Alan Clarke

The Founder of STATSports

  STATSports was founded by Alan Clarke and Sean O'Connor in 2008 with a pitch side conversation about how
teams should use fitness testing equipment to help improve their performances.

STATSports
 STATSports has developed advanced performance wearable technology that is used by more than 800 elite clients
across multiple sports, including soccer, American football, rugby, baseball and basketball.

 Among the many teams to use its Fifa-approved GPS trackers are leading football teams such as Manchester
United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus and PSG. International squads including Brazil, England and Belgium, are also
users of STATSports' technology, as are the likes of the New York Yankees and the Miami Dolphins.
The Apex Device
• STATSports’ flagship solution is the Apex device, which is worn in a vest and positioned between the
shoulder blades during training and matches. It captures thousands of datapoints per second during
training and matches to help teams maximise player performance and reduce injury risk.
• Information gleaned via the device can be streamed directly to a phone, tablet or smartwatch,
making it easy for coaches to respond in real-time.
• The company secured a near $20 million (€17.4 million) investment in April 2019 with Premier
League stars Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both putting in more than £1 million
(€1.1 million) each.
• It has since followed this up with a further undisclosed investment from among others, English soccer
stars Harry Kane, Steph Houghton, Harry Maguire and Phil Foden.
US Soccer Federation
 STATSports closed a five-year deal with the US Soccer Federation in 2018, believed to be worth up
to $1 billion (€870 million). The new partnership with US Youth Soccer sees the company rolling
out its technology to all the clubs and players in the newly announced National League Elite 64.
 STATSports has developed a customised product for US Youth Soccer, with a mobile app that will be
available for Elite 64 participants to access and track data.
 Additional benefits for players and coaches will include US Youth Soccer-specific performance
leader boards, and coaching seminars with professional staff, and STATSports brand ambassadors
such as World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe.
 “The collaboration between US Youth Soccer and STATSports will create an elite soccer experience
that will help players take their games to the next level,” said Ms Rapinoe.
 National League Elite 64 features competition in six age groups and includes year-round
competition for the top 64 boys clubs and top 64 girls clubs in the US.
Partners with the FAI
• STATSports, the world’s leading company in GPS performance data, have today been announced as an
official partner of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
• The Republic of Ireland have used and trusted STATSports for almost a decade to maintain and
improve player performance. Arsenal and Republic of Ireland women’s star, Katie McCabe is an
ambassador of STATSports and has revealed why it’s helped her get to the top of her field, STATSports
technology captures data from players after every session, including total distance, max speeds, high-
speed running distance, intensity and fatigue levels
• For nearly a decade, the FAI have trusted STATSports wearable technology to maintain and develop
the physical performance of their players. STATSports, which tracks performance data through the
black pod placed in the players performance vest/bra, will be used across U17, U19, U21, senior
men’s and senior women’s teams.
• In addition to working with the national side, the Newry-based company want to make their
technology as accessible as possible for new teams in Ireland, and will be running educational events
to engage with local coaches through this partnership.
• Jonathan Hill, FAI CEO, said: “The association has worked with STATSports for almost 10 years and to
be able to educate coaches around the country through the partnership is really important to us.
Helping trainers understand how they can monitor and improve players physical capabilities from a
young age, will be crucial for their development.”
STATSports and the IRFU
 STATSports has signed a deal with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) to provide its GPS tracking and
performance monitoring technology for every senior professional rugby player on the island of Ireland.
 The sports technology firm will supply the Ireland men’s, women’s, U20s and representative teams as well
as the national 7s squads with its revolutionary Apex device which tracks players during games and
training, and provides actionable feedback to coaching, athletic performance, and medical staff.
It has also reached an agreement to supply all four Irish provinces.
 Leinster and Munster have been added to its client list which already included Ulster and Connacht, as
well as 20 other major rugby union clubs.
 Nick Winkelman, the IRFU’s Head of Performance & Science, said:
“We are delighted to have STATSports as the official provider of GPS player tracking devices for Irish Rugby.
Having tested existing solutions on the market, it was clear that STATSports was a world-class business
with a world-leading performance analysis solution in the APEX unit.”
 “In high-performance sport, and particularly in an environment where player welfare is a key priority, it is
a necessity for our provinces and representative teams to have access to quality data that can inform and
shape performance, recovery and injury prevention.”
• STATSports, CCO and Co-founder Sean O’Connor, said:
“Having all four provinces using our revolutionary Apex device is huge for us at STATSports. We are proud
to offer a world-class product to not only the national team but all four provincial teams throughout
Ireland who compete at the highest level of club rugby in Europe. Plus, with STATSports being founded in
the island of Ireland, it is even more significant”.
ClubForce and STATSports
 The Irish business providing over 2000 clubs with sports club
automation has teamed up with STATSports to make sport
accessible for all. The partnership between Clubforce and
STATSports will be another step in creating a sports technology
ecosystem for the future, one which makes sport inclusive by
making advanced performance analysis accessible to all.
 Clubforce has transformed the way sports clubs are managed
and is the leading club automation platform, used by teams
worldwide to unify their members, to take the pain from
admin and to drive fundraising forward. Clubforce technology
allows volunteers, parents and players alike to work together
effectively, receiving the right information at the right time so
everyone can participate to their very best. The software
company has been operating in Ireland since 2009 and has
pioneered automation technology in this space by listening
carefully to clubs and volunteers across the country and now
more recently internationally. Clubforce’s mission is to make
sport accessible for all while also creating joy, health and
physical wellbeing amongst the community.