There are more matches being played than ever before, particularly with this season’s increase in European fixtures. And while there had been murmurs of players striking over the issue, “Sleep Guru” James Wilson has a simpler solution: get better sleep.

“It’s your number one recovery tool,” he says. “You need food, water, air and sleep to live. So many football clubs are currently overlooking the importance of their players getting proper sleep.

“At all the clubs I have worked for I have won something; and that is because improved sleep leads to fewer injuries, faster recovery time and more intelligent decision-making. In turn, teams win things.”

Wilson previously worked as a sleep coach for West Ham United during their victorious 2022-23 Europa Conference League campaign, and says you could see the benefits of his methods all over the pitch.

“Take Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute winner [against Fiorentina in the final] for example,” Wilson explains. “It didn’t surprise me, having worked closely with him, that he managed to keep a clear head at that moment. He had become an excellent sleeper.

“Consistent quality sleep elevates your game because your brain works quicker, as you are in a flow state, which in turn makes players braver, quicker and more alert.”

Wilson’s method centres on simplifying sleep, and taking the stress out of it, insisting that the reason so many struggle to sleep is that the process has been overcomplicated by misinformation in the past 10 years.

This has led to many players developing orthosomnia – an unhealthy fixation on achieving the ideal amount of sleep, which actually hinders their rest. As Wilson says: “good sleepers don’t think about sleep.”

Ever caught yourself desperate to fall asleep in the middle of the night before a big meeting or event? Here are five ways the “Sleep Guru” is helping players elevate their game, perhaps they can help you too.

1. Ditch the sleeping pills

Dele Alli’s sleeping pill abuse shone a light on a prevalent issue in football according to Wilson, who also claims he knows both EFL and international clubs which give their players sleeping pills before every game.

Currently working alongside Frank Lampard at Coventry City, he says that over his six years in football, he has come to the conclusion that players who use sleeping pills are injured more often as they are not getting recovery sleep.

“Sleeping pills do not work,” Wilson says. “They’ll knock you out and give you sedation, but they won’t give you recovery sleep which is what footballers need.

“For example, four hours of normal sleep is better for recovery than eight hours of sleep from a sleeping pill. But your brain doesn’t think like this, you’d rather have eight hours of sedation, so our process is all about educating the players.

“This isn’t the doctors’ fault for giving the players these pills, they simply don’t get enough training on sleep. In a seven-year medical course they only receive half a day’s training at best on sleep. I’ve dedicated my life to it.”

2. Invest in quality bedding

One of the main pillars to a good night’s sleep, which Wilson feels has been overlooked in recent years, is quality bedding.

He says: “A mattress, pillow and duvet are the three most important products a footballer owns.”

Comfortable and supportive bedding is so significant for sleep, that Wilson once sent mattress toppers and pillows to Denmark for West Ham’s away game against Viborg in the Conference League.

“The players had complained that they had found the hotel difficult to sleep in the previous year. Some of it was psychosomatic – we wanted them to feel like we were taking their concerns seriously.”

3. Stop sleeping on your front

According to Wilson sleeping on your stomach is a key factor in players picking up injuries. He explained that whilst you may be able to avoid injuring your body sleeping this way at age 22, over time it will catch up with you.

“The first question I ask footballers is what position do you sleep in – because sleeping on your front causes all sorts of problems. It can damage your neck, shoulders, knees and hamstrings.

“I’ve worked with players who have had consistent niggly injuries in these areas, and simply working on their sleep posture by moving them to side-on and adjusting their neck’s position completely solved the issue.”

4. Create a relaxing environment

According to Wilson, you need physical and emotional security for optimal sleep, and with footballers so often on the road this can be hard to come by. Whilst he recommends a shower before bed to drop your core temperature for the physical side, he has a range of methods for achieving emotional security.

He explains: “Your body is programmed to wake up in the night, it is a survival instinct. You need to feel safe to stop this, so we ask players to take their partner’s aftershave or perfume with them and spray it before bed, because smell makes you feel emotionally secure. It really works, but no player would admit to doing it!

“Also it is important to have some audio on, as your hearing is like your alarm system and it stays awake to protect you whilst you sleep. We’ve found with footballers that intense topics like true crime podcasts do not work, but any fairly monotonous podcast you enjoy does the trick.”

Avoiding visual simulants before bed is also crucial, with Wilson noting that he has previously advised teams to stop watching evening kick-offs the night before a game, as they discovered it was keeping the players mentally engaged.

5. Throw away your sleep tracker and ask yourself these three questions

The Football Association kitted England out with sleep-tracking wearables at last summer’s Euros, with even Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo pictured wearing an Oura ring. Unfortunately, according to Wilson, these efforts were in vain, as he says the products are incredibly unreliable.

“Sleep wearables are having a negative impact on football at the minute. They are very inaccurate, and consequently cause the players to worry about their sleep which only makes it worse.

“An England international I was working with was being told by a sleep tracker that they were only getting five per cent sleep, which I could tell just from looking at them was not true.”

Wilson explained that trackers use heart rate and temperature to provide data, but as athletes usually have lower heart rates and higher body temperatures, it often skews the figures. Instead he asks his players three simple questions to gauge their overall quality of sleep.

“Firstly, ‘how quickly did you get to sleep?’ We want that to be between 5-30 minutes. Any shorter and you’re sleep deprived.

“Secondly, ‘how many times did you wake up in the night?’ The lower the better but anything more than three times and you’ve had poor sleep.

“Then finally, ‘how did you feel at 10am this morning?’ As that is when you should be most alert.”

James Wilson is the founder and CEO of Kipmate, if you would like to find out more