While the key to winning football matches may be credited to the talent on the pitch, many secrets of the success are discovered away from the grass. As they say: it’s all in the detail…

A game may last for 90 minutes but the hours dedicated to planning and study of the opposition and its areas of exploitation run long into the week of preparation.

Finding that pocket of space, knowing when exactly to deliver a cross or playing the perfect through-ball could prove the crucial factor between success and failure, and it is these such factors that often determine how a game pans out.

The football industry now boasts a remarkable number of different job roles and pleasingly, a large number of women occupy those positions.

Manchester City Performance Analyst Roya Arabshahi is one of those women. Having joined the Club in March 2016, she has played an integral part of the women’s team’s remarkable accomplishments, as the Club clinched a clean sweep of domestic trophies and reached the Champions League semi-finals in successive seasons.

Roya shares the story of her path into football and her pivotal role.

Credits: Fat Lemons / 2Doors