An astrophysics PhD student from Armagh has blended his passion for science and love for Gaelic football to help lead his club to a historic win.
Eamon McGleenan is based at Queen’s University Belfast, where he is a member of the Predictive Sports Analytics (PSA) research team.
The 25-year-old also plays football for O’Connell’s GAA club in Tullysaran, Co Armagh. Earlier this year McGleenan asked the club if they wanted to take part in his research and, in doing so, potentially gain an advantage over their rivals.
McGleenan used wearable trackers to measure the players’ speed, accelerations, directional changes and heart rates.
Across five months, the PSA team at Queen’s University analysed more than 550 million individual data measurements from the squad.
The coaches then used this information to tailor the training sessions to each individual player’s needs, as well as for match tactics.
Tullysaran manager Pauric McGlone said the statistical insights were invaluable and helped him “get the balance of training right, especially in the run-up to match day”.