Menlo Park, California and London, England, February 20, 2024 - Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in Sports, today agreed to expand its relationship with English Premier League side, Fulham FC, to include medical and performance data. The Club will be utilizing the Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development Solutions - combining medical, performance and talent development data into a single, interactive data and analytics system to unlock player performance outcomes and inform talent development strategy.
Kitman Labs and the Premier League announced the launch of the Football Intelligence Platform for all Academies last month. By deploying the Intelligence Platform across the Men’s First Team and Women’s Teams (First + U18’s), Fulham will now unify all data and analytics in a singular operating system for the entire organization. This integrated, “whole club solution” will serve to drive cross-departmental collaboration, eliminate data and information silos, and provide internal stakeholders with a complete, unified view of each athlete for the purposes of unlocking performance potential and expanding player pathways.
"We’re thrilled to be working with Fulham FC - one of the most accomplished and storied football clubs in the English Premier League - helping to bring innovation to how medical and performance data and analytics are being leveraged across the entire organization to inform strategy and decision-making with objective, analytics-based insights,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs.
“The traditional approach to simply collecting medical and performance data will no longer suffice. We needed a single system that combines diverse sets of data across the organization. One that ensures accuracy of information, allows the information to be shared and utilized in real time, and supports planning and player health and development with actionable insights" said Chris Hanson, Head of Medical, Fulham FC.
“Our recent transition to the Kitman Labs Intelligence Platform has allowed us to continue to improve and manage the processes relating to the capture, cleaning, enrichment, and analysis of our football related data. It’s continued to support our evolving commitments to interrogating data, interpreting results, and creating data-led insights and stories.
We have been able to combine data sets from multiple disciplines and data streams to calculate, measure and evaluate impact for the purpose of player development. Furthermore, the platform has supported key stakeholders from across the ecology of the club to reason, reflect and strategise as a consequence of these data-led insights.
As a pilot club, these processes have been well supported through a comprehensive deployment. The ongoing and iterative support structures have flexed and been reflective of our own cares, concerns and strategies to ensure a collaborative approach to moving to our new data management system” said Tom Hounsell, Academy Insights Manager, PDP Coach.
Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and leagues across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company's technology has been used by some of the world's most elite soccer organizations, including Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Sporting Lisbon. Kitman Labs recently announced the launch and deployment of The Football Intelligence Platform across all Premier League Academies.
This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken including two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (2000+), creating the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.
About Kitman Labs:
Kitman Labs is the world's leading sports science and performance intelligence company. Kitman Labs powers iP: The Intelligence Platform, the advanced operating system used by the largest and most innovative leagues, teams and regulatory bodies in elite Sport and Defense. Our software solutions - Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization, Coaching & Development and League Operations - have been designed to optimize human performance; enhance overall health, wellness and longevity; reduce injury risk; and drive operational efficiencies and value. Kitman Labs is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Dublin and Manchester.
About Fulham Football Club:
Fulham Football Club was formed in 1879 as a local boys’ church side, Fulham St Andrew’s. The oldest of London’s first-class clubs, Fulham FC has a long and colourful history, spanning over 140 years, and is rightly positioned as London’s Original Football Club with its home, Craven Cottage, having hosted matches since 1896.
Promotion to the Premier League was first achieved in 2001 and the team remained in England’s top division until 2013. The Club reached the final of the inaugural Europa League in 2010, losing to Atletico Madrid 2-1 in extra-time. Recent successes have included promotion to the Premier League by winning the Championship Play-Off Finals in 2018 & 2020. The Club also achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2022 by winning the Championship.
Fulham FC Chairman Shahid Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League, purchased the Club in 2013.
Men’s First Team:
Marco Silva was appointed Head Coach in July 2021 ahead of the 2021/22 EFL Sky Bet Championship campaign and led the team to promotion to the Premier League in 2022. The Club completed the 2022/23 Premier League season in tenth position. The first match of the 2023/24 campaign started with a 1-0 victory at Everton in August.
Women’s First Team:
Fulham FC’s Women’s Team kick off their campaign with a home fixture against Ashford United at Motspur Park on Sunday 20 August. A host of new signings have joined the squad this summer as Head Coach, Steve Jaye’s, side competes in the London and South East Women’s Regional League.
