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The Guardian- 28/03/2006

Royals move into the realms of virtual reality

Matt Scott: Tuesday March 28, 2006

Reading's first signing for their inaugural season in the Premiership may be unveiled at the Madejski Stadium next month. But Thierry Henry it is not. The club's serene accession to the top flight of English football - secured with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City on Saturday - has been accompanied by the trial use of the Datatrax computer system, a rival to the ProZone software beloved of so many Premiership managers.

Neil Ramsay, who founded ProZone before selling the company in August 2004 to Sport Asset Group, the investment vehicle backed by the multimillionaire former footballer Ray Ranson, claims to have improved on the model that revolutionised football in the 1990s.

"In the late 1990s the idea of a progressive manager was someone who had two video recorders," he said. "ProZone has come a long way from there. Now every Premier League and Division One club has some form of analysis system."

The drawback of ProZone, claimed Ramsay, was that data could only be delivered for analysis the following day. His new system has real-time information, theoretically making the dugout as much of an anachronism as the Betamax video, since managers could conceivably position themselves in front of a bank of computer screens to direct matches.

"Fitness coaches will be able to receive laptop readings about players' fitness, and another coach will be fed the tactical information," Ramsay said. "It is in the Premier League and I would hasten to say that anyone who does not use it will be at a disadvantage."

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