About
Research
Email: matt.springham@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
Matt is Associate Professor in Strength and Conditioning Science and Exercise Physiology, is co-lead for the Performance and Practice research theme in the Centre of Applied Science at St Marys University, and is Consultant Research, Development and Innovation Coordinator at Arsenal Football Club (Academy), London. He is also guest lecturer in Sports Medicine at University College London (UCL) and Queen Mary University, London.
He holds undergraduate (University of Hertfordshire) and masters (Brunel University) degrees in Sport and Exercise Science and Human Performance Science and completed his PhD at Edith Cowan University (Perth, Australia) in 2021.
His PhD research examined the interrelationships between training and match load, physical performance, and immunoendocrine responses in elite level professional football players. He is a UKSCA accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach, a BASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist (Physiology), a Chartered Scientist and a Fellow of the HEA.
Prior to working in academia, Matt worked full time in professional football for ~ 12 years in Strength and Conditioning and Sport Science support roles for a number of elite-level professional and national teams.
Research
Research profile
Matt regularly publishes research in international scientific journals, speaks at international scientific conferences and contributes book chapters in scientific texts. His research interests pertain mostly to football science, where he has specific interests in physical performance, load and fatigue monitoring.
His recent and ongoing research mostly relates to examining neuromuscular performance responses to training and match play in English Premier League Academy Football players; research that is being conducted in collaboration with UEFA. To date, Matt has achieved over £1.1 M of external consultancy and research funding. He particularly welcomes PhD applications with an interest in these domains.
Selected recent publications
Journal articles (first author)
Springham, M., Singh, N., Stewart, P., Matthews, J., Jones, I., Norton-Sherwood, C., May, D., Salter, J., Strudwick, A.J. & Shaw, J. (2024). Countermovement Jump Test-Retest Reliability in English Premier League Academy Football Players. ACCEPTED IN: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance.
Springham, M., Singh, N., Stewart, P., Matthews, J., Jones, I., Norton-Sherwood, C., May, D., Sharma, S. T., Salter, J., Strudwick, A.J. & Shaw, J. (2024). Acute neuromuscular and perceptual responses to U-18 English Premier League academy football match play. ACCEPTED IN: European Journal of Sport Science.
Springham, M., Newton, R.U., Strudwick, T. & Waldron, M. (2022). Selected Immunoendocrine measures for monitoring responses to training and match load in professional football: a review of the evidence. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 17(12): 1654-1663. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2022-0226.
Springham, M., Williams, S., Waldron, M., McLellan, C & Newton, R.U. (2021). Summated Training and Match Load Predictors of Salivary Immunoglobulin-A, Alpha-Amylase, Testosterone, Cortisol and T:C Profile Changes in Elite-Level Professional Football Players: A Longitudinal Analysis. European Journal of Sport Science. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1949638.
Springham M., Williams S., Waldron M, Strudwick AJ., McLellan, C & Newton RU. (2021). Salivary Immunoendocrine and Self-Report Monitoring Profiles Across an Elite-Level Professional Football Season. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 53(5): 918-927. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002553
Springham, M., Williams, S., Waldron, M., Strudwick, T., McLellan, C & Newton, R.U. (2020). Prior Workload has Moderate Effects on High-Intensity Match Play Physical Performance in Elite-Level Professional Football Players when Controlling for Situational and Contextual Variables. Journal of Sports Sciences.38(20): 2279 – 2290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1778355
Springham, M., Williams, S., Waldron, M., Burgess, D. & Newton, R.U. (2020). Large Reductions in Match Play Physical Performance Variables Across a Professional Football Season with Control for Situational and Contextual Variables. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.570937
Springham, M., Waldron, M., Burgess, D. & Newton, R.U. (2020). Very Large Differences in the Competitive Demands of the Major British and European Professional Football Leagues: Considerations for Team and Player Workload Management. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning. 28(5): 16 – 25.
Springham, M., Walker, G., Strudwick, T. & Turner, A. (2018). Developing Strength and Conditioning Coaches for Professional Football. Professional Strength and Conditioning. 50: 9-16.
