Taking the heat out of football

Students from Northumbria University have tested the shirt

Students have developed hi-tech help for footballers in heatwave conditions, such as England's Euro 2004 squad.

A new football shirt, designed by Northumbria University student David Evans, uses sensors to monitor heart and hydration rates.

Information is sent to a computer on the team bench, alerting coaches to the player's condition.

Silicon strips are connected to the top of the players' backs and react to sweat loss to monitor hydration levels.

Additionally, a sensor on the shirtsleeve allows the bench to communicate with players out on the pitch by sending radio waves to a transmitter that gives off a small vibration and alerts the player to look towards the dug-out when necessary.

The information is sent back to a laptop or PDA handheld computer in the dug-out via a small radio-frequency communication panel at the bottom of the shirt.

This allows the bench to monitor the team as a whole or select individual players for attention.

The body temperature increases the more we exercise and we start to sweat more to cool down, losing valuable fluids David Evans, designer

The shirt is made from electro-textile materials and can be easily washed.

The design has already received interest from sports manufacturers and David hopes it will be picked up and put into production ready for the 2006 World Cup.

David, who is studying a Design for Industry degree, said: "I wanted to look at the possibility of monitoring players out on the pitch and find out when they are at their peak performance levels.

"If the coach can see that a player's heart rate is escalating, it could alert them to make a substitution and protect the player when they are most vulnerable."

Prolonged exercise

He added: "I was already interested in designing something along these lines, but when Marc Vivien-Foe had a heart attack on the pitch last year, I realised that this was something which could have a real impact on the game.

"Performance can also suffer when players become dehydrated.

"Loss of fluid is one of the major causes of fatigue in prolonged exercise.

"The body temperature increases the more we exercise and we start to sweat more to cool down, losing valuable fluids.

"The physios can monitor the players' sweat levels and accurately predict when a player needs to up his fluid intake to boost his performance.

"They can then send a signal to the sensor on the shirtsleeve which will vibrate and lets the player know that someone on the bench wants to communicate with them."