{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T14:14:28Z","timestamp":1777558468698,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]],"date-time":"2025-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745971200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Match running speed demands vary across competitive levels of football, influenced by player position, tactical considerations, and Head Coach changes. In England, the level directly below professional football, Non-League Football (NLF), comprises full-time and part-time clubs. However, the running speed demands of professional teams at this level remain unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate (1) the match running speed demands in a professional NLF team, and (2) the impact of changing the Head Coach on these physical demands. Match running speed data were collected via Polar Team Pro global positioning system (GPS) devices during 41 matches of a tier 6 NLF team, comprising 311 observations of 22 full-time outfield players. Linear mixed-effect models examined the relationship between running speed metrics and fixed effects of a Head Coach change (n = 3), player position, and match outcome, with match number as a random effect. The team average total distance (TD) was 10,479 \u00b1 42 m, and high-speed running and sprinting were 431 \u00b1 62 m and 99 \u00b1 26 m, respectively. The results showed significant positional differences, with wide defenders and midfielders associated with a greater TD than central defenders and strikers. Moreover, a change in Head Coach was significantly associated with a reduced TD, and a similar downward trend was observed across other running speed metrics. The TD and positional differences observed are comparable with other football cohorts, yet HSR and sprinting distances were notably lower in professional NLF. The findings highlight NLF clubs\u2019 challenges in transitioning to higher competitive levels and provide insights for performance and training. Further research is warranted to explore the influence of running speed demands, technical and tactical factors, and other determinants on success in NLF.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s25092865","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,1]],"date-time":"2025-05-01T09:16:12Z","timestamp":1746090972000},"page":"2865","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Competitive Match Running Speed Demands and Impact of Changing the Head Coach in Non-League Professional Football"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-6107-4373","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel T.","family":"Jackson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7057-8073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard C.","family":"Blagrove","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2103-5988","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter K.","family":"Thain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anthony","family":"Weldon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK"},{"name":"Aston Villa Foundation, Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham B6 6HE, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6610-4617","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cain C. T.","family":"Clark","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4929-1067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adam L.","family":"Kelly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Physiological demands of football","volume":"27","author":"Bangsbo","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sports Sci. Exch."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"FIFA (2025, March 16). 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