FIELD OF PLAY​​

Chris Shumba

Head of Data Operations – Manchester United FC

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Chris’s motto to “Grow What Matters” should resonate with anyone with an interest in solving sports problems through data. He has a wealth of experience in multiple industries in delivering systems that consistently produce results.

As more and more teams switch on to the genuine importance of good Data Engineering to build long term value, Chris is one of the only practitioners in football who can show not only how it’s done in business and but why it’s time for every sports club to sit up and pay attention - or be left behind.

Nicole Kozlova

International Footballer and Data Scientist

A 40-cap international footballer for Ukraine who has won league titles in two different countries and hoping to make it a third this season, Nicole has also scored in the Champions League, in World Cup Qualifying and is currently top scorer for her team, Glasgow City. Beyond the pitch, she is a Summa Cum Laude graduate in Computational Data Analytics and professional data scientist.

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With her unique blend of elite athletic experience and data science expertise, Nicole offers unparalleled insight into how data is transforming the way players train, perform, and shape their careers—for better and sometimes for worse.

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Chris Fonnesbeck

Baseball Quant, Data Scientist and Professor

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Boasting 7 years' experience in baseball analytics with the Phillies, Yankees and Brewers, and cutting edge data science knowledge Chris will show what can be learnt from the application of data science in baseball. 

He is currently a Principal Quantitative Analyst at PyMC Labs and an Adjoint Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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Mystery Speaker

Best Premier League Fantasy Football Player?

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Only in person, not to be recorded, likely never to be repeated - the secrets of data-driven decision making from one of world’s best.

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If you’re in the room, you will learn how they leverage information to make better decisions every week and how, without any formal background in data, they built systems which took them to the very top.

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Ida Höglund Persson

Decision Scientist 

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As one of the first Decision Scientists to be employed working in European football clubs, Ida is one of a new breed: a specialist in helping domain experts to make better decisions though integration of data into existing processes.

Currently working for Twelve Football, she has unique insight into how major clubs make decisions with data, how to influence as an external employee and how to develop the skills to break into and thrive as a sports data professional.

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Daisy Christodoulou

Author - “I Can’t Stop Thinking About VAR”

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Daisy is one of the most original thinkers on education this country has produced, working with organisations across the world on developing new approaches to assessment.

As a fanatical cricket and football fan she has recently turned her attention to an even more controversial subject in her latest book: I Can’t Stop Thinking About VAR. What can we learn from the implementation of VAR compared to similar systems in other sports, and - critically - can it be fixed?

Billy Fitton

Data, Engineering & Tech Lead 

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From studying under the supervision of an F1 legend, to pioneering simulation as part of the “Secret Squirrel Club” at British Cycling, to being an critical part of one of the most dominant teams ever assembled in world sports, Billy has spent the last decade integrating data into sports teams.

Now in professional cycling, Billy can tell you what it takes to use data to take you to the very top - and then try to stay there.

Paul Power

Director of AI – SkillCorner

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Paul has been at the forefront of modelling sport with tracking data for over 10 years, leading a number of key innovations in sports analytics. Now Director of AI at SkillCorner, Paul's team is combining tracking data with on-ball and off-ball events to help clubs evaluate every action a player takes during a game, both in and out of possession.

Drawing on his experience in developing data products that feed directly into clubs’ key football decision-making, Paul is uniquely placed to explain the challenges of developing reliable, replicable and understandable metrics to capture key footballing concepts. He will talk about how he and his team tackle these problems, and how they overcame them in developing new metrics to measure on-ball engagements in SkillCorner's Game Intelligence product.

Alex Marin Felices

Data Scientist – Nottingham Forest FC

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Alex is currently a Data Scientist at Nottingham Forest but has worked for clubs in three countries helping them to make data-informed decisions about recruitment and performance.

Founder of the XG Football Club where he shares deep dives into new models which could revolutionise our thinking about football, as well as critical reviews of current practice, Alex is passionate about education and building a better community for the beautiful game.

Charlie Sizer            

Head of Partnerships & Business Development – Twenty3

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Charlie is not only a sharp commercial thinker who has worked with partners around the world to drive growth and innovation but also a passionate advocate for grassroots sport, especially women’s sport.

Outside of her day job, she is on a mission to create more opportunities for girls at the grassroots level—because access to pitches and facilities shouldn’t be a barrier to the next generation.

As a lifelong sports fan, she also knows the power of data in shaping the game, and at Field of Play she will be directing the conversations with each speaker so every attendee has the chance to have their questions answered.