Winning with the Invisible Laws of Chance – The Unprecedented Success of the Secret Statistician Who Sparked Football's Data Revolution

For over twenty years, one man quietly shaped results up and down the English Football League – and almost nobody knew his name. Neil Lanham was the analyst working behind the scenes: the man managers like Dave Bassett, Graham Taylor, Steve Coppell, Jack Charlton, John Docherty and John Beck turned to when promotion or survival was on the line. Between 1980 and 2000, his methods played a part in eight promotions and relegation escapes – a strike rate no player, manager or coach can touch.

Winning with the Invisible Laws of Chance finally lifts the lid on how he did it. Published here in full for the first time, this is the system Lanham built to exploit the "invisible laws of chance" that govern football results – decades before expected-goals models and data analysts became part of the modern game. Packed with sharp, funny, warts-and-all stories from the dressing rooms and boardrooms of English football, this is more than a coaching manual; it's a rare, entertaining glimpse inside the sport from the man who helped to change how the game was played.

Essential reading for anyone who wants to know what really wins football matches. Published in 2026.

Size: 174mm x 241mm – 352 pages.