2024, goals, goals & more goals

We're coming to the end of the year now.

I’ve been doing the Goals of Wales site https://goalsofwales.dan-davies.co.uk/index.php now for a few months and its grown a lot and finally it’s starting to get some attention from others including teams and football fans.?

The site started out as a very manual process which took me about a day to update as it involved a lot of capturing numbers, then working out more numbers and then copying and pasting but as I finish the last few matches for the year, I have now got it down to a couple of hours thanks to ChatGPT and it writing my javascript as well as me creating better laid out templates in the code. I still enjoy the process but I keep finding new stats I can track and I still need to look at the individual team stats, something I kept off the site until the end of the season as I want to keep an advantage for the team I’m involved with helping but come the end of the season, the site will expand a lot to highlight each team and various trends and numbers which I am really excited about. I also want to go back 5 years and see what numbers come out when comparing.

What has been exciting has been the numbers and data. I’m finding out loads about how football leagues play out. For example, the league my team is in has a draw rate of under 12% which currently is one of the lowest in recognised leagues worldwide. 16 draws in 136 games. Again, ChatGPT and football sites like Transfermarket have been invaluable for finding out information and data of other leagues to compare.

But having all these stats and interesting nuggets of information is pointless if it’s just me looking at it so I’ve had to go social with it which has been really hard. Even now writing this about football on Linkedin seems odd and I don’t expect many to interact but it is about getting in front of as many people as possible.?

I’ve started to go more graphical with the data when sharing and have seen an increase in interaction which is pleasing as they take a lot of time to produce but again being a designer, it’s a nice thing to do and allows me to be creative.

Taking the football side out of it, it’s been a fun and productive side project. It’s got me thinking about data again and design, I’m doing actual creative work and I’m learning new ways of coding and dusting off my CSS skills again. It’s the perfect side project. And then adding football to it, I’m in heaven so I want it to grow and continue and see where it takes me.

Side projects are so important to me and I implore anyone to do them as it gives you a chance to learn and do something fun. I wouldn’t be where I am without doing them. Adding a bit of fun also helps. I did murdershewrote.co.uk a few years back to learn CSS Grid. I started out learning Javascript by building a virtual wife. So that’s my advice for 2025, do side projects if you can.?

What’s the aim now with it all. I just want to get the first season done and see what comes out of the data, especially around the team specific data and then plan for the next season and the expansion of the league and what that brings. Maybe some collaboration work.

Big shout out to Transfermarkt who have been a god send with the data on offer. Without this, the site wouldn’t exist. Love you guys. And to the football leagues and teams for providing me with something to do. Love you guys too.

Happy new year everyone