Mathew Benham & Brentford: A Story on Innovation through Statistical Analysis

In the world of football these days, it takes bold minds, great thinkers, risk-takers and innovators to change the usual norm, to use a limited budget to achieve success, to outthink the richer clubs, and to use unorthodox methods to succeed in a hugely competitive sport. This is exactly what Mathew Benham has achieved at Brentford in his nine years as owner of the club.

Benham has taken the club from lower league obscurity in a short space of time to the cusp of Premier League promotion by using unique models, statistical trends, and data to push the boundaries of achieving success without the riches that most clubs have access to. One of the core values Benham has instilled in the club since he took over in 2012 is the ability to take a calculated risk, and this happens by being innovative, having the ability to outthink the much bigger and better teams around them and above them in the different tiers of English football.

As underdogs, Brentford have to think differently from the rest of the London clubs around them such as Chelsea, West Ham, Fulham, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Crystal Palace. The presence of these clubs has gone a long way to help Brentford go about their business quietly, and Benham’s philosophy is bringing the club into the limelight. He had cracked the football betting market through the use of algorithms and formed his own betting company Smartodds in 2004, which provides statistical research and sports modeling services to gamblers.

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.  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.