Special Report: Premier League Football

Welcome to the second quarterly special research report from Pearlfinders IT. This follows the success of our Green Technology report in October 2008.

Throughout January the talk across many offices, homes and social occasions has been about the “to-ing and fro-ing” of players between different football clubs across Europe. The likes of Robbie Keane, Harry Redknapp and Andrei Arshavin have consistently hit both the front and back pages of most national papers, with both wild speculation and confirmed activity taking place. We’ve also heard plenty about the agents involved in these transfers.

Unsurprisingly, we haven’t been hearing too much of the likes of Paul Farmer or Philip Rose, the heads of IT at Arsenal and Tottenham, respectively. While so much happens at the front end with players, management, finance and agents, there’s a whole engine room of people working behind-the-scenes making these transactions happen.

IT in football clubs becomes increasingly important during the transfer window - speculation of corruption in football has increased ever since George Graham at Arsenal, and has culminated last week in the arrest of Birmingham City Chief Executive Karen Brady. The onus is very much on the club to prove there’s no mischief taking place in any of its transactions. Email backup and archiving is essential for clubs in proving that details surrounding player transfers are above board.

The most recent transfer window demonstrated the importance of IT departments at football clubs due to the adverse weather conditions on the last day. Details of player transfers were finalised via email, with these being used as the basis for FA approval.

IT has come on leaps and bounds in the last five years and today, Premier League clubs are at the forefront of technology, for both back-office applications, and to ensure best practice on the training ground. In this report, Pearlfinders has spoken to senior IT decision-makers at the 20 Premier League clubs, discussing their current setups and plans moving forward.

Click on the links below for the full reports.

Manchester United
Unsurprisingly, the largest club in the country has the most sophisticated IT set-up. Pearlfinders has spoken to their Group IT Manager, who’s discussed in detail everything from hardware purchasing, to the club’s use of sophisticated performance software.
Click here for the full report

Liverpool
Pearlfinders has spoken to Liverpool’s Network Manager, who reports directly into their IT Manager. Our contact confirmed he’s jointly responsible for supporting 250+ users at the club across multiple sites.
Click here for the full report

Aston Villa
The club has experienced a meteoric rise since being purchased by American Randy Lerner. Here, Pearlfinders has spoken to a Support Technician, who reports directly into Head of IT Richard Hollingsworth.
Click here for the full report

Chelsea
With the removal of certain players and management throughout January and beginning of February, we unsurprisingly found accessing Chelsea’s Head of IT tough. We have managed to get some full contact details for the person ultimately responsible.
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Arsenal
With the drawn-out transfer of Andrei Arshavin, Arsenal’s Head of IT Paul Farmer must have been working some late nights towards the close of the window. Pearlfinders wasn’t able to track Paul down during our research but we have spoken to a contact on the club’s 7-strong IT team, who’s outlined the current set-up to us.
Click here for the full report

Everton
With a new stadium planned in Kirkby for coming years, being in dialogue with the club’s Head of IT is something aim for. We couldn’t track him down this time, but reference the last time we researched the club’s plans – May 2008.
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Wigan Athletic
Wigan’s IT is overseen by just one individual who we’ve confirmed contact details for, but couldn’t track down during the course of our research.
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West Ham United
We’ve spoken to West Ham’s IT Manager, who reports into their Head of IT. He’s talked about their 2 current suppliers and some software trials he’s been running recently.
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Manchester City
Despite being under new ownership, Manchester City’s IT Support Manager has told us that there aren’t many new technology initiatives being invested in. He’s gone on to outline the current set up and buying procedures.
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Fulham
The club has invested in green IT and efficiency initiatives recently. IT decision-making is led by two Managers, who we profile in our research here.
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Sunderland
We’ve spoken to a Systems Administrator at the club, whose remit covers purchasing new hardware and pitching new initiatives to the board.
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Hull City
As a recent addition to the Premier League, Hull’s IT operation is smaller than at the majority of other clubs. There are no dedicated IT specialists and most projects are allocated to external parties. With the likelihood of them remaining in the league for a second year, it might be an ideal time to approach.
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Newcastle United
Newcastle’s IT is overseen by Head of IT Gary Grey. Though we didn’t speak to Gary directly, we’ve outlined some recent initiatives and contact details.
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Bolton Wanderers
Pearlfinders has spoken to Bolton’s IT Manager, responsible for the network supporting 150 users across two sites. He’s not envisaging any major projects in 2009, but he’s outlined some work already in the pipeline for 2010 that he could need help with.
Click here for the full report

Portsmouth
Pearlfinders has spoken to Portsmouth’s Head of IT, who’s been in his role for about 12 months. He’s talked about frustrations with a current supplier and future initiatives.
Click here for the full report

Tottenham Hotspur
IT is overseen by Spurs’ IT Manger, who we spoke to last October following plans for major redevelopment of its stadium. We couldn’t track him down this time but we’ve some important information if this is a club you’re targeting. Click here for the full report

Stoke City
Very similar to other newly-promoted teams, Stoke don’t have a dedicated IT specialist. We’ve outlined the finance contact responsible for hiring 3rd party consultants.
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Blackburn Rovers
Pearlfinders has spoken to a Systems Administrator at Blackburn who, with one other, is responsible for the club’s 150 users. He’s outline the current set-up and projects he’s beginning to think about.
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Middlesbrough
Pearlfinders has spoken to a member of Middlesbrough’s IT and technology department. She’s outlined some ever-increasing challenges that football clubs face with technology and the suppliers they’re currently working with.
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West Bromich Albion
Unlike Hull and Stoke, West Brom does have a dedicated Head of Technology. Pearlfinders had a detailed conversation with him and he’s outlined how to differentiate yourself from the 12 cold-calls he receives each day.
Click here for the full report

To read this report as a PDF please click here (736 KB)