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Author Topic: Charles Reep  (Read 1772 times)
Bob's Orange
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« on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 12:56:52 »

I heard Jonathan Wilson talking about this on a podcast over the weekend and thought some people might find this interesting.

https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/charles-reep-football-analytics-founding-father

It doesn't say in this article but seemingly Reep would sit in the stands at the CG with a miner's helmet on which would shine a light on his notebook in the fifties.

He may have been brought up before but I thought it was worth sharing.
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RobertT

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« Reply #1 on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 13:19:36 »

I remember Reg discussing him a while back.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #2 on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 13:26:47 »

I remember Reg discussing him a while back.

Yes.... here it is...


Flitters probably knows his football history and Town's role in developing the long ball game...

The long-ball game is a tactical gambit in thrall to ludicrously minute statistical data, so it's with some delicious glee that we can pinpoint its genesis almost to the exact minute. At around 3.53pm on 18 March 1950 – sometime during the half-time interval of the Third Division (South) match between Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers – the accountant and former RAF wing commander Charles Reep whipped out a notepad and pencil from his overcoat, and prepared to begin taking notes. Many, many, many, many notes.

Reep was embarking on the first great statistical analysis of football, and he quickly came to the conclusion that "85% of goals tend to be scored from passing sequences that involved a small number of passes, usually three or less" and that "two-thirds of goals come from balls recovered in the last third of the pitch". Teams should, he argued, adjust their tactics accordingly. There was no point playing possession football; better instead to hoof it upfield and deal with what unfolds there. (A simplification of his theories, but not by much; for "hoof", read "reacher", which is what Reep called "a single pass from the defensive third to the attacking third of the pitch".

Most teams in English football play some sort of long ball game.... however there are degrees of directness.
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swindonmaniac

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« Reply #3 on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 13:30:34 »

Interesting,  obviously no longer with us.  Maybe this is where Paul Plowmam took over.
« Last Edit: Monday, August 19, 2019, 13:50:41 by swindonmaniac » Logged

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horlock07

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« Reply #4 on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 14:20:51 »

Died in 2002 so possibly was shouting get it forward at the CG up to that date?
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swindonmaniac

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« Reply #5 on: Monday, August 19, 2019, 14:31:08 »

Died in 2002 so possibly was shouting get it forward at the CG up to that date?
Or 'who turned the bloody lights out' ??.
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