Ben Ryan | Inside Brentford FC’s Data-Centric Performance Approach

Dec 23, 2025

Ben Ryan, Performance Director at Brentford FC and former Fiji Sevens rugby coach, shares insights on data-driven performance models and athlete development. He discusses building a culture of psychological safety and how Brentford leverages data for decision-making. Ben reflects on his journey to Olympic gold with Fiji, emphasizing trust and autonomy in coaching. He highlights the club's innovative approaches, including an AI 'beehive' database, and the importance of 'boringly sensible' consistency as a competitive edge in elite sports.

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ANECDOTE

From A 2am Skype Call To Fiji Head Coach

Ben Ryan applied for Fiji head coach on a whim and interviewed at 2am via Skype with the CEO projecting his face to the office wall.
He accepted the job days later despite no contract or pay details and flew to Fiji to see what would happen.

ANECDOTE

Chaos, Community And Commitment In Fiji

Early days in Fiji were chaotic: unpaid staff, bankrupt union, and unusual leadership but warm community welcome and visible player potential.
Ryan stayed because the island's joy and potential outweighed structural problems.

INSIGHT

Find The 20% That Moves The Needle

Ryan uses the Pareto principle to find a team's 20% strengths that deliver 80% of success.
He exploited Fiji's sand dunes as a low-resource, high-impact training 'trampoline' to build fitness and identity.

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Ben Ryan is one of the most distinctive performance leaders in elite sport.

Now Performance Director at Brentford Football Club, Ben is helping shape one of the Premier League’s most progressive, data-driven environments, where alignment, culture and marginal gains matter as much as talent.

In this conversation with Georgie Ainslie, Ben explains how Brentford’s performance model works in practice: from decision-making rooted in data, to creating psychological safety in a ruthless industry, to managing player availability, recovery and long-term development in a congested football calendar. He shares how Brentford balance innovation with consistency, and why being “boringly sensible” can be a competitive advantage.

Ben’s thinking, however, is forged well beyond football. He reflects on his extraordinary journey in rugby, including his time as head coach of Fiji Sevens, where he led the team to their first ever Olympic gold medal. That experience, built on cultural understanding, autonomy and belief, continues to shape his approach to leadership today.

This is a wide-ranging discussion about performance under pressure, learning from failure, and building environments where people can do the best work of their careers, whatever the sport.

This episode of Performance People is brought to you by J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

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The Performance People podcast, in partnership with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, talks to high-performers in the world of sport and beyond, to bring defining moments, hard-earned insights and expert advice to everyday performance. New episodes every Tuesday.

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We love performance, which is why we’ve launched ainslie + ainslie – the first supplement brand to be developed inside elite sport. Now available for everyone. Find out more at www.ainslieainslie.com

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