For many years football lagged behind other sports in the adption of technology to assist player development, with the mangagers, trainers and coaches placing more emphasis on their own experience and knowledge to inform decision making. However, today, footaball is one of the more progressive sports in adopting player tracking and monitoring technology to help everything from informing strategy on the pitch, revealing training needs, assisting injury prevention and monitoring player statistics to delivering enhanced commentator coverage on match-day. 

In addition to basic player position and movement tracking, 3D motion capture and gait analysis systems that used to only be found in hi-end sports science labs have now been simplified, optimised and cost reduced using off-the-shelf sensors to enable technology to be accessible to not only professional football teams, but also to academy players, 5-a-side squads and amature football teams. Here is a quick overview of the main technologies:

• GPS-based Systems: Products like Catapult Sports’ Playr and STATSports’ Apex provide GPS tracking for athletes, offering insights into their movements and physical performance.
• FIFA Quality Certified Systems: Systems such as Catapult’s Clearsky and ChyronHego’s TRACAB have received FIFA’s quality certification, ensuring high standards of accuracy and reliability.
• Local Positioning Systems (LPS): Inmotio is an example of an LPS that offers precise tracking of players’ movements during training and matches.
• Optical Tracking Systems (OPT): The TRACAB system by ChyronHego and the STATS SportVU are examples of OPT systems used to monitor and analyze player movements
• Insole/Sock Trackers: Products like the Playermaker device attach to a player’s footwear and provide detailed data on footwork and movement.
• Smart Video Cameras: Systems like Pixellot and Veo offer automated video tracking of players and the ball, providing tactical insights without manual filming.
  
• Training Apps for Coaches: Apps such as FPRO™ and CoachBetter provide features for tactics, fitness, player development, and team management.
• Soccer GPS Trackers: The Catapult PLAYR SmartCoach System and STATSports Apex Athlete Series are popular GPS trackers specifically designed for soccer.
• Wearable Technologies: Wearables like the Adidas miCoach and the Polar Team Pro system track a wide range of metrics, including heart rate, distance covered, and speed.
• Performance Tracking Software: Software like iSportsAnalysis and Hudl provides comprehensive analysis of team and player performance, integrating data from various tracking technologies.
  

The following products and systems are at the forefront of leveraging affodable technology to enhance the training, performance and strategic planning in today's modern football game. They provide coaches, managers, players and match officials with valuable data that can be used to improve every aspect of player performance, match strategy, team management and matchday tracking.