Within any organisation technology is not solely the answer for success. The combination of elite practitioners, high standards, and innovative technology gives a greater opportunity for all football departments to work together more effectively and efficiently to achieve our objectives.
Matt BennettHead of First Team Operations, Al Ain FC
When the final whistle blew at Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium on 23 May 2026, Al Ain FC had completed a historic domestic double, ADNOC Pro League champions and UAE President’s Cup winners, capped by an achievement UAE football hadn’t seen in more than four decades: going an entire 26-game league season without a single defeat. The “Golden League” was complete.
But historic seasons don’t happen by accident. Behind the trophies, the records, and the 62 goals scored, is a relentless operational machine that starts long before a ball is kicked.
“Success is a product of the consistency of everything that happens during the week building up to match days. From travel planning and training schedules to medical coordination and player support, our objective is to remove the distractions so the players and coaching staff can focus solely on performance.“
Surviving and Thriving in the UAE’s Unforgiving Climate
Before we talk about tactics or trophies, we have to talk about the environment. Training and competing in the UAE presents challenges that few clubs anywhere in the world face. Summer temperatures regularly exceed 45°C, with humidity levels that can make the heat index feel even more punishing. Managing athlete load, hydration, recovery, and readiness across a long season, through Ramadan, through the Gulf summer, through an unrelenting fixture schedule, demands a level of operational precision that goes far beyond a whiteboard and a spreadsheet.
For Al Ain FC, that precision starts with their people, and it’s supported by Teamworks.
Our objective is to ensure every department is aligned and working from the same information at the same time. By centralising communication, scheduling and logistics in Teamworks, we have reduced operational inefficiencies, streamlined information and allowed our staff to focus more time on supporting player performance.
One Platform, One Language, One Club
At the heart of Al Ain’s operations is Teamworks Hub, available in Arabic. For a squad and staff spanning dozens of nationalities, that isn’t a small detail. When critical information, training schedules, medical updates, travel logistics, team communications, lands in a player’s native language, it lands clearly. There’s no ambiguity, no lost detail in translation, and no excuse for a message to go unread.
“One of the newest advantages for us has been the integration of Teamworks 2.0 and the Arabic language functionality for our domestic players and staff. Like many elite teams, we are a multicultural club with players and staff from many different countries, so being able to communicate critical information in each person’s preferred language improves understanding, engagement and accountability across the entire organisation.” — Matt Bennett, Head of First Team Operations, Al Ain FC
In a club environment where marginal gains matter, seamless communication is a non-marginal gain. The ability to coordinate an entire football operation, from first-team to coaching staff to medical department, in the language your people think in, is an edge that compounds over 26 league games.
Managing the Athlete in Extreme Conditions
Finishing a full season unbeaten requires not just quality, it requires availability. Keeping players fit, fresh, and performing at their peak through the demands of UAE football is the daily work of Al Ain’s medical and performance team.
Using Teamworks AMS (Athlete Management System), the club’s practitioners have a single, real-time view of every athlete in the squad. From injury records and rehabilitation milestones to wellness monitoring and readiness flags, AMS sits at the centre of every decision about who trains, who rests, and who plays.
In a climate where heat stress is a genuine physiological risk, and where the physical demands of fixtures played in high temperatures can accelerate fatigue and increase soft tissue injury risk, that data-driven oversight isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
“Our role is not just to organise football operations, nevertheless, it is to create an environment where every department can utilise the Teamworks platforms to make better operational and performance decisions to support player performance. When medical, performance and coaching staff have access to the same real-time information, collaboration becomes much more efficient, particularly during congested fixture periods which we will face this season with our participation in the Asian Champions League.” — Matt Bennett, Head of First Team Operations, Al Ain FC
Strength & Conditioning: Building Bodies That Last
Twenty-one wins. Sixty-two goals. A record unbeaten run of 33 consecutive league matches. Performances like these are the product of players who are not just talented, but physically prepared for every minute of every game.
Al Ain FC’s Strength & Conditioning programme, managed through Teamworks S&C, gives their strength coaches the structure and data to build, monitor, and adapt training loads across a full season. Individual programmes, benchmarking, testing results, and session data all sit in one place, giving coaches the visibility to push performance while protecting each athlete from overload.
When you’re asking elite footballers to perform through a Gulf season, and to still be physically sharp come the President’s Cup final in late May, the margin for error in physical preparation is zero.
Fuelling a Championship Squad
Performance nutrition in the UAE comes with its own unique demands. Ramadan brings a complete shift in players’ eating and hydration patterns. The heat year-round elevates the importance of pre- and post-training fuelling and fluid intake. And a squad of players from different cultural and dietary backgrounds means there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Al Ain FC’s nutrition programme, supported by Teamworks Nutrition, gives practitioners the tools to plan, track, and individualise nutritional strategies for every player, at every stage of the season. From pre-match meal planning to recovery protocols and Ramadan adaptations, the team has the data and the structure to make sure nutrition is never a limiting factor.
A Season for the History Books
The numbers tell a remarkable story. Fifteen league titles overall. An unbeaten “Golden League” for the first time in over 40 years. A record 33 consecutive matches without defeat. An 8th President’s Cup. A 4-1 demolition of Al Jazira in the final. Kodjo Laba ended the campaign as the league’s top scorer with 25 goals.
But seasons like this are built in training rooms, recovery suites, analysis sessions, and medical assessments, in the data, the decisions, and the daily discipline of a club that leaves nothing to chance.
“Going unbeaten across an entire league season is something the players, staff and management at the club can take pride in. It reflects the collective work of every department behind the scenes and the collaborative effort to achieve domestic success. Teamworks has become an important part of how we operate because it gives us one connected platform to deliver the high standards we expect every single day and give players accountability to follow the schedule, their specific gym programmes, team meetings and travel itineraries, for example.” — Matt Bennett, Head of First Team Operations, Al Ain FC
Al Ain FC’s historic 2025/26 season is a testament to what elite Arabian Gulf football can look like when talent meets operational excellence. Teamworks is proud to be part of that story.
“My role as Head of First Team Operations is to ensure the operational, administration, medical and performance staff remove every possible distraction from the players and coaching staff consistently on a daily basis. When communication, logistics, medical information and detailed planning all work seamlessly together, everyone can focus on winning football matches which is the main objective of everyone at the club.”
Al Ain FC uses Teamworks Hub, AMS, Strength & Conditioning, and Nutrition to power performance.
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