Gambling tycoon Benham became Brentford's full shareholder in 2014, the year he bankrolled promotion from League One to ensure the Bees would be playing second tier football for the first time in 21 years. On Tuesday night they play the first leg of a Champions League third qualifying round tie against Apoel of Cyprus, having defeated Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar 3-0 on aggregate in their first taste of the competition. Du kan læse et stort interview med Rasmus Ankersen i Tipsbladet, som er på gaden i morgen, fredag. The 47-year‑old Brentford owner made millions at his company, Smartodds, using mathematical models to predict football results and believes the figures can also provide a vital edge in the transfer market and on the pitch. September 28, 2015 Marian Nadler 0. Matthew Benham, owner of Championship Brentford, bought Midtjylland last year and ­transformed the club to win the Danish Superliga title – the first major trophy in their history. Matthew Benham is the owner of not only Brentford was also of FC Midtjylland. A notoriously private man, Benham is the owner of Brentford and FC Midtjylland. There was a precise science to Benham’s methodical approach that underpinned Midtjylland’s whole footballing philosophy, but no amount of data or numbers could turn defeats into draws or victory. Infobox OK Nimi-testi OK: Kuva FC Midtjyllandin kotiottelusta 2012. Benham didn’t believe in the adage of luck. The club have selected Jess Thorup, Denmark’s highly regarded Under-21 coach, as his replacement, but Troels Bager Thogersen, the editor-in-chief of the Danish football magazine Tipsbladet, points out that some of the wounds are still raw. We have gone from using our heart to using our brain.”, This summer they have signed the Danish defender Kian Hansen, who started 28 league games for Nantes in Ligue 1 last season, and the Austria Wien winger Daniel Royer, who is also a full Austrian international, thanks to their mathematical models. Although he worked under the wing of Tony Bloom, now owner of Brighton FC, a partnership that was fruitful at the time, Benham and Bloom would fall out big time. However, these fine margins did also work the other way – 15% of matches that saw them losing at half time did result in a defeat. In 2000, Midtjylland were promoted to the top-flight Danish Superliga after a season in which the team had gathered more points than any other team in the history of the first division. After a number of seasons in the wilderness, and so-near-yet-so-far moments, Midtjylland were acquired by Matthew Benham in 2014. , but claimed the Syndbank Pokalen for the first time in the club history. Two centuries ago there were wolves on the Jutland peninsula, which is why there is a red wolf on the club’s badge. It is during his time at both these clubs that the Moneyball man has established himself as a unique character … By now, his gambling knowledge was legendary, and it was clear he wanted to understand the industry from the inside-ut. A year later, they were being crowned as Danish Superligaen football champions for the first time. Tim Sparv, the team’s tall Finnish defensive midfielder, says those meetings not only include key players but that Ankersen and Benham, also chip in via Skype. The Warden Ken Macdonald QC with Matthew Benham Emeritus Fellow and former Physics tutor Geoffrey Brooker with Matthew Benham and Ken Macdonald QC. “And now we have.”, This season Midtjylland aim to prowl into the heart of Europe. It is like Moneyball.”. Number of passes in the middle third. FC Midtjylland’s rise has been rapid since Matthew Benham invested, going from near-bankruptcy to their first Superliga title in the space of one season. March 2, ... Benham is the owner of Brentford and FC Midtjylland. No doubt several of the much-lauded set-pieces were critical in securing those precious four points. In Summer 2015 sports media in whole Europe covered the story of the danish club FC Midtjylland, it’s owner Matthew Benham and the famous Moneyball . February 1999 when Ikast FSS and Herning Fremad merged, FC Midtjylland were promoted to the Danish Superliga in 2000. Moneyball, Matthew Benham, and Brentford FC’s Unorthodox Quest For Success. But Midtjylland’s methods – using statistical analysis from Benham’s 300-strong team in London – have proved successful. outsideoftheboot.com/2016/07/20/rise-of-data-analytics-in-football-2 Brentford owner Matthew Benham bought Midtjylland, made Rasmus Ankersen (a co-director at Griffin Park) chairman and built the team’s … His background in Physics probably accounted for this desire and hunger to accurate predict models from statistical data. 23 out of 64 would come from dead-ball situations, and most impressively, only three of those would be penalties. The gambler had once again hit the jackpot and data-driven performance collected yet another trophy. The key findings would be condensed for Riddersholm to shape his team-talks at half time, and to inform his pre-and-post game assessments. First of all I have the impression that you all have been quite satisfied with Matthew Benham since he bought the club, right? In 2014, Matthew Benham, a former professional gambler who owns a company that uses mathematical models to predict the results of sports matches, took a controlling interest in Midtjylland — a club from central Denmark formed 15 years earlier as a result of a merger between two rival teams. What could this mean for the finances of Brentford FC? He scored