coaches.
Experienced qualified coaches recalled approximately 59% of critical match events after observing 45 minutes of football.
Nosek, P., Brownlee, T., Drust, B. & Andrew, M. — Feedback of GPS training data within professional English soccer..
A study involving 176 coaches, players and performance staff found performance data useful in supporting reflection and decision-making, while high volumes of information could become a barrier.
Kwon, J.W. — The analytics–practice gap: why sports data fails to translate into coaching decisions, 2026.
Argues that the value of analytics lies less in generating more data and more in connecting useful information to actual coaching decisions.
