معرفی
Laura Finnegan is a Lecturer in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at South East Technological University, affiliated with the Football Research Group. She holds a PhD from Liverpool John Moores University (2020), focusing on talent development structures in Irish football. Her research interests span talent identification systems in soccer, relative age effects in youth sports, physical activity promotion, and cardiovascular health interventions. Finnegan has delivered invited talks globally on topics like relative age effects in youth development, presenting at organizations such as the US Soccer Talent Scout course, Italian FA Serie A/B conferences, and Croatian FA UEFA Pro license programs. She leads a consultancy project on academy player research and is involved in a pragmatic feasibility trial for men’s community-based physical activity initiatives. Her work has generated significant academic impact, including a widely read research blog for coaches and parents about Irish football talent development, with over 24k Mendeley readers. Finnegan is currently accepting PhD students under projects funded by the Paula Carroll Co-Fund (details at wit.ie).