a further eight for Midtjylland as they won the title, proving the data analytics team right. Som storaktionær i FC Midtjylland har Matthew Benham givet klubben adgang til disse data, som er nyttige, når klubben skal vurdere en potentiel ny spiller eller evaluere den nuværende spillertrup. Am I John Terry or am I David Luiz? Amid the acronyms, two stats stand out: each team’s chances and half-chances, and the expected score based on the quality of those chances. It is during his time at both these clubs that the Moneyball man has established himself as a unique character in the football world. Find the perfect Matthew Benham stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Matthew Benham. Come through that, and a final two-leg match on the early-season trans‑Europe express, and they will be in the Champions League proper for the first time. It’s on a different level and it has helped us this year.”. “Matthew likes to go under the radar with our secrets,” he laughs. ... Benham now fully owns Brentford as well as the Danish Club Midtjylland. By the end of the season, Midtjylland’s set-piece wizardry read as follows: That’s not even trying to include the number of goals that came about as a result of Jesper Lauridsen’s terrific long throws. © Breaking The Lines 2017-2021. “They aren’t happy that he has gone. Although the name Thomas Gronnemark now may be more familiar with Liverpool FC, it was in Denmark that he cut his teeth dictating the three types of throw-in: long-throw, fast throw-in and clever throw-in, as well as drilling in technique, how players should receive it and the positioning and runs to make after the throw. The Warden Ken Macdonald QC with Matthew Benham Emeritus Fellow and former Physics tutor Geoffrey Brooker with Matthew Benham and Ken Macdonald QC. The thinking is simple: football is a low-scoring game and so missed chances, luck, or bad refereeing decisions mean a stronger team win less often than in many sports, so such data should give coaches a more accurate assessment of how the scoreline reflects the match. No wonder Midtjylland, who only have the third or fourth largest budget in the Superliga, have become a poster club for analytics in football – but there is more to their success than Benham’s influence, or Smartodds, or its use of analytics. Nama FC Midtjylland pun diambil sebagai nama klub yang merupakan daerah dari tim Ikast dan Herning Fremad. Deeper deliveries would instead be swung towards the middle and back of the box and Midtjylland’s driving runs into the box would cause panic amongst defenders. Benham gathered a team with similar ideas like Rasmus Ankersen who was chairman and now serves as co-director of football at Brentford with Phil Giles. Sviatchenko, the team’s best defender, believes that using the mind coach Rene Petersen – whose time at the club predates Benham – has made a big difference. Benham’s ideas were always going to take time to implement in England, so in 2014 he decided to try it in the less popular Danish league, with underperforming FC Midtjylland. Jakob Poulsen, Midtjylland’s Set Piece Master, Functional rather than Flamboyant: A Team Effort. But the computer guys have given us a new way of thinking.”, Ankersen, though, who also recently took on the role as Brentford’s director of football, admits there is a balancing act between revealing some of what they do without giving too much away. A long throw option. In 2011 he invested in betting exchange Matchbook, which is now one of the world’s major exchanges. Here is the real story of the Danish champions. Benham is the owner of current English Championship side, Brentford FC, and Danish club FC Midtjylland. Midtjylland’s data-driven approach worked. Midtjylland averaged 6.7 shots per match, with a staggering 80% of these finding the target. One or two might correctly identify that he owns Brentford FC, currently punching above their weight in the Championship and regarded as a hotbed of talent in recent years, ripe for plucking by Premier League clubs when the time is right. Brentford owner Matthew Benham has become the majority shareholder of Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland. This isn’t surprising – although the professional gambler turned football analyst prefers to avoid the limelight, his exploits with FC Midtjylland are now infamous. Matthew Benham ejer nu næsten 100 procent af FC Midtjylland, efter et lån på 25 mio. This is the essay from my Extended Project Qualification I took during my final year of 6th form, into Matthew Benham’s techniques. And when does Good Erik and Bad Erik appear?’ He helped with that.”, Petersen uses unusual methods to bring the squad together. Midtjylland’s analysts looked at squad fitness levels and devised individual training programmes to maximise the playing potential and natural fitness of every player and it worked. Although Matthew Benham’s love story with Midtjylland is not as long as his story with Brentford, it is equally impactful. I Denmark they call him Mr. Big Data, and it seems that he has crunched the numbers and made his bet. Martin Pusic: Signed by Midtjylland, Approved by Data Analysts. Matthew Benham the Businessman. Matthew Benham ejer nu næsten 100 procent af FC Midtjylland, efter et lån på 25 mio. They are something our club and our owner, Matthew Benham, sees as a clear point for winning or changing games.” Benham is the key figure in the Midtjylland story. Kolmas peliasu. As Steinlein explains, the club could use the database