In January 2026, FBref lost its Opta data licence. The historical data is still there and still useful for research, but it no longer updates with the advanced stats people relied on.
That one change makes a lot of older guides wrong. If an article tells you to build your portfolio on live FBref advanced data, it was written before the shift. The good news is there are still plenty of ways to get data. You just need to know what each one is for.
Free sources worth using
You do not need to spend a penny to start producing real analysis. Here's what I'd actually use.
StatsBomb open data. A free library of detailed event data, including competitions like the Women's World Cup, men's internationals and some historical seasons. It's the best free way to work with proper event data and learn the tools, and it's the data behind a lot of the public analysis you see.
Understat. Expected goals and shot data for the top five European leagues. Simple, clean, and good for shooting and finishing analysis. It needs a bit of scraping to pull into your own tools.
FBref (historical). Still worth knowing. The archive is large and the basic stats are fine for context and older-season research. Just don't rely on it for up-to-date advanced numbers.
Sofascore and WhoScored. Match ratings and single-game stats across a wide range of leagues. Useful for coverage of competitions the big free sources ignore. Both need scraping rather than a clean export.
Transfermarkt. Not performance data, but essential for the other half of recruitment: market values, contract expiries, transfer history and injury records. You cannot do proper due diligence on a player without this kind of context.
Free video. Data is only half the job. For video, FIFA+ has full-match replays, plenty of leagues stream on YouTube, and there are community-maintained streaming sheets that point you to free full matches across dozens of competitions. If you want to scout, you watch.
Paid platforms, and what they're for
At some point, if you go further, you'll come across the paid platforms. You do not need these to start, but it helps to know what they are so the names stop being a mystery.
The first thing to understand is that most of the big ones are expensive, often running into thousands of pounds a year. They're priced for clubs and organisations, not individuals, and in practice you'll usually only get access to them once you're inside one. Don't expect to buy these yourself early on.
Hudl Wyscout. The industry standard for video scouting, with the largest match library in the game and data alongside it. This is what most clubs and agencies actually use day to day.
StatsBomb IQ. Advanced data with a high level of detail, radars, and player comparison tools. Strong on the analytics side.
Opta / Stats Perform. The data that powers a huge amount of the industry, used by elite clubs and broadcasters.
SkillCorner. Physical and tracking data pulled from broadcast footage, so you get running and speed numbers without GPS access.
IMPECT. Best known for its packing data and used below the top end as well as across the game. It was acquired by Catapult in late 2025.
These are the platforms you'll typically meet through a club, an agency, or a membership that includes access, rather than buying them yourself.
Affordable platforms you can actually access
The shift in the last few years is a tier of cheaper, individual-friendly platforms. You don't need to be inside a club to use these, which makes them genuinely useful if you're building work on your own.
Twelve. Analytics with player comparison, shortlisting and possession-value style metrics. More affordable than the giants and increasingly used below the top end.
Earpiece. Twelve's AI scouting assistant, a football-trained model you can ask about a player, team or match and get structured insight back in seconds. It's built on detailed event data and you can even use it through WhatsApp, which makes it about as accessible as paid scouting tools get.
ScoutingStats.AI. Pro-grade event data across 150+ leagues turned into player comparisons, advanced search and custom scatter plots, pitched at individual analysts rather than clubs. A good way to work with serious data on a personal budget.
The thing to understand is that the expensive platforms are something you grow into through a club, while this affordable tier means you no longer have to wait for one to start working with real data.
Which source for which job
This is where most guides fall down. They give you a list and leave you to work out what to do with it. Here's the simple version.
If you want to build data visualisations and learn the tools, start with StatsBomb open data and Understat.
If you want to scout players on video, you need match footage. Free streams and FIFA+ to begin, Wyscout if you get access later.
If you want to do recruitment-style work, you'll combine performance data with Transfermarkt context: who's available, on what contract, at what value, with what injury history.
If you want to build a portfolio that gets noticed, pick a league outside the top five that nobody else is covering and use the free sources to go deep on it. The data being slightly harder to get is the point. It's why your work stands out.
