Liam Sweeney

Dr Liam Sweeney

Assistant Professor

Email Liam.Sweeney@mu.ie

Biography

Dr Liam Sweeney jointed Maynooth University in October 2023 as an Assistant Professor in Sport Science. Prior to joining Maynooth University, Liam held academic and research roles at Dublin City University (DCU), including as a Lecturer and as a Postdoctoral Researcher. Liam’s primary research interests are focused on the broad area of athlete development in sport, with a particular focus on the physical, physiological and psychosocial factors that influence development, and their interactions. In line with these research interests, Liam's primary teaching interests relate to biological maturation in sport and exercise, performance coaching, exercise physiology, and supporting youth athlete development in sport. Liam is module coordinator for the following modules: SN153 Physiology and Exercise and SN251 Coaching and Performance Science 2; and is joint module coordinator for the SN151 Coaching and Performance Science 1 module on the MH412 - BSc Business with Sport Science and MH221 - BSc Sport Science and Health courses. Liam is also the Department of Sport Science and Nutrition First-Year Student Co-Ordinator.

Liam completed his PhD at the School of Health and Human Performance in DCU between 2020-2023, which was funded by the Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme. Liam’s PhD examined athlete development in the Football Association of Ireland’s male player pathway. This PhD research undertook a mixed-methods approach, examining various aspects of athlete development, including physical, physiological and psychosocial elements, with a particular focus on biological maturation. Liam’s PhD thesis was titled, “Maximising potential through the pathway: An interdisciplinary and mixed-methods investigation of player development in Irish male football”.

Prior to the completion of his PhD, Liam attained a first class master’s degree with honours in Exercise Physiology at the University of Galway, and a first class undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Science with honours at the University of Bedfordshire. During his undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Science, Liam won all three special student achievement awards; including the award for the highest undergraduate thesis grade in the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity, the highest overall undergraduate degree grade, and the highest overall grade at the University of Bedfordshire Discipline of Exercise Physiology poster presentation and oral defence. During his master’s degree in Exercise Physiology, Liam was awarded the highest overall grade in his cohort for his MSc thesis.

In addition to his academic role, Liam continues to work in a number of research and consultancy roles with several sporting National Governing Bodies, including the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), the Irish Football Association (IFA), and the Swedish Football Association.

Research

Research Interests

Liam’s primary research interests are focused on the broad area of athlete development in sport, with a particular focus on the physical, physiological and psychosocial factors that influence development, and their interactions. A particular area of this research focus is on the role and influence of biological maturation in youth athlete development. Liam is currently working on a number of research projects with several sports clubs and sporting National Governing Bodies, including the Football Association of Ireland and the Swedish Football Association.

Research Projects

Title	Role	Start date	End date	Amount
What role does biological maturation play in the development experiences of female players on the FAI’s national and international pathway?	PI	05/01/2024	04/01/2025	13514.8
Football Association of Ireland Research Bursary	PI	22/09/2020	31/08/2021	5505
Research Collaboration: Maynooth University, Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Football Association.	PI	10/04/2024	15/03/2025	1700
Maximising Potential Through the Pathway: An Interdisciplinary and Mixed-Methods Investigation of Player Development in Irish Male Football	PI	01/09/2021	31/08/2023	54510

