PhD Researcher · Predictive Sports Analytics

Eamon McGleenan

I build GPS-derived performance tools that coaches actually use, from in-match fatigue monitoring to open-source club pipelines.

Queen's University Belfast · in collaboration with STATSports · GPS analyst, Tullysaran GAC

Finishing my PhD this autumn · open to roles in sports data from 2027

See my work CV
Eamon presenting GPS research to coaches at the CS Coaching Conference in Belfast
Presenting evidence-informed GPS recommendations to coaches, Newforge Sports Complex, November 2025.
About

Sports science, software and a lifelong love of sport

I am a PhD candidate in the Predictive Sports Analytics Group at Queen's University Belfast, working in collaboration with STATSports on sensor-derived performance metrics, validity testing, and applied fatigue monitoring. I hold an MSc in Medical Physics and have over six years of Python experience, with additional proficiency in SQL, R, Tableau, and Power BI.

I'm finishing my PhD this autumn and looking for a role in sports data from 2027, in performance analysis, sports science or football analytics. Everything below is open source and written up in full, so you can see exactly how I work.

Research
In-situ force-velocity profiling, ballistic power, neuromuscular fatigue
Industry
STATSports (research collaboration)
Applied
GPS analyst & U18 performance coach, Tullysaran GAC
Tools
Python, SQL, R, Tableau, Power BI
Based
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Projects & Code

Tools built for the pitch, written up in the open

Each project has a full write-up with methods, screenshots and the code, so another club or analyst can pick it up and use it.

Session analysis view of the GPS performance dashboard on a synthetic squad Dashboard · Live demo

GPS Performance Dashboard — Session Analysis & Load Monitoring

Turns raw 10 Hz STATSports exports into a browser dashboard for Gaelic football: each player's most demanding 1 to 10-minute passages within a session, and the season's load as a time series with changepoint detection and acute:chronic workload.

Players are pseudonymised before anything leaves the pipeline, and real-data dashboards are encrypted in the browser. The public demo runs on a synthetic squad.
Read the write-up Try the live demo Code
PythonTime SeriesOpen Source
Back-test chart: scouting screen hit rate rising from 33% base to 55% in the top 20 Football · Machine learning

Can Open Data Spot the Next €30m Player?

A transparent scouting screen across the ten strongest leagues in world football, built entirely from free FBref and Transfermarkt data. It scores young players on performance, intensity, misprofiling and underuse, always within their positional peer group.

Top 20 hit at 55% against a 33% base rate in a point-in-time back-test. A model trained on 70,000 player-seasons reaches a ROC-AUC of 0.81.
Read the write-up Code
PythonMachine LearningOpen Data
Tableau chart of weekly high-speed and sprint distance against target bands, from the Tullysaran GPS pipeline Applied · Club

GPS Analyst — Tullysaran GAC Senior Football Team

An end-to-end pipeline for my home club, turning STATSports Apex data into weekly Tableau reports the management used to individualise training and plan match days.

Contributed to winning the Armagh Intermediate Football League and promotion to senior football for the first time in the club's 135-year history.
Read the write-up Code
PythonGPS AnalyticsTableau
Illustrative acceleration-speed profile with the top-two envelope and fitted line Research · Interactive

In-Situ PFv Profiling — A Practitioner's Guide

An interactive companion to our published paper on deriving force-velocity profiles from in-situ GPS data, from Butterworth filtering and envelope extraction through to in-match fatigue monitoring with sliding-window ballistic power.

Includes a browser-based tool that reproduces the paper's figures from a raw STATSports CSV, or from built-in demo data. Nothing is uploaded.
Read the practitioner's guide Paper
Force-VelocityIn-Situ MonitoringInteractive
Publications

Research

Published 2026

In-Situ PFv profiling in sub-elite Gaelic football: validation, comparison with isolated sprints, minimum data load requirements, and exploring "real-time" monitoring potential

Eamon McGleenan, Samuel Grant, Lisa M. McFetridge, Jack C.J. Brown, Richard Hawkins, Tiago de Melo Malaquias, Ruth Montgomery, Richard McCann, David B. Jess
In-situ monitoringForce-velocity profilingFatigue detection
Full text Practitioner's guide
Published 2026

Ballistic power: GPS-derived measurements suitable for the real-time monitoring of neuromuscular fatigue during repeated sprints

Eamon McGleenan, Samuel Grant, Lisa M. McFetridge, Jack C.J Brown, Joseph W. Shaw, Tiago de Melo Malaquias, Ruth Montgomery, David B. Jess
Global positioning systemForce velocity relationships
Full text
In the Media

Press coverage

Tullysaran's 2025 promotion, and the data behind it, made the national news.

The Irish Times

GAA moneyball: Astrophysics student uses science to lead club to historic win

5 September 2025Read
RTÉ News

Big data helps GAA club to first senior status in 135 years

5 September 2025Read
The Sideline Eye

Tullysaran take Division Three Minor title

8 September 2025Read
Talks & Presentations

Speaking

Title slide: Applying GPS technology to Gaelic Games, over a photo of the Tullysaran squad
15 November 2025

Applying GPS Technology to Gaelic Games: Evidence-Informed Recommendations for the Weekly Microcycle

CS Coaching Conference · Newforge Sports Complex, Belfast

Presented research on applying GPS tracking and data analytics to Gaelic Games coaching, covering evidence-based approaches to structuring the weekly training microcycle for club teams.

Coaches in the audience during the talk Coaching Conference poster: Focus on GAA/LGFA, 15 November, Newforge Sports Complex
Qualifications & Certificates

Education and training

Degrees

  1. PhD Predictive Sports Analytics

    Queen's University Belfast · final year
    2023 – completing autumn 2026

  2. MSc Medical Physics

    Queen's University Belfast
    2018 – 2023

Certificates

  1. F3 Youth Athletic Development Level 1

    GAA / LGFA / Camogie Association
    January 2026

  2. Setanta Conditioning — A Personal Guide to Health & Fitness

    Setanta College
    September 2024

  3. Setanta Conditioning — Explosive Rotational Power

    Setanta College
    August 2024

  4. Introduction to Machine Learning Using Matlab

    Queen's University Belfast
    March 2024
GAA F3 Youth Athletic Development Level 1 certificate
GAA F3 Athletic Development Level 1
Eamon with fellow coaches outside the GAA centre during the F3 course
On the F3 Athletic Development course
Setanta Conditioning certificate
Setanta Conditioning
Setanta Explosive Rotational Power certificate
Explosive Rotational Power
Contact

Let's work together

If you're a performance coach looking to integrate data analytics into your programme, interested in exploring new applications for wearable sensors, or a researcher in a related field; I'm always open to new collaborations. Feel free to reach out.

Emailemcgleenan04@qub.ac.uk
OfficeMain Physics Building, University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NN
Send an email