Journal articles (contributing author)
Shaw, J., Maloney, B., Mattiussi, A., Brown, D.D., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2021). The development and validation of an open-source accelerometry algorithm for measuring jump height and frequency in ballet. Journal of Sport Sciences. 41(5) 463-469. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2023.2223048
Shaw, J., Mattiussi, A., Brown, D.D., Williams, S., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2021). Rehearsal and Performance Volume in Professional Ballet: A Five-Season Cohort Study. Journal Dance Medicine and Science. 27(1) 3-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1089313X231174684
Shaw, J., Mattiussi, A., Brown, D.D., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2021). The Activity Demands and Physiological Responses Observed in Professional Ballet: A Systematic Review. The Journal of Sport and Exercise Science. 5(4) 254-269.
Shaw, J., Mattiussi, A., Brown, D.D., Williams, S., Kelly, S., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2021). Dance Exposure, Individual Characteristics, and Injury Risk over Five Seasons in a Professional Ballet Company. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002725.
Shaw, J., Mattiussi, A., Brown, D.D., Williams, S., Springham, M., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2021). The Demands of a Professional Ballet Schedule: A Five-Season Analysis. Preprint. Sport Rxiv. https://doi.org/10.31236/osf.io/fkdby.
Shaw, J., Springham, M., Brown, D.D., Mattiussi, A., Pedlar, C. & Tallent, J. (2020). The Validity of the Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Method for Measuring Internal Training Load in Professional Classical Ballet Dancers. Frontiers in Physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00480
Hart, L., Cohen, D., Patterson, S., Springham, M., Reynolds, J. & Read, P. (2019). Previous Injury is Associated with Heightened Countermovement Jump Force-Time Asymmetries in Professional Soccer Players. Translational Sports Medicine. 2(5): 252-262.
Turner, A., Bishop, C., Springham, M. & Stewart, P. (2016). Identifying readiness to train: when to push and when to pull. Professional Strength and Conditioning. 42: 9-14.
Conference presentations
Springham, M., Singh, N., Stewart, P., Jones, I., Norton-Sherwood, C., May, D., Salter, J., Strudwick, A.J. & Shaw, J. (2024). Greater efficacy of countermovement jump height than flight time: contraction time ratio for signalling neuromuscular fatigue in English Premier League Academy Football Players. ACCEPTED: Oral Presentation: European College of Sport Science Conference 2024. July 4th, Glasgow, UK
Springham, M & Dunbar, J. (2022, May 31 – June 4) Match-induced perturbations to immunological and hormonal status in elite-level professional football players. American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM): Annual Conference and World Congress, San Diego, California, USA.
Mattiussi, A., Shaw, J., Williams, S., Price, P., Springham, M., Brown, D & Tallent, J. (2021, September 8-10). Injury Epidemiology in Professional Ballet: A Five Season Prospective Cohort Study of 1596 Medical Attention Injuries and 543 Time Loss Injuries. European College of Sport Science (ECSS) 2021 Virtual Congress.
Springham, M., Waldron, M., Burgess, D. & Newton, R. (2019, November 19-20). Game distribution and density differ between the Major British and European Professional Football Leagues. BASES Conference 2019 - Programme and Abstracts, Journal of Sports Sciences, 37:sup1, 1-93, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2019.1671688.
Springham, M., Dunbar, J., Jehanli, A. & Browne, A. (2013, August 31-September 1). Acute immuno-endocrine responses to a mid-season football match in the English Football League Championship. United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) Annual Conference, Nottingham, UK.
Dunbar, J., Springham, M., Franklin, E., Jehanli, A. & Browne, A. (2013, August 31-September 1). Investigating the use of a Point of Care cortisol test in the professional football environment. United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) annual conference, Nottingham, UK, 2013.
Invited conference presentations
Springham, M (2024, August 26). Preseason Screening. UEFA Medical Webinar. UEFA, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Springham, M., (2024, March 28). Monitoring neuromuscular fatigue in elite level professional football players. Red Bull Soccer Global Performance Meeting. Online session: RB Leipzip (Germany), Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), New York Bulls (USA) & Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil).
Springham, M., (2021, November 17). Football and the Immune System. Sportmediizen Saarbrücken. Symposium on Science and Health in Football, Saarland University, Germany.
Chambers, R (Welsh Rugby Union), Drawer, S (Team Sky Cycling), Smith, A (UK Sport) & Springham, M (Brentford FC). (2016). Sports Analytics Innovation Summit. Panel Session: Sport Science: Performance Analytics. London, UK.
Book Chapters
Springham, M & Stewart, P. (2018). Soccer. In: Turner, A. ed. The Routledge Handbook of Strength and Conditioning: Sport Specific Programming for High Performance. London: Routledge.