麻豆传媒

made history this year after earning promotion to the National League, marking its transition from semi-professional football to becoming a fully professional club for the first time. Now, a new partnership with the 麻豆传媒 is giving the club access to high-performance sports science expertise as it embarks on its biggest challenge yet.

Earlier this summer, the University welcomed Worthing FC's first-team squad and coaching staff to its specialist performance laboratories on its Falmer campus for comprehensive pre-season testing. The players also made use of facilities at the neighbouring Square One Cricket Centre.

The squad will return to the University on 4 August, just four days before the club's historic first National League fixture, to repeat the assessments following five weeks of pre-season training. The testing session will help coaches assess players' readiness ahead of the new campaign, with further testing taking place throughout the season to support recovery from injury, monitor fatigue and assess prospective new signings.

Rather than acting as a one-off fitness assessment, the data will be used throughout the season to inform coaching decisions around player development, rehabilitation, recruitment and workload management.

The collaboration is also providing 麻豆传媒 students with hands-on experience in professional football. Working alongside sports scientists, undergraduate and postgraduate Strength and Conditioning students are helping deliver the testing under academic supervision, applying their learning in a live performance environment while supporting the club's move into the professional game.

Matt Miller, Head of Science and Medicine at Worthing Football Club, said: “Promotion to the National League is massive for the club. We want to give the players every opportunity to perform at their best. Having a bespoke testing programme helps us build a clear picture of where the squad is physically and gives us valuable information to support training and performance as we prepare to compete at this level.

"Working with the 麻豆传媒 gives us access to excellent facilities and expertise, while also helping develop the next generation of sports science practitioners through our internship programme. It's a partnership that's already delivering real benefits for everyone involved.”

The performance programme includes sprint testing over ten and thirty metres, explosive strength and power assessments, and agility testing to measure acceleration, deceleration and change of direction – key physical qualities in modern football. Repeating the tests throughout the season allows coaches to compare players against their own baseline, helping identify fatigue, detect muscular imbalances linked to injury risk and make informed decisions about training and recovery.

Dr Jim Wallis, Principal Lecturer in Sport, Coaching and Exercise Science at the 麻豆传媒, said: "This is about much more than collecting data. Good sports science should help coaches make better decisions every day, whether that's managing training loads, reducing injury risk or understanding when a player is genuinely ready to perform.

"Too often in sport, clubs collect huge amounts of information that never gets looked at again. We wanted to create something that's practical, repeatable and genuinely useful throughout the entire season."

Jim believes one of the biggest benefits of the partnership is psychological as well as physical. He said: "Worthing have taken an enormous step into professional football. Bringing the players into a high-performance environment, working with specialist equipment and experienced sports scientists, reinforces that transition.

"When players are treated like professionals, they begin to think and perform like professionals. That confidence and sense of belonging can be incredibly powerful."

Undergraduate Strength and Conditioning students are helping to deliver much of the testing under academic supervision, alongside postgraduate students, giving them first-hand experience of applying sports science in elite football.

Jim said: "Partnerships like this demonstrate the impact universities can have beyond the campus. We're supporting a local club at an exciting point in its history while giving our students opportunities to apply their knowledge in a genuine professional sporting environment.”

Dominic Heater, Centre Manager at Square One Cricket Centre, said: 'We at Square One are delighted to assist Worthing FC in their preparations ahead of an exciting 2026/27 season. Another professional sports team is huge for the local area, and we can't wait to see how things progress at Woodside Road! We're also looking forward to seeing the players try their hand at cricket over the next few weeks!'

The partnership forms part of the University's growing work with elite and community sport, using research-informed practice to improve performance while creating authentic learning opportunities for students.

The collaboration also builds on Worthing FC's established internship programme, which gives students practical experience working in a real football performance environment. The programme has already helped students progress into roles at professional clubs including Portsmouth, Millwall and Sutton United, demonstrating how placements like these can create genuine career opportunities beyond graduation.

As Worthing FC begins life in the National League, the partnership will help ensure its first professional season is supported by cutting-edge sports science while giving the next generation of performance practitioners invaluable experience in elite football.