Matchplan Conference 2025
On November 15, 2025, the Matchplan Conference took place once again at the German Sport University Cologne – a special event for football enthusiasts and experts. Specialists from clubs, associations, and academia came together to discuss current developments in match analysis, coaching, and scouting.
The aim of the event was to combine practical working methods from professional football with scientific approaches and to foster exchange between experienced coaches, analysts, officials, and students. A recurring theme throughout the intensive conference program was: anyone who wants to make a difference in modern football must integrate coaching, analysis, and technology in a consistent and coherent way.
The presentations and workshops highlighted how deeply data-based analysis is integrated into day-to-day sporting practice. The focus was on methods that systematically evaluate observations from matches and training sessions and translate them into concrete training measures. Questions of training management and communication within support teams were also addressed—such as how to prepare information so that it becomes immediately applicable for match‑day preparations. Developments in scouting likewise played a central role. Several contributions illustrated how performance profiles can be created and how the potential of young players can be assessed in the long term. Particularly valuable for the roughly 300 participants: many speakers demonstrated how an analytical idea becomes a training impulse and how this can be anchored effectively in training routines.
The conference was supported by a wide range of distinguished speakers, including professionals from the Bundesliga, international leagues, and youth performance centers. They provided insights into their workflows and presented concrete case studies from practice. Among them were Roger Schmidt (Global Football Advisor, J. League), Gerhard Struber (Head Coach, Bristol City), Frank Kramer (Sporting Director, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Otmar Schork (Managing Director, 1. FC Magdeburg), Jan Kirchhoff (U19, 1. FSV Mainz 05), Martin Spohrer (Eintracht Frankfurt), Marie-Louise Eta (U19, 1. FC Union Berlin), Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (ZDF; Supervisory Board, Fortuna Düsseldorf), and many others. A full list of speakers can be found on the conference website. A fixed component of the program once again was the mentoring session for young professionals. In short one-on-one conversations, young participants were able to discuss their profiles and receive guidance for entering the fields of analysis, coaching, or scouting.
“With its thematic breadth, the conference offered a comprehensive overview of the current demands in modern professional and youth football, while also demonstrating how closely scientific insights and practical work are now intertwined,” says Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert, Executive Director of the Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics at the German Sport University Cologne.