Royal British Sports Academy Research Report: Schedules in Main European Leagues are Increasingly Dense, but Players’ Workloads are Gradually Decreasing

Recently, the Royal British Sports Academy published a research report confirming that since the beginning of this century, although the number of matches played by clubs in the main European leagues has been increasing, the average playing time per season for players has been decreasing, and their workload is gradually reducing.

Using the top five European leagues as samples, during the 23/24 season, Premier League clubs had the highest total number of domestic matches played within 72 hours (87 times), with the shortest average interval between back-to-back matches (67.3 hours). Manchester United, Manchester City, and Real Madrid were the clubs that participated in the most friendly matches outside Europe between July 2010 and May 2024, with 52, 45, and 45 matches respectively. In terms of friendlies, the Premier League also set a new record in 23/24, with clubs playing a total of 42 friendlies outside Europe during the off-season, covering a combined distance of 308,212 kilometers.

According to the statistics in the report, Chelsea’s central defender David Luiz played a total of 6,258 minutes (equivalent to almost 70 full matches) in the 12/13 season for both his club and national team, setting the highest single-season record among all players who have participated in the top eight European leagues over the past 25 years. Close behind him are Lampard, Roberto Carlos, and Manchester United’s attacking core Bruno Fernandes (ranked sixth). If the analysis is expanded to include the top 50 players in terms of playing time, the average playing time for players in the last three seasons has shown a downward trend compared to any three-year period since the 99/00 season. This suggests that in recent years, despite denser schedules and more matches, there is no clear indication that players’ playing time has significantly increased.

Additionally, analyzing data from the four major European leagues in England, Germany, Italy, and Spain, since FIFA permanently introduced the rule allowing five substitutions, substitute players have seen an average increase of 86,775 minutes of playing time per season, a 51.1% increase compared to when only three substitutions were allowed. This has greatly alleviated the physical burden on regular starting players.