All Outputs (28)

Does team size affect Scottish male academy soccer player technical, locomotor and psychosocial outcomes during age and maturity bio-banded small-sided games? (2025)
Journal Article
King, M., Barrett, S., Mclellan, R., Cox, J., Brown, M., Mackenzie, S., & Towlson, C. (in press). Does team size affect Scottish male academy soccer player technical, locomotor and psychosocial outcomes during age and maturity bio-banded small-sided games?. Journal of sports sciences, https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2025.2456408

The timing of the adolescent growth spurt (i.e. peak height velocity [PHV]) varies greatly, causing significant differences in maturity-related anthropometric and physical development among chronologically age-categorised youth soccer players. These... Read More about Does team size affect Scottish male academy soccer player technical, locomotor and psychosocial outcomes during age and maturity bio-banded small-sided games?.

Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play (2025)
Journal Article
Escreet, E., Barrett, S., Toner, J., Iga, J., & Towlson, C. (2025). Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play. PLoS ONE, 20(1), Article e0316833. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316833

Background: Youth soccer players in the UK transition into the professional game at 16 years of age. Understanding the differences between youth and professional standards can help coaches and clubs to support player development during this transitio... Read More about Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play.

Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play (2025)
Journal Article
Escreet, E., Barrett, S., Toner, J., Iga, J., & Towlson, C. (2025). Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play. PLoS ONE, 20(1), Article e0316833. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316833

Background Youth soccer players in the UK transition into the professional game at 16 years of age. Understanding the differences between youth and professional standards can help coaches and clubs to support player development during this transition... Read More about Comparing the technical and individual possession statistics of academy players across different age groups in match-play.

Validation of field-based running tests to determine maximal aerobic speed in professional rugby league (2024)
Journal Article
Bennett, T., Marshall, P., Barrett, S., Malone, J., Simpson, A., Bray, J., Christopherson, C., Nickolay, T., Metcalfe, J., & Towlson, C. (2024). Validation of field-based running tests to determine maximal aerobic speed in professional rugby league. PLoS ONE, 19(7 July), Article e0306062. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306062

Practitioners place importance on high-speed running (HSR) to monitor training practice and match-play demands, whilst attempting to maximise fitness and minimize the risk of injury occurrence. Practitioners apply various methods to quantify HSR, suc... Read More about Validation of field-based running tests to determine maximal aerobic speed in professional rugby league.

Talent identification in soccer: The influence of technical, physical and maturity-related characteristics on a national selection process (2024)
Journal Article
King, M., Brown, M., Cox, J., McLellan, R., Towlson, C., & Barrett, S. (2024). Talent identification in soccer: The influence of technical, physical and maturity-related characteristics on a national selection process. PLoS ONE, 19(3), Article e0298359. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298359

The present study examines the influence of technical, physical, and relative age characteristics on players selection success within the Scottish Performance School trials. Ninety adolescent players (81 males, 9 females; mean ± standard deviation: a... Read More about Talent identification in soccer: The influence of technical, physical and maturity-related characteristics on a national selection process.

Professional soccer practitioners' perceptions of using performance analysis technology to monitor technical and tactical player characteristics within an academy environment: A category 1 club case study (2024)
Journal Article
Davidson, T. K., Barrett, S., Toner, J., & Towlson, C. (2024). Professional soccer practitioners' perceptions of using performance analysis technology to monitor technical and tactical player characteristics within an academy environment: A category 1 club case study. PLoS ONE, 19(3), Article e0298346. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298346

This study aimed to identify professional soccer practitioners' perceptions of the application of performance analysis technology within a single academy club. Secondary aims were to understand the importance that practitioners place on monitoring te... Read More about Professional soccer practitioners' perceptions of using performance analysis technology to monitor technical and tactical player characteristics within an academy environment: A category 1 club case study.

