Soccermatics

David Sumpter is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Born in London but raised in Scotland, he completed his doctorate in Mathematics at Manchester, and was a Royal Society Research Fellow in Oxford before heading to Sweden. David’s research has shown how mathematics can be applied to anything and everything, and in particular to social behaviour. An incomplete list of his research projects includes: pigeons flying in pairs over Oxford; clapping undergraduate students in the north of England; swarms of locusts traveling across the Sahara; disease spread in remote Ugandan villages; the gaze of London commuters; and the tubular structures built by Japanese amoebae. In his spare time, he exploits his mathematical expertise in training a successful under-tens football team, Uppsala IF P05. David is a Liverpool supporter with a lifelong affection for Dunfermline Athletic. collective-behavior.com @djsumpter

Preface: The Kick-off

Part I: On the Pitch
Chapter 1: I Never Predict Anything and I Never Will
Chapter 2: How Slime Moulds Built Barcelona
Chapter 3: Check My Flow
Chapter 4: Statistical Brilliance
Chapter 5: Zlatan Ibrah Rocket Science

Part II: In the Dugout
Chapter 6: Three Points for the Bird-brained Manager
Chapter 7: The Tactical Map
Chapter 8: Total Cyber Dynamo
Chapter 9: The World in Motion

Part III: From the Crowd
Chapter 10: You'll Never Walk Alone
Chapter 11: Bet Against the Masses
Chapter 12: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
Chapter 13: The Results Are In
The Full-Time Whistle

Notes
Acknowledgements
Index