This Report analyses the composition of teams participating in the five of the most developed women’s professional leagues worldwide: four European leagues (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. It reveals that the age of players increases, international mobility grows and the concentration of the best footballers within a limited number of clubs independently of their origin pursues its course.

This Monthly Report analyses the presence of expatriate footballers in 147 leagues from 98 national associations. Brazil is clearly at the top of the rankings for countries exporting footballers, ahead of France and Argentina. The most frequented migratory route originates from Brazil and ends in Portugal (261 players). England and Italy are the chief importing countries of footballers.

The 44th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses match attendances in 51 national football leagues from 42 countries. The first part focuses on 26 championships. It retraces the evolution in attendances over the last fifteen years. The second part compares the attendances recorded over the last five seasons for all of the 51 leagues included in the analysis.

This Monthly Report focuses on the top English football division: the Premier League. It analyses the evolution of the origin of players fielded over the past ten years. It shows that the percentage of players having grown up in England, the “nationals”, has progressively fallen to reach a new negative record level over the current season. The proportion of goals scored by Englishmen shows a similar trend.

This 42nd Monthly Report analyses the evolution of the competitive balance in the group stages of the Champions League since the introduction of the current format in 2003/04. The different indicators analysed illustrate a clear trend towards less balance and more predictability.

The 41st CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the link between ball possession and results in 35 championships from UEFA member associations using the data used generated by the specialist InStat company. Though the link between success and possession is undeniable, it is only from a certain level that ball control allows teams to improve significantly their results. This is probably the source of the erroneous but widespread idea that possession is not a key factor for success.

Competitive balance is a crucial issue for the whole of collective sports. The 40th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses this issue from a spatio-temporal perspective. The sample includes 24 European competitions over a period of ten seasons between 2008/09 and 2017/18. All of the indicators analysed illustrate a trend towards a greater imbalance in European football.

The long-term work carried out within the CIES Football Observatory focuses, in particular, on the demographic analysis of the football players’ labour market. The surveys carried out over the past decade allow us to reveal very clear trends. As illustrated in this report, the footballers’ labour market in Europe is becoming deterritorialised by a decreasing presence of club-trained players, a stronger presence of expatriate footballers and greater mobility.

This report analyses club strategies in the area of player turnover for the five major European leagues since 2005/06. It reveals that too many changes in line-ups do not constitute a good strategy for optimising results. On the contrary, high turnover levels tend to affect players’ confidence and aggravate the situation.

The 37th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses from a financial standpoint transfer operations carried out by big-5 league clubs since 2010. It notably highlights the key role played by the Premier League in the structuration of the market. During the eight-year period analysed, English top division clubs are responsible for 78.3% of the overall big-5 league deficit for transfer operations.

Football offers incredibly interesting possibilities to when it comes to data-driven analysis. This e-book regroups the Monthly Reports published by the CIES Football Observatory over the course of the 2017/18 season. Two research notes are also included. The contents mainly relate to our three key areas of expertise: the demography study of the players’ labour market, the analysis of the technical performance of both teams and players, as well as the economic study of the transfer market.

The 36th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the composition of squads in five major women’s leagues: four European (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the Women’s National Soccer League in the United States. The study notably highlights the increases in the average age of players. The number of expatriate footballers goes also up both on the pitch and in squads.