WHEN York City boss Russ Wilcox credited performance analyst Luke Foulkes with helping his team win a point at Stevenage last weekend, the spotlight was thrown on one of the newest and, perhaps least understood, roles in the modern game.

Foulkes' detailed footage on home striker Brett Williams' penalty preferences, relayed to Scott Flinders before the game, proved invaluable as the City keeper dived to his left to keep out the Stevenage sub's spot kick with the scores deadlocked at 2-2 on 83 minutes.

It was a great save but also owed something to the homework, painstakingly performed behind the scenes, with Foulkes revealing: "I sit down with Scott before every game and show him the opposition's recent penalties.

"Then, you're just hoping he remembers the video when it comes to the big decision. You try and look back as far as you can to see who their likely penalty takers will be and what their run-up and technique is.

"Arm movement, for example, can be a big clue with penalties."

Studying players' 12-yard inclinations, however, is only one feature of Foulkes' detailed scrutiny of City's rivals.

Set-pieces, shape, playing style, strengths and weaknesses are put under the microscope too, along with following up specific requests from manager Russ Wilcox.

Foulkes is helped by a growing network of performance analysts, who are willing to share their knowledge on a 'you scratch my back basis' and all Football League clubs can now download footage of every game that has taken place by midnight on a Saturday.

"By watching a batch of recent games, you can get a real feel for a team in terms of what happens regularly and their favourite set-plays," Foulkes pointed out. "But it's also important not to go too far back because they might have changed the way they play completely and started using different set-plays.

"You sometimes tailor your set-plays, though, to who you are playing against because, in League Two, where most results are won and lost by small margins, they play a major part. In fact, you would be surprised by how many goals are scored from throw-ins at this level."

"Having access to so much footage also obviously helps with recruitment because you can look at players from all over the world now."

Foulkes delivers his findings in team meetings at 1.30pm in the dressing room for a home game or before the pre-match meal at a hotel for away games.

Debriefings for weekend games are then staged on a Monday, although the 24-year-old, Sheffield Hallam University graduate is also an important member of City's matchday team, from his position on the gantry at Bootham Crescent where he can relay his thoughts to the management team through ear pieces.

"I am an extra eye really and you have to share your opinions in football," he explained. "You get a better vantage point from up there and see more in terms of shape and where the most space is on the pitch, which can be important especially at set-pieces.

"At half-time, we also have a TV in the changing room if the manager wants to use it. It takes a while for me to get across from the gantry but we will normally meet in the manager's office for a quick briefing if I've seen anything in the first half that might need sorting out."

The Minstermen's players, meanwhile, are encouraged to analyse their own games with Foulkes compiling clips of each individual on the pitch, including their every touch of the ball and any other passages of play they were involved in.

While a student from York St John University films the game, he uses his laptop, and the snippets are available to each player afterwards.

Wilcox also receives the clips, along with a recording of the entire 90 minutes, meaning he can use the footage to discuss aspects of a player's game he might want to work on at the training ground.

There are individual and team goals to meet too with Foulkes adding: "Things like shots and fouls are all benchmarked to see whether we have hit our targets.

"When you don't commit as many fouls in a game, you tend to get results because it limits the number of times the ball is coming into your box. Passes completed are also important for the midfielders.

"They have to hit a certain quota per game although that can depend on the opposition if the ball is in the air more."

Players' intensity levels are now being judged on the training field as well, with the use of heart monitors introduced on a full-time basis this term.

"We're always trying to keep up to date so we don't get left behind and try to bring in the best software we can," Foulkes said. "We now record the heart rates of players throughout the week in training to show what capacity they are working at.

"You're looking for 80 to 90 per cent intensity earlier in the week and then maybe a bit lower just before games. You can also monitor players’ fitness in terms of their recovery times.

"We can then show the players their heart-rates on the laptop and it can get a bit competitive because they all want to be top of the class."

A link-up with York St John has enabled the club to encourage youth-team and academy players to analyse their games too, with filming and clips on all teams covered by the under-graduates.

"At youth level, it's all about development and progression and it also means the players get used to analysis from a young age," Foulkes reasoned.

Hailing from Chester, Foulkes first encountered performance analysis when he chose the subject as an option during the second year of his sport science and exercise degree.

He went on to serve an internship at Sheffield United and confessed that his current role is a great substitute for not making the grade as a player, having spent spells with Blackburn, Crewe, Everton and Liverpool as a schoolboy.

"It's a buzz, come 3pm on a Saturday, when you are part of a professional football club and I don't think I will ever lose that," he enthused.

Like most employees at the club, Foulkes also feels the move to the new community stadium in 2017 will make his job easier.

"We will have more vantage points, which will give us different angles to film in the ground," he pointed out.