CIES SPORTS INTELLIGENCE REPORT: ELITE FOOTBALLERS PLAY LESS MINUTES THAN A DECADE AGO IN COMPETITIVE MATCHES (IN ENGLISH ONLY)

Through a series of cases studies and analyses, the CIES report on the elite men’s football match calendar and player workload provides an empirical outlook on both current and historical trends related to these topics. Notwithstanding the importance of the international match calendar's structure, the study underlines the prominent role of domestic bodies (i.e. leagues or national associations) as competition organisers, highlighting some of the differences that exist at individual country level.

Moreover, the report illustrates that, somewhat contrary to the current narrative within the football ecosystem, there is no consistent evidence of an increase in elite player workload since the turn of the century. In fact, the contrary appears to exist according to the research conducted by CIES. Highlights from the report include:

• Players – overall workload: With a total of 6,258 minutes (the equivalent of nearly 70 full matches) played between club and national team in 2012/2013, David Luiz holds the single season record across all players that competed in the top eight European divisions over the past 25 years. The two next highest values date back even further - to Frank Lampard’s and Roberto Carlos‘s campaigns in 2006/2007 and 1999/2000 respectively. Bruno Fernandes (6th) is the only player in the top ten related to a season that does not precede 2013 at least. When extending the analysis to the top 50 players by total number of minutes per season, the overall trend has been on a decreasing trajectory for the past three seasons when compared to any three-year cycle since 1999/2000.

• Competition – calendar occupation: Domestic competitions have accounted for 94,2% of the distribution of football matches between the seasons 2012/13 and 2023/24.

• Competitions and clubs  - Back-to-back matches: Taking a sample size from the top-five ranked European domestic leagues, during the 2023/2024 season, England was home to the highest number of domestic back-to-back matches (event of a club playing two domestic games within 72 hours from one another) involving top division clubs (with 87 instances). English Premier League clubs topped the ranking also in terms of the shortest average time (67.3 hours) between back-to-back matches.

• Clubs - International tours: After considering the total calendar days with no competitive football being played, Manchester United (52 friendlies), Manchester City (45 friendlies) and Real Madrid (45 friendlies) are the clubs that played the highest number of friendly matches outside of Europe between July 2010 and May 2024. League-wide, the English Premier League set a new record in 2023/2024 with an aggregate total of 42 ‘non-European’ friendlies played (and a total 308,212 kilometers travelled in the process – the third highest total since 2001/2002).

• Players – substitute data: With data taken from four European leagues (England, Germany, Italy and Spain), substitutes have been on the pitch for an aggregate average of 86,775 additional minutes per season since the permanent introduction of the five changes. This value represents a 51.1% increase compared to the total recorded during the last season with only three substitutions allowed.

Whilst the report concludes the first CIES series on the subject of the men’s football match calendar at top level club and national team level and elite player workload, additional studies may be undertaken in the future to further delve into these important topics. The way in which competitions and matches are structured and organised within the framework of the men’s international match calendar is an aspect that goes to the core of the governance of the game. Within this context, understanding both the historical and current landscape may prove beneficial in informing the policy and decision-making involved with the actual scenario.