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Dr Bill Gerrard

  • Position: Professor of Business Management
  • Areas of expertise: Methodology; Business Analytics; Sports Analytics; Sports Economics, Keynesian Economics
  • Email: W.J.Gerrard@lubs.leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 343 4458
  • Location: 2.13 Charles Thackrah Building

Profile

Qualifications

M.A.(Hons) Economic Science, University of Aberdeen, First Class, 1982.
M.Phil. Economics, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1983.
D.Phil. Economics, University of York, thesis title: Keynes, the Keynesians and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation, 1995.

Experience

Industrial Economist, Economics Department, Unilever PLC, 1983 - 1984.
Lecturer, School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds, 1984 - 1988.
Lecturer, Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, 1988 - 1995.
Reader, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, 1995 - 2003.
Professor, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, 2003 - present.

Awards

Faculty Partnership Award (Global category) 2022: Highly Commended 

Research interests

Bill's principal research focus is sports analytics defined as the statistical analysis of performance data within an evidence-based coaching regime in both individual and team sports to support decisions on talent identification, player recruitment, athletic development, training priorities, team selection, game tactics and injury management. He has published academic papers on player valuation, managerial efficiency, the sporting and financial performance of football clubs, and the relationship between wage costs and sporting performance. Bill has worked with a number of elite sports teams around the world. He has acted as technical analyst for Saracens and London Irish in the Aviva Premiership (rugby union) as well as providing statistical analysis to support the SkySports coverage of Super League (rugby league). He has also worked with Billy Beane, the General Manager of the  Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball, whose application of sports analytics has been the subject of the Hollywood film and best-selling book, Moneyball. Bill currently works as data analyst with AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie (football). The practical application of Bill's research in sports analytics has been developed into a REF impact case study.