British Journal of Sports Medicine· 2025Q1
Evolving running load demands and fixture congestion in the English Premier League: a decade of insights from 2015/2016 to 2024/2025
- 12citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2025year
Short summary
English Premier League teams show significant increases in total distance (TD), high-intensity distance (HID), high-speed running distance (HSR), and sprint distance (SprD) between the 2015/2016 and 2024/2025 seasons, with per-minute metrics for HID, HSR, and SprD also rising.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Significant increases observed in team total distance (TD), high-intensity distance (HID), high-speed running distance (HSR), and sprint distance (SprD) from 2015/2016 to 2024/2025.
- Per-minute metrics for HID, HSR, and SprD also showed moderate increases, indicating higher intensity within playing time.
- Total and congested match minutes increased for all players over the decade.
- Players in top-six teams experienced a greater increase in total and congested minutes compared to other teams.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Objectives To describe the running load demands and fixture congestion of English Premier League (EPL) teams from seasons 2015/2016 to 2024/2025. Methods A total of 3750 games across ten seasons were analysed for team total distance (TD), high-intensity distance (HID; >5.5 m/s), high-speed running distance (HSR; 5.5–7 m/s) and sprint distance (SprD; >7 m/s). Matches were tracked using semi-automated systems; TRACAB (2015/2016–2018/2019) and Second Spectrum (2S; 2019/2020–2024/2025). Match minutes (Wyscout) were used to calculate total and congested minutes per season. Results Significant small to large increases (all p< 0.001 ) were observed in team TD ( effect size (ES): 0.56 ), HID ( ES: 1.79 ), HSR ( ES: 1.67 ) and SprD ( ES: 1.61 ), along with moderate increases in per-minute metrics for HID/min ( ES: 1.55 ), HSR/min ( ES: 1.41 ) and SprD/min ( ES: 1.46 ) between 2015/2016 and 2024/2025. TD/min ( ES: −0.27 ) showed a small decrease. Trivial to moderate differences were found in season-to-season comparisons for TD (p<0.05; ES: −0.65 to 0.81 ), HID (p<0.05; ES: 0.16 to 0.47 ), HSR (p<0.05; ES: −0.17 to 0.55 ) and SprD (p<0.05; ES: 0.19 to 0.26 ). Rolling 3-season total (+1600 min) and congested (+1415) match minutes increased for all players between 2015/2016 and 2024/2025. A higher increase was seen for the top six team players’ total (+5659) and congested (+2003) minutes. Conclusion Running load demands (TD, HID, HSR, SprD, HID/min, HSR/min and SprD/min), total match minutes and congested minutes have increased over the last decade. The top six teams are exposed to more total and congested minutes than other teams. Continuous monitoring of player responses to these increased demands is essential to better understand the potential impact on player health, especially those with more exposure.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Orthopedics and Sports MedicineMedicine