Does biologically categorised training alter the perceived exertion and neuromuscular movement profile of academy soccer players compared to traditional age-group categorisation? (2022)
Journal Article
Salter, J., Black, J., Mallett, J., Barrett, S., Towlson, C., Hughes, J. D., & De St Croix, M. (2023). Does biologically categorised training alter the perceived exertion and neuromuscular movement profile of academy soccer players compared to traditional age-group categorisation?. European journal of sport science : the official journal of the European College of Sport Science, 23(8), 1490-1499. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2022.2117090

The individual response to load is multifactorial and complicated by transient temporal changes in biological maturation. The period surrounding peak height velocity exposes potentially “fragile” individuals to systematic, age-related increases in tr... Read More about Does biologically categorised training alter the perceived exertion and neuromuscular movement profile of academy soccer players compared to traditional age-group categorisation?.

Does transforming subjective measures of load better represent training and match-play intensity in youth soccer players? (2022)
Journal Article
Maughan, P. C., MacFarlane, N. G., Towlson, C., Barrett, S., & Swinton, P. A. (2023). Does transforming subjective measures of load better represent training and match-play intensity in youth soccer players?. International journal of sports science & coaching, 18(5), 1541-1549. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221114739

The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure of relationships between measures of training load and assess whether these can be modified through non-linear transformations. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and seven external load mea... Read More about Does transforming subjective measures of load better represent training and match-play intensity in youth soccer players?.

Quantifying high-speed running in rugby league: An insight into practitioner applications and perceptions (2022)
Journal Article
Bennett, T., Marshall, P., Barrett, S., Malone, J. J., & Towlson, C. (2022). Quantifying high-speed running in rugby league: An insight into practitioner applications and perceptions. International journal of sports science & coaching, https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221112825

High-speed running has previously been documented as a popular metric among rugby league researchers. Researchers place importance on high-speed running due to its inclusion in assessing the demands of training and match-play to help prescribe accura... Read More about Quantifying high-speed running in rugby league: An insight into practitioner applications and perceptions.

Examination of differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE) during bio-banded small-sided games (2022)
Journal Article
Barrett, S., Short, K., Lowthorpe, A., Swinton, P., Maughan, P., Hamilton, A., Hunter, F., & Towlson, C. (2022). Examination of differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE) during bio-banded small-sided games. PLoS ONE, 17(7), Article e0270259. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270259

The aims of the current study were to investigate the use of dRPE with academy soccer players to: 1) examine the effect of bio-banded and non-bio-banded maturity groups within SSG on players dRPE; 2) describe the multivariate relationships between dR... Read More about Examination of differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE) during bio-banded small-sided games.

Quantifying volume and high-speed technical actions of professional soccer players using foot-mounted inertial measurement units (2022)
Journal Article
Lewis, G., McLaren-Towlson, C., Roversi, P., Domogalla, C., Herrington, L., & Barrett, S. (2022). Quantifying volume and high-speed technical actions of professional soccer players using foot-mounted inertial measurement units. PLoS ONE, 17(2), Article e0263518. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263518

Aims The aims of the study were two-fold: I) examine the validity and reliability of high-speed kicking actions using foot-mounted inertial measurement unit's (IMU), ii) quantify soccer players within-microcycle and inter-positional differences in bo... Read More about Quantifying volume and high-speed technical actions of professional soccer players using foot-mounted inertial measurement units.

Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies (2022)
Journal Article
Clubb, J., Towlson, C., & Barrett, S. (2022). Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies. PLoS ONE, 17(1), Article e0262274. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262274

The aim of this study was to assess the measurement properties of external training load measures across three formats of standardised training games. Eighty-eight players from two English professional soccer clubs participated in the study spanning... Read More about Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies.

Quantifying volume and high-speed technical actions of professional soccer players using foot-mounted inertial measurement units - Anonymised dataset (2021)
Data
McLaren-Towlson, C., Barrett, S., Lewis, G., Roversi, P., Domogalla, C., & Herrington, L. Quantifying volume and high-speed technical actions of professional soccer players using foot-mounted inertial measurement units - Anonymised dataset. [Data]

Perceptions of professional soccer coaches, support staff and players toward virtual reality and the factors that modify their intention to use it (2021)
Journal Article
Greenhough, B., Barrett, S., Towlson, C., & Abt, G. (2021). Perceptions of professional soccer coaches, support staff and players toward virtual reality and the factors that modify their intention to use it. PLoS ONE, 16(12), Article e0261378. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261378

A small evidence base supports the use of virtual reality in professional soccer, yet there is a lack of information available on perceptions and desire to use the technology from those employed at professional soccer clubs. Therefore, the aim of the... Read More about Perceptions of professional soccer coaches, support staff and players toward virtual reality and the factors that modify their intention to use it.

The effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players (2021)
Journal Article
Towlson, C., Abt, G., MacMaster, C., Gonçalves, B., Sampaio, J., Toner, J., MacFarlane, N., Barrett, S., Hamilton, A., Jack, R., Hunter, F., Stringer, A., & Myers, T. (in press). The effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players. Science and Medicine in Football, https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2021.2013522

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical markers of talent identification in 11- to 14-year-old academy soccer players. Methods: Using a repeated measures design, 92 players were bio-banded using p... Read More about The effect of bio-banding on technical and tactical indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players.

The effect of bio-banding on academy soccer player passing networks: Implications of relative pitch size (2021)
Journal Article
McLaren-Towlson, C., Abt, G., Barrett, S., Cumming, S., Hunter, F., Hamilton, A., Lowthorpe, A., Goncalves, B., Corsie, M., & Swinton, P. (2021). The effect of bio-banding on academy soccer player passing networks: Implications of relative pitch size. PLoS ONE, 16(12), Article e0260867. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260867

The primary aims of this study were to examine the effects of bio-banding players on passing networks created during 4v4 small-sided games (SSGs), while also examining the interaction of pitch size using passing network analysis compared to a coach-b... Read More about The effect of bio-banding on academy soccer player passing networks: Implications of relative pitch size.

A Brief Review of Methods to Quantify High-Speed Running in Rugby League: Are Current Methods Appropriate? (2021)
Journal Article
Bennett, T., Marshall, P., Barrett, S., Malone, J., & McLaren-Towlson, C. (2022). A Brief Review of Methods to Quantify High-Speed Running in Rugby League: Are Current Methods Appropriate?. Strength and conditioning journal, 44(3), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000693

High-speed running (HSR) has been documented within rugby league to differentiate playing standard and position and often precedes pivotal match events. Practitioners and researchers place importance on HSR because of its inclusion in assessing the d... Read More about A Brief Review of Methods to Quantify High-Speed Running in Rugby League: Are Current Methods Appropriate?.

Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies (2021)
Data
McLaren-Towlson, C., Barrett, S., & Clubb, J. Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies. [Data]

The aim of this study was to assess the measurement properties of external training load measures across three formats of standardised training games. Eighty-eight players from two English professional soccer clubs participated in the study spanning... Read More about Measurement properties of external training load variables during standardised games in soccer: Implications for training and monitoring strategies.

Quantifying technical actions in professional soccer using foot-mounted inertial measurement units (2021)
Journal Article
Marris, J., Barrett, S., Abt, G., & Towlson, C. (2021). Quantifying technical actions in professional soccer using foot-mounted inertial measurement units. Science and Medicine in Football, https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2021.1910333

Objectives: This study aimed to (i) establish the concurrent validity and intra-unit reliability of a foot-mounted inertial measurement unit for monitoring soccer technical actions, (ii) quantify the within-microcycle inter-positional differences in... Read More about Quantifying technical actions in professional soccer using foot-mounted inertial measurement units.

The effect of bio-banding on physical and psychological indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players (2020)
Journal Article
Towlson, C., MacMaster, C., Gonçalves, B., Sampaio, J., Toner, J., MacFarlane, N., Barrett, S., Hamilton, A., Jack, R., Hunter, F., Myers, T., & Abt, G. (2021). The effect of bio-banding on physical and psychological indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players. Science and Medicine in Football, 5(4), 280-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2020.1862419

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of bio-banding on indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players. Seventy-two 11 to 14-year-old soccer players were bio-banded using percentage of estimated adult stature attainment (week... Read More about The effect of bio-banding on physical and psychological indicators of talent identification in academy soccer players.