Tofa Fakunle is currently the assistant General Manager at Canadian Premier League cub, Cavalry FC.

Before this current role, he was the football operations manager at the same club, and then before that, a professional player.

Based in Calgary, Cavalry FC are one of 8 teams that compete in CPL, which is a relatively new league, having only started in 2019. The league is the only professional league in Canada, which offers a lot of potential to grow, especially with the World Cup arriving in 2026.

In this conversation we speak about how Tofa has to look after and manage the clubs’ budgets, the rules set by the leagues around squad building, and how Tofa and his team source players, for free, from all over the World.

We touch on data, the MLS, and a bit more on the overall football landscape within Canada.

Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction

1:28 - Tofa joins and gives some background

3:47 – Transitioning from player to front office, roles & responsibilities

7:55 – Transfer window and season timeline

10:41 – Access to data and spending rules

14:56 – Recruiting players from around the World

18:26 – The landscape of football in Canada & North America

24:25 – Cavalry FC squad profile

28:18 – Rules around building a roster

31:57 – Networking and working with agents

33:38 – Team culture

35:40 – Trading players for profit, thinking long-term

42:59 – Future thoughts on soccer in Canada

46:24 – Summary and wrap up

You can also see more of Chris chatting to analytics professionals over on his podcast too, right here: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisgill_UK

Ricardo Moreira currently is General Manager and Sporting Director at MLS club Orlando City SC.

Now in his 7th year at Orlando, Ricardo joined from another MLS side, Columbus Crew, as Orlando's head of recruitment. Ricardo is highly knowledgeable when it comes to building squads around the constraints and regulations that MLS sides must contend with.

In this conversation we touch on a few of those aspects such as allocating playing budgets accordingly and getting the right balance of youth and homegrown players.

We then go on to talk about scouting around the world and how Ricardo uses his South American background to find great success there, as well as data, and promoting youth. A great insight into what goes on behind the scenes of an MLS team when trying to construct a competitive squad.

Ryan Beale is the CEO and co-founder of sports AI company Sentient Sports.

After completing a degree in computer science, Ryan went on to do a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. Like many others, he was very keen to combine this skillset with his passion of football and one of the first ways he did this was via Fantasy Football.

From there, Ryan raised capital to fund his startup, and now Sentient Sports is working on some really interesting tech being used by professional clubs and organisations.

In this conversation we speak about different types of artificial intelligence and how this is having an impact of professional sports. We highlight scouting, decision making and how certain jobs are changing within the industry.

Ryan also shares a little more on GuardianAI, a tool that the Sentient team is working on that detects online abuse, in real time, that is being directed at athletes and officials. Just another cool application of how AI technology can add to the sporting world

Nikos Overheul is an experienced football scouting and strategy professional who has spent time working with various clubs around the world.

Nikos was actually involved with Brentford FC in the early days of their data revolution and since then, spent time with Statsbomb, and Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.

As well as this, Nikos has also operated as a consultant, aiding teams in their recruitment and alignment towards longer term goals.

In this conversation I ask Nikos about some of the intricacies that come with working in the MLS, how he thinks about risk and reward, and I pitch him a hypothetical job to try to better understand Nikos’ thought process when working with a new club.

David Ray is currently Head of Finance at Championship football club, Plymouth Argyle.

His role is a really interesting one, as it seems he is much more involved with the typical performance and recruitment aspects of the club that a typical head of finance would be elsewhere.

David speaks about the transfer committee they have, how they model and forecast the club’s income to ensure they can remain sustainable and how the club has been clever to diversify their assets.

Plymouth actually went into administration back in 2011 so to now see them competing in the Championship is great to see. Their budget is definitely one of the smallest in the league and David speaks about the challenges that this brings, but how it also forces them to be creative.

Ultimately the goal is to be a sustainable football club that can produce a squad that can compete. We all know the importance of getting recruitment right, but this chat hopefully shows you how a club thinks about optimising income to invest in squad building.

Gregg Broughton is the new Sporting Director at MLS side Chicago Fire, having previously held the same role at Blackburn Rovers FC in the English Championship.

Gregg has vast amounts of experience when it comes to player development, squad building and leadership. Prior to Blackburn Rovers, Gregg spent time as head of player development at Norwegian side FK Bodø/Glimt after spells as academy manager at both Luton Town and Norwich City.

In this conversation we speak about factors to consider when constructing a squad and planning for the future, but also the importance of a ‘club identity’.

Devin Pleuler is currently director of research and development at Toronto based multi-club ownership group, MLSE.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment have a portfolio of clubs across football, basketball, ice hockey, Canadian football, and even esports. Devin’s role is to oversee each of the analytics departments and also stay on top of exciting trends and opportunities within the world of sports analytics.

Devin has also played and coached football, as well as spending some time working at Opta as a statistician. He then joined the group as manager of analytics for Toronto FC, before gradually becoming more senior.

In this conversation, Devin explains a bit more about what his role entails. We also speak about tracking data, technological advancements, and how Devin thinks about and decides on new research projects.

Chris Gill is our new host of the podcast, brought to you by Analytics FC.

This month, Analytics FC teams up with Ankura Consulting Group, an independent global expert services and advisory firm, to discuss the process and pitfalls of acquiring a football club. Alex is joined by Analytics FC CEO Jeremy Steele and Ankura's Jonny Gray and Jon Brown to discuss their new partnership.

This month, Alex spoke to Dan Micciche. Dan is widely regarded as a coaching innovator whose career has encompassed stints at the FA, coaching England youth teams, Arsenal, MK Dons, and most recently, Crawley Town.

Dan talks about the England DNA approach, football and language, and how to create a set-up that fosters creative coaching.

You can find Dan on LinkedIn - he is smart enough to avoid Twitter!

We’ll be back next month with another interesting guest, but until then, make sure you subscribe to this podcast, rate and review it, and check out all the content that is going out from Analytics FC on our Twitter account @analyticsfc.

This month, we spoke to Brexitball expert Andy Watson and immigration lawyer and senior partner at Fragomen LLP, John Kiely, about Analytics FC's ground-breaking new report. The report examines the impact of the GBE regulations on the British transfer market.

The pod discusses, among other things, the difference between the English and Scottish markets, the impact on the Women's game, and breaks down effects on a league-by-league basis.