Minutes played this year

It has been mentioned on a few threads, and Hurst made a passing reference to it in his RH interview after Donny, so I thought I’d look into whether we actually have played significantly more minutes across this season compared to other clubs (plus it gave a me a reason to procrastinate from work on return from the Easter hols).

Whilst I’m obviously quite sad to spend time looking at stats for minutes played (here for anybody who’s interested: https://fbref.com/en/squads/a18a87d7/Grimsby-Town-Stats), I’m not sad enough to compile them for the entire league. I’ve looked at nine clubs: us, those immediately around us, a couple from the bottom of the league and a few from the top. I’m assuming the numbers are representative of the whole division.

I looked at minutes played across squads but limited it to players who have made at least 10 appearances and who have also made at least five starts so far (in other words, they’ve actually contributed to their team). See below. Stats show the number of qualifying players per club, total minutes accumulated by those players and the average number of minutes played per player, per squad across the season so far (in all comps). TL;DR – the bit in bold at the bottom is the important bit:

Leyton Orient (top of the league)
19 players. Total mins: 39,886 - average: 2,099 per player

Carlisle (play-offs)
21 players. Total mins: 42,177 - average: 2008pp

Bradford (play-offs)
21 players. Total mins: 40,032 - average: 1,906pp

Swindon (51 points with us)
21 players. Total mins: 37,769 - average: 1,799pp

Walsall (on 51 points with us)
21 players. Total mins: 43,631 - average: 2,078pp

Doncaster (51 points with us)
22 players. Total mins: 40,122 - average: 1,823pp

Hartlepool (battling relegation)
24 players. Total mins: 41,434 - average: 1,726pp

Rochdale (battling relegation)
22 players. Total mins: 40,142 - average: 1,825pp

League average (based on the other eight club totals):
171 players. Total mins: 325, 193 – average: 1,902 mins played, per player

GTFC
20 players. Total mins: 46,381 - average: 2,319 mins played, per player

Instinctively we probably all knew that we’ve played more than most teams this year, but I think the stats are pretty stark: assuming the other eight clubs’ data can be roughly extrapolated across the division, every one of our players (that’s 20 players who have made at least 10 apps, 5 starts) has played about 417 more minutes than their League 2 counterparts – which is over four-and-a-half matches.

Yes, I know that they’re professional athletes and so should be able to cope with a few extra games, but the point is that they’re competing against opponents who are also professional athletes. Playing an extra 400+ minutes is bound to have an impact (and that’s before we start taking into consideration that better players might be more affected due to being picked more often, more important to the side and so on). Also, none of this considers the fact that we had that ridiculously short turnaround last summer, after a brutal, biblical play-off campaign.

The bottom line is that our players are scrapping their backsides off for points, busting a gut whilst playing minutes well beyond other sides in the league. It may not be pretty at times, but there is a fighting spirit within a squad which is trying desperately to avoid ending the season in a whimper. Now Doncaster – that’s a side whose season has fizzled out. At least we have a bit of fight left, even when running on empty.

Also the amount of travelling we have done recently. We've had some long trips in the last eight weeks compared to most teams. No wonder the players are running on empty

Quoted from kafunanapar140909

It has been mentioned on a few threads, and Hurst made a passing reference to it in his RH interview after Donny, so I thought I’d look into whether we actually have played significantly more minutes across this season compared to other clubs (plus it gave a me a reason to procrastinate from work on return from the Easter hols).

Whilst I’m obviously quite sad to spend time looking at stats for minutes played (here for anybody who’s interested: https://fbref.com/en/squads/a18a87d7/Grimsby-Town-Stats), I’m not sad enough to compile them for the entire league. I’ve looked at nine clubs: us, those immediately around us, a couple from the bottom of the league and a few from the top. I’m assuming the numbers are representative of the whole division.