The no-budget starter stack
If you're starting from zero this week, here's the stack I'd use, all free:
- StatsBomb open data for event data and learning the tools
- Understat for shooting and xG
- Transfermarkt for market and contract context
- FIFA+ and free streams for video
- A note of where to find full matches for the leagues you care about
That's enough to produce real scout reports and data pieces today. The people who break in aren't the ones with the most expensive subscriptions. They're the ones who actually use what's freely available and keep doing it.
A quick word on staying current
The reason the FBref change matters isn't just the data. It's the lesson. This market moves. Licences change, platforms merge, free things go paid and paid things get cheaper.
So don't memorise a list and assume it's permanent. Understand what type of data you need, free or paid, event or tracking, performance or market, and keep an eye on what's actually working right now. That awareness is part of being good at this.
Where to Go From Here
The data isn't the hard part anymore. Using it consistently is.
Pick the free starter stack, choose one league nobody else is covering, and start producing real work this week. The people who break in aren't the ones with the most expensive subscriptions. They're the ones who actually use what's freely available and keep doing it.
If you want weekly, no-fluff advice on breaking into football recruitment and analytics, join the newsletter. It's free and it's where I share the stuff that doesn't make it into articles like this one.
And if you want the data done for you plus the support to use it, that's part of what we do inside The Recruitment Room. Members get shared data exports across dozens of leagues and a Twelve account included, alongside feedback on the work you produce with it.
Related reading: the tools every football analyst should know, how to build a football analyst portfolio, and how to get into football analytics.
Frequently asked questions
Is football data free?
Yes, a lot of it is. StatsBomb open data, Understat, Transfermarkt and historical FBref are all free, and between them that's enough to produce real analysis. The free sources cover event data, expected goals, and market and contract context, which is most of what you need early on. The paid platforms add wider league coverage, integrated video and finer detail, but you don't need any of them to start and build a body of work.
Is FBref still good in 2026?
For historical research, yes. For current advanced stats, no. FBref lost its Opta licence in January 2026, so it no longer updates with the advanced numbers people relied on. The historical archive is still large and useful for context and older-season work, and the basic stats remain fine. Just don't build live, current-season analysis on it expecting up-to-date advanced data, because that part is gone.
What data do clubs use?
Most clubs and agencies work in Hudl Wyscout for video and data day to day, since it holds the largest match library in the game. Alongside that they use providers like Opta and StatsBomb for advanced data, SkillCorner for physical and tracking numbers, and increasingly platforms like Twelve and IMPECT below the top end. You'll usually get access to these through a club or a membership, not a personal subscription.
Where do I get football data to build a portfolio?
Free sources are plenty for a strong portfolio. Pick a league outside the top five that nobody else is covering, then use StatsBomb open data and Understat for the numbers and Transfermarkt for market and contract context. Go deeper on that one league than anyone else bothers to. The fact the data is slightly harder to get is the point, because it's what makes your work stand out from everyone analysing the Premier League.
What is the best free source of expected goals data?
Understat is the best free source of expected goals data. It covers the top five European leagues plus the Russian Premier League, with xG, npxG and shot-level numbers going back to the 2014/15 season. It's clean and reliable, which makes it ideal for shooting and finishing analysis. You'll need a little scraping to pull it into your own tools, but it's one of the last genuinely free, high-quality xG sources still available.
What replaced FBref after it lost the Opta licence?
Nothing replaced FBref like for like, because there's no single free source giving away current Opta data anymore. Instead you spread the work across what's left. StatsBomb open data covers event data, Understat covers expected goals, and Sofascore or WhoScored fill gaps for leagues the big free sources ignore. For current advanced data at scale you now generally need a paid platform, which is exactly the shift the 2026 change forced.
Where can I watch full football matches for free to scout?
FIFA+ is the main free option, with full-match replays and archive footage across hundreds of competitions, though it leans toward smaller leagues and tournaments rather than live top-five football. Beyond that, plenty of leagues stream matches on YouTube, and community-maintained streaming sheets point you to free full matches across dozens of competitions. Data is only half of scouting, so being able to watch the player is as important as having their numbers.
Do I need to pay for football data to get a job?
No, you don't need to pay for data to get a job. The people who break in aren't the ones with the most expensive subscriptions, they're the ones who actually use the free sources and keep producing work. StatsBomb open data, Understat, Transfermarkt and free video are enough to build real scout reports and data pieces. You'll usually meet the paid platforms later, through a club or a membership that includes access, rather than buying them yourself.