At the headquarters of the Portuguese Football Federation in Lisbon, Sports Data Campus officially presented the appointments as Honorary Professors to three absolute leading figures in world football: Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Austin MacPhee.
Honorary Professors of Sports Data Campus and UCAM
Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Austin MacPhee received the titles of Honorary Professors of the MSc Degree in Set Pieces in Football in Lisbon, the postgraduate programme from Sports Data Campus and UCAM specialised in the analysis and coaching of set pieces.
The presentation took place at the headquarters of the Portuguese Football Federation and was led by David R. Sáez, CEO of Sports Data Campus, in an event that represented far more than an institutional recognition. It brought together three figures who symbolise excellence, leadership and applied knowledge in today’s elite football.
Three elite figures, new Honorary Professors
Bernardo Silva, Manchester City’s most decorated midfielder
Few careers in recent European football are as impressive in statistical terms as that of Bernardo Silva. Across his nine seasons as a Manchester City player, the Portuguese midfielder has won 20 titles, including the UEFA Champions League.
With those numbers, he is the most decorated Portuguese midfielder in the history of the English club. His ability to read the game, occupy spaces and take part in highly precise collective combinations makes him a leading model of tactical analysis, particularly valuable within a programme that studies the complexity of structured game situations.
His appointment as Honorary Professor of the SDC and UCAM programme is not merely symbolic. Bernardo Silva embodies, in every match, the principles of preparation, analysis and execution that this master’s degree teaches.
Bruno Fernandes, captain, leader and Premier League Player of the Season 2025-26
Bruno Fernandes ended the 2025-26 Premier League season as its best player, in a historic campaign that included 20 assists, a figure that places the Manchester United captain among the most decisive midfielders in recent English football history.
Beyond the numbers, Fernandes represents a model of leadership both on and off the pitch. His influence in the United dressing room and in the Portugal national team goes beyond statistical data, even though those figures are equally exceptional. His way of understanding the game, as a system of decision-making under pressure, in fractions of a second, connects directly with the advanced analytics that SDC brings into the classroom.
Welcoming him as an Honorary Professor of the postgraduate programme certified by UCAM also means recognising that high-performance leadership is, in itself, a discipline that can be analysed and taught.
Austin MacPhee, the academic and professional architect of the programme
Austin MacPhee is not only one of the Honorary Professors of the MSc Degree in Set Pieces in Football, he is also its Academic Director. This dual role makes him the central figure of the educational project.
MacPhee is currently Set-Piece Coach at Aston Villa and assistant coach of the Portugal national team, two roles that place him at the intersection between data analysis and real-time tactical application. His methodology, built on the systematic study of set pieces and their translation onto the pitch, is precisely the pedagogical core of the postgraduate programme.
Having MacPhee as Academic Director ensures that the postgraduate programme certified by UCAM is not a theoretical approach to elite football, but a faithful reflection of the analytical processes used in the most demanding dressing rooms in the world.
An academic programme rooted in the elite of world football
The MSc Degree in Set Pieces in Football, jointly developed by Sports Data Campus and the Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM), is one of the few postgraduate programmes in the world dedicated exclusively to the analysis and coaching of set pieces in professional football.
The programme brings together advanced data analytics, tactical methodology and applied coaching, with a teaching staff made up of active professionals from the world’s leading clubs and national teams. The appointment of Austin MacPhee, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes as Honorary Professors consolidates this commitment and expands the network of expert knowledge available to the programme’s students.
For SDC and UCAM, this event in Lisbon is not the end of a process. It is a statement of intent about the kind of institution they aspire to be, one where the boundary between the classroom and the professional pitch is deliberately very fine.
Turn set pieces into points. Specialise in modern tactical organisation with the MSc Degree in Set Pieces in Football.
