Our white-coated friends at The Future Laboratory (who are based in Shadwell, the Wimpy end of East London, the most unlikely place for a team of trend forecasters) produced a report for Orange on the Future of Football in 2020. One interesting finding suggests that managers of the future won’t simply trust their instincts, but will rely on technology and artificial intelligence to make their decisions. As current systems such as ProZone evolve, supercomputers will help design teams and match players best suited to coping with the opposition. I doubt that all this maths and gadgetry will ever create managerial legends like Bill Shankly, but I wonder if it could spot, say, a goalkeeper with really poor hand-eye coordination before a World Cup opener? That’d be really useful. The report also explores stadiums as malls of the future, nanotechnology shirts, and computer-generated fans.

Thanks to Dan Broadwood. Since Dan has shaved his head, he looks even more like a football hooligan.

Reference:
The Future Laboratory x Orange

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