I looked at minutes played across squads but limited it to players who have made at least 10 appearances and who have also made at least five starts so far (in other words, they’ve actually contributed to their team). See below. Stats show the number of qualifying players per club, total minutes accumulated by those players and the average number of minutes played per player, per squad across the season so far (in all comps). TL;DR – the bit in bold at the bottom is the important bit:

Leyton Orient (top of the league)
19 players. Total mins: 39,886 - average: 2,099 per player

Carlisle (play-offs)
21 players. Total mins: 42,177 - average: 2008pp

Bradford (play-offs)
21 players. Total mins: 40,032 - average: 1,906pp

Swindon (51 points with us)
21 players. Total mins: 37,769 - average: 1,799pp

Walsall (on 51 points with us)
21 players. Total mins: 43,631 - average: 2,078pp

Doncaster (51 points with us)
22 players. Total mins: 40,122 - average: 1,823pp

Hartlepool (battling relegation)
24 players. Total mins: 41,434 - average: 1,726pp

Rochdale (battling relegation)
22 players. Total mins: 40,142 - average: 1,825pp

League average (based on the other eight club totals):
171 players. Total mins: 325, 193 – average: 1,902 mins played, per player

GTFC
20 players. Total mins: 46,381 - average: 2,319 mins played, per player

Instinctively we probably all knew that we’ve played more than most teams this year, but I think the stats are pretty stark: assuming the other eight clubs’ data can be roughly extrapolated across the division, every one of our players (that’s 20 players who have made at least 10 apps, 5 starts) has played about 417 more minutes than their League 2 counterparts – which is over four-and-a-half matches.

Yes, I know that they’re professional athletes and so should be able to cope with a few extra games, but the point is that they’re competing against opponents who are also professional athletes. Playing an extra 400+ minutes is bound to have an impact (and that’s before we start taking into consideration that better players might be more affected due to being picked more often, more important to the side and so on). Also, none of this considers the fact that we had that ridiculously short turnaround last summer, after a brutal, biblical play-off campaign.

The bottom line is that our players are scrapping their backsides off for points, busting a gut whilst playing minutes well beyond other sides in the league. It may not be pretty at times, but there is a fighting spirit within a squad which is trying desperately to avoid ending the season in a whimper. Now Doncaster – that’s a side whose season has fizzled out. At least we have a bit of fight left, even when running on empty.

Brilliant mate . At last a stat that actually tells a story

Someone with more sports physiology knowledge than me will know how much total minutes played has an impact vs average recovery time. Even though we've played probably 4-5 more games than the average L2 team, I'm not sure many players have started 3 games in a row other than Crocombe, the CBs and possibly Clifton. Could well be wrong on that though. Also, for teams that haven't had an ever-present goalkeeper like we have, their numbers could be skewed slightly lower on that basis. Not that I'm disputing the stats, they paint an interesting picture, but just a couple of things that came to mind. Hopefully the short journey to Doncaster and the late win will energise the lads for Saturday

And a four week pre season…

Have I read it wrong or does that show as max having a shot 🤷🏻‍♂️

Here's some other stats . All these players have only had 5-6 weeks off in 19 months

McAtee 68 , Taylor 71 (both have had long term injury lay offs)

Andy Smith 67, Michee Efete 76 - both playing their first ever seasons of professional football

Gavan Holohan 79

Max Crocombe 83

Luke Waterfall 90 (at 32 years of age0

Harry Clifton 95


no wonder they're looking tired both mentally and physically

Couple of weeks with Wayne Lineker this summer and they’ll be back well refreshed! 😂

Quoted from immariner

Someone with more sports physiology knowledge than me will know how much total minutes played has an impact vs average recovery time. Even though we've played probably 4-5 more games than the average L2 team, I'm not sure many players have started 3 games in a row other than Crocombe, the CBs and possibly Clifton. Could well be wrong on that though. Also, for teams that haven't had an ever-present goalkeeper like we have, their numbers could be skewed slightly lower on that basis. Not that I'm disputing the stats, they paint an interesting picture, but just a couple of things that came to mind. Hopefully the short journey to Doncaster and the late win will energise the lads for Saturday

That's the key one for me. It's easily argued that as professional athletes they could/would/should be able to play in however many games are needed, which probably has some degree of truth. However, professional athletes also have to take care of their body if they wish to perform at the highest standard. I'm no Sports Scientist either so I don't know the ins and outs of the profession but it would not surprise me in the slightest if one was to tell me that the recovery phase is where most gains are made in terms of physical peak. With limited recovery time in what has been a hectic season it would only be logical that a lot of these players aren't 100% where they would want to be.

When you consider those 4 extra games average were against top of championship and prem teams running us ragged, in real terms they were probably the same effort level as 1.5 or 2 league 2 games as well.

Warm up the deckchairs, order in some extra physios and the lads might have a fair chance next season without playoffs etc to tackle too.