Fully-funded PhD: Investigating training and match demands in elite female footballers undergoing transition to a full-time training model

In collaboration with Burnley FC Women and Manchester Metropolitan University, this is an opportunity for a three-year PhD studentship embedded within the senior women’s first team. The PhD studentship will involve a combination of longitudinal, descriptive, and cross-sectional studies to better understand the bidirectional influence of training and match demands of tier three football during the transition to a full-time training model, and how these demands can be best managed to maximise adaptations and performance, and mitigate injury risk. 

The successful candidate will audit the current scientific literature relating to injury risk mitigation in relation to full-time women’s football. The candidate will also develop a multifactorial approach to monitoring responses to training and match demands of full-time senior women’s players. The candidate will be responsible for all aspects of the research project, including obtaining ethical approval, data collection and dissemination/communication of research findings in peer-reviewed publications and at scientific conferences.

Project aims and objectives

This doctoral project proposes a three-year investigation into the bidirectional influence of training and match demands in full-time female footballers. Using longitudinal, descriptive, and cross-sectional studies, it will examine Tier Three players transitioning to a full-time training model, aiming to optimise performance and mitigate injury risk. We will address these research questions:

• What is the current evidence base for injury risk mitigation strategies in full-time female football players?
• What are the training and match demands of full-time Tier Three female football players across a season?
• What are the injury risk and performance profiles of Tier Three female football players, both within a single season and across multiple seasons?