A university student will be mixing with professional footballers as he takes on a new sports data role.

Tom Bedford, from Bromley, will be working with the first team at Watford FC as part of his Master's degree in the sports performance analysis department.

Having originally graduated from Leeds University doing computer science, he now studies at Middlesex University which has helped arrange the opportunity at the Championship club.

Tom said: “Every day I am learning so much and have been given a lot of responsibility.

“I learn a lot from speaking to people at the club about what information is useful for them, and from seeing what goes into the preparation for a match.

“I've been given the opportunity to work on a wide variety of tasks relating to both analysis and scouting.

"This has taught me a lot, and has given me a fascinating insight into how the club operates as well as thinking about how we can improve the use of data at the club.”

“I have always been a big football fan and a big fan of sports and always taken an interest in what goes on behind the scenes in that world..."

Tom says his passion for analysis was sparked when he did a project related to data in football.

“It was just something I was interested in at first but it opened my eyes to this whole world of analysis and made me realise that my skillset can actually be useful in that world," he explained.

“I have always been a big football fan and a big fan of sports and always taken an interest in what goes on behind the scenes in that world, especially as I have a mathematical and a computer science background but it has always been a bit of a mystery to me in terms of how data is used at clubs.

“It never really crossed my mind that I could actually get in to that industry and that computer science-related skills would be useful in football. But it is an industry that is growing a lot and more clubs are employing people to use data.”

Tom says the Middlesex course was key in consolidating his experience at Watford.

He added: “I am loving the course, there are so many great speakers that have come in and revealed insightful information about what they do and what is out there in terms of sports analysis and sports. Everything just seems so relevant.

“Being surrounded by people with so much experience and expertise is brilliant. The dream would be to get myself in the best position possible to stay in this industry, in football would be even better.”