to find any two-footed left-back in the world of a certain standard, aged 22-26, who has not been injured for the previous 18 months – while the recent addition of player-tracking data gives them a further advantage. Only time will tell whether in twenty years we will view Benham as a footballing visionary, or a logistician who simply ‘got lucky’. Co tak asi uděláte? Riddersholm knew that his team was not blessed with attacking qualities and the outfit was functional and pragmatic, rather than stylish and suave. Founded just 21 years ago, on 2nd February 1999 when Ikast FSS and Herning Fremad merged, FC Midtjylland were promoted to the Danish Superliga in 2000. The same approach is used for another football club owned by Matthew Benham – Midtjylland. Meski berdiri 21 tahun silam, kisah superior FC Midtjylland sendiri baru tercipta sejak 2014 kala mantan pejudi profesional, Matthew Benham mengambil alih. FC Midtjylland have qualified for the Europa League in each of the past three seasons. Matthew Benham, owner of Championship Brentford, bought Midtjylland last year and ­transformed the club to win the Danish Superliga title – the first major trophy in their history. “Before we had one scout – and he spent half his time coaching,” explains Steinlein. Despite this, they were still able to win the league by four points over Copenhagen and qualify for the Champions League in the first time in their relatively short history. By now, his gambling knowledge was legendary, and it was clear he wanted to understand the industry from the inside-ut. Cynics will scoff. A radical Expected Goals and Expected Points Per Game system would be deployed to assess performance, and every single matchday, droves of analysts would be present at the stadium – observing the match rather than watching as casual fans, recording countless pieces of information. Fourteen squad members made at least twenty appearances in the Superligaen in 2014-15, giving Midtjylland a settled starting 11 most weeks and careful monitoring of performance ensured that any player that seemed at risk of over-exertion was taking out of the firing line briefly to avoid injury. An old quip states that “Everybody said something was impossible, until someone came along who didn’t know that, and just did it”. Red to someone who wanted to win at any price. But how important was data in all of this success? First, as they're owned by majority shareholder Matthew Benham (also owner of Championship side Brentford) there is a detailed approach to training, development and scouting. Brentford’s former management team, Mark Warburton and David Weir, did not buy into that theory. Brentford's owner Matthew Benham has made his fortune from statistical evaluation and gambling Benham (centre), who also owns Danish outfit FC Midtjylland, has ploughed over £90million into Brentford Matthew Benham made his millions as a professional gambler and businessman "I'm 42.3 per cent certain we will go up," came the unexpected … Matthew Benham er med på råd, når FC Midtjylland køber spillere Foto: Lars Rønbøg/Getty Images I FC Midtjylland er ejer Matthew Benham så involveret, som tiden tillader, og det er især omkring spillerrekruttering, han sætter sit aftryk. People say football is not all about statistics: Matthew Benham and FC Midtjylland set about to prove them wrong in the most dramatic way possible. Rilwan Hassan offered a pacier option, whilst centre forwards Sly Igboun and Morten Nicholas Rasmussen were free to occupy defenders and all chipped in with goals – notching 13 and 9 respectively in the league. Brentford is still waiting for theirs but progress is significant in recent years. After an education at University of Oxford, studying Physics, a spell at Yamachai International and Vice President at Bank of America led to Benham discovering gambling and working as a Trader for Premier Bet in 2001. “Not everything we do is perfect,” admits Steinlein. Yellow was more creative. Things changed for the club in 2014 when Matthew Benham, who also owns English club Brentford, became majority shareholder. The team were well organised in a 4-1-4-1 formation and played lots of neat one-touch football but it was also noticeable how often they went close from set pieces. Brentford Football Club Owner Matthew Benham has bought the majority shareholding in Danish football club FC Midtjylland and the associated handball side FCM Handball. 09:55 Artiklen er mere end 30 dage gammel kr. The club plays at the 12,000-seat MCH Arena. Analytical models are also central in Midtjylland’s search for new players. Benham made his money in the business of money. All Rights Reserved. DPhil Candidate, Birmingham City and Solihull Moors supporter, Joel Butler (History, 2016) reports on an evening spent with Matthew at the latest Warden Welcomes event. How best to speak to each player strikes the ball and devises training programmes players. These clubs that the Moneyball man has established himself as a defender Brentford FC, and Danish club Midtjylland... Would count set-pieces as responsible for over one-third of the world ’ s,. 100 procent af FC Midtjylland in the Uefa champions league tonight we have team! Any price shot. ” new players as well of Denmark s search for players... Physics tutor Geoffrey Brooker with Matthew Benham and his wealth continued to grow som på. Current English Championship side, Brentford FC Matthew Benham is the extra fuel needed in the 2014–15,... 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