Mariners moor up with sports intelligence firm
Grimsby Town Football Club has announced a long-term partnership with Twenty First Group, the London-based sports intelligence firm.
Drawing on Twenty First Group’s proprietary technology and science capability, the focus of the partnership will be on supporting both long-term strategic planning as well as short-term decision-making to improve performance as the Club seeks to “combine its community-first culture with a differentiated approach to football operations in League Two2.
Twenty First Group CEO Blake Wooster said: “As a business which already works with some of football’s most elite clubs and the game’s biggest investors, I couldn’t be more proud to be supporting one of English football’s most innovative and ambitious ownership groups.
“The Club is clearly on an upward trajectory and to have the opportunity to work with its leadership team on a long-term basis is really exciting for TFG.
“There is a shared commitment to using data and being innovative in driving sporting success and unlocking commercial value but, as importantly, a shared and fundamental belief in the power of sport to drive social change.”
Grimsby Town FC chair, Jason Stockwood said: “When we came into the club two years ago Andrew and I believed we could influence the organisation by resetting the culture, a philosophy of continuous improvement and improving decision making through data.
“Data is now fundamental for making decisions on performance. But making the right decisions from data is harder than ever, so that’s why I couldn’t be happier to be working with the leaders in their field, Twenty First Group.
“Not only will they be helping with creating an evidence-based culture, but they will help us set the long-term vision and strategy for the club”.
GTFC chief executive Debbie Cook added: “In the last two years we’ve made significant progress as a Club, both on and off the field, but we’re ambitious to go much further and realise the true potential of this iconic English Club.
“This work with the Twenty First Group represents an exciting step forward in our journey of continuous improvement”.
As part of the deal, Jennings has joined the board of GTFC as an advisor.
He sits on the Technical Committee of the Association of Sporting Directors and is also the technical director of the UAE Pro League. As well as this, he has held various roles across the professional game, including head of technical leadership at FIFA and general manager of high performance at New Zealand Football. Jennings is also the author of the FIFA Technical Directors handbook.
He said: “First of all, many thanks to Jason, Andrew and Debbie for giving me the opportunity to work with this great football club. It was evident from our first conversation that they are ambitious but, more importantly, have a desire to do what’s right not just for Grimsby Town Football Club but also the wider community.
“Our aim is to develop a long-term strategy based on true values. This will include building a game model and supporting Paul and Chris to bring it to life both on and off the pitch with our leadership behaviours and work ethic.”
Andrew Pettit, vice chair of GTFC, said: “We are delighted to add Gareth’s extensive football experience into the board conversations. As we look to set the ambition for the next ten years, we feel his knowledge – alongside Twenty First Group and the existing management team – will help us make informed decisions about where we can progress as a club.”