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal

	Year	Publication
	2025	Liam Sweeney; Anton Kalén; Andreas Ivarsson; Tommy R Lundberg (2025) 'The developmental pathways of senior international soccer players: A 13-year analysis of the career trajectories of the Swedish men’s senior international team'. PLoS ONE, 20 (3):1-13. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316216
	2025	Jack T. Hickey; Cian Lennon; Michael Gillick; Liam Sweeney (2025) 'Measuring eccentric hip adductor strength during the Copenhagen adduction exercise: a proof-of-concept and test re-test reliability study'. Physical Therapy in Sport, . [Link] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2025.03.001
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Lukas Sinkunas; Tommy R Lundberg (2024) 'Physical and perceptual demands of youth international team match-play in traditional and aged-matched future teams for biologically late maturing soccer players'. Annals of Human Biology, 51 :1-8. [Link] [DOI]
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Tommy R Lundberg; Cian Sweeney; Jack Hickey; Áine MacNamara (2024) 'Biological maturity but not relative age biases exist in female international youth soccer players relative to the general population'. Biology of Sport, 42 (2):249-256. [Link] https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2025.144411 [Full-Text]
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Áine MacNamara; Jamie Taylor (2024) 'Riding the wave: a prospective exploration of the temporal impact of perceived challenges on the development of relatively early high performing national-level youth soccer players'. European Journal for Sport and Society, . [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Alfonso de la Rubia; Jamie Taylor; Christian Thue Bjørndal (2024) 'Looking beyond relative age to understand relative advantage and disadvantage in talent development'. Frontiers In Sports And Active Living, 6 (1470944):1-7. [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Áine MacNamara; Jamie Taylor; Tommy R Lundberg (2024) 'Selection of reference data significantly influences biological maturity timing classification in national youth soccer players'. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 0 (0):1-10. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541241277661 [Full-Text]
	2024	Liam Sweeney; Tommy R Lundberg (2024) 'Relative age and biological maturity-related selection biases in male youth soccer across different competitive levels within a national association'. Science & Medicine In Football, :1-9. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2024.2369543 [Full-Text]
	2024	Michael O'Driscoll; Tommy Mooney; Liam Sweeney (2024) 'The Relationship Between Maximum Lower Limb Strength & Power, and GPS Acceleration Speed in Elite U20 Gaelic Football Athletes'. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 4 (1). [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2023	Liam Sweeney; Áine MacNamara; Jamie Taylor (2023) 'International selection and competition in youth sport: pin the tail on the donkey or targeted intervention?'. Frontiers In Sports And Active Living, 5 (1298909). [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2023	Liam Sweeney; Jamie Taylor; Áine MacNamara (2023) 'Push and Pull Factors: Contextualising Biological Maturation and Relative Age in Talent Development Systems'. Children, 10 :1-20. https:// doi.org/10.3390/children10010130 [Full-Text]
	2022	Liam Sweeney; Sean P Cumming; Áine MacNamara; Dan Horan (2022) 'The selection advantages associated with advanced biological maturation vary according to playing position in national-level youth soccer'. Biology of Sport, 40 :715-722. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2023.119983 [Full-Text]
	2022	Liam Sweeney; Sean P Cumming; Áine MacNamara; Dan Horan (2022) 'A tale of two selection biases: The independent effects of relative age and biological maturity on player selection in the Football Association of Ireland’s national talent pathway'. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 0 :1-12. [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2022	Liam Sweeney; Áine MacNamara; Dan Horan (2022) 'The Irish Football Player Pathway: Examining Stakeholder Coherence Throughout and Across the Player Development System'. Frontiers In Sports And Active Living, 4 . [DOI] [Full-Text]
	2021	Liam Sweeney; Dan Horan; Áine MacNamara (2021) 'Premature Professionalisation or Early Engagement? Examining Practise in Football Player Pathways'. Frontiers In Sports And Active Living, 3 . [DOI] [Full-Text]

Professional

Honors and Awards

Date	Title	Awarding Body
01/09/2021	Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship	The Irish Research Council
10/09/2020	Highest graded thesis on the MSc Exercise Physiology course 2019-2020, National University of Ireland, Galway	National University of Ireland, Galway
19/07/2019	Highest undergraduate degree grade on the BSc (Hons) Sport Science and Personal Training course, University of Bedfordshire	University of Bedfordshire
19/07/2019	Highest graded undergraduate thesis at the University of Bedfordshire School of Sport Science and Physical Activity	University of Bedfordshire
19/07/2019	Highest grade at the University of Bedfordshire School of Sport Science and Physical Activity undergraduate dissertation poster presentation and oral defence, Discipline of Exercise Physiology	University of Bedfordshire

Committees

Committee	Function	From / To
Maynooth University Healthy Campus Steering Group	Faculty of Science and Engineering Representative	12/12/2023 -
Maynooth University Physical Activity Framework Implementation Group	Member	01/11/2023 -
Faculty of Science and Engineering Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee	Department of Sport Science and Nutrition Representative	09/02/2024 -
Maynooth University Sports Strategy Project Working Group	Working Group Member	07/11/2024 -
Department of Sport Science and Nutrition First Year Co-Ordinator	Department of Sport Science and Nutrition First Year Co-Ordinator	01/09/2024 -

Employment

Employer	Position	From / To
Maynooth University	Assistant Professor	01/10/2023 -
Dublin City University	Postdoctoral Researcher	01/06/2023 - 30/09/2023
Dublin City University	Lecturer	01/09/2022 - 01/06/2023
Setanta College	Teaching Assistant	01/11/2021 - 30/09/2023
Dublin City University	Research Assistant	01/04/2021 - 30/11/2021
Dublin City University	Postgraduate Demonstrator	01/04/2021 - 31/05/2022

Education

Start date	Institution	Qualification	Subject
01/09/2019	University of Galway/National University of Ireland Galway	MSc (Master of Science with Honors)	Exercise Physiology
01/09/2016	University of Bedfordshire	BSc (Bachelor of Science with Honors)	Sport Science
22/09/2020	Dublin City University	PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)	Sport Science - Thesis Title: Maximising Potential Through the Pathway: An Interdisciplinary and Mixed-Methods Investigation of Player Development in Irish Male Football

Consultancy

	Client	Description
	Irish Football Association	Consulting at the Irish Football Association delivering lecture and seminar content on the UEFA Elite Youth A and B coaching licenses on the topic of Biological Growth and Maturation.

Outreach Activities

Organisation	Type	Description
FIFA	Industry	In this presentation, Dr Liam Sweeney of Maynooth University, Ireland, presents a fascinating study exploring how biological maturation selection biases can vary according to playing position in youth football. [Link]
Foootball Association of Ireland	Industry	National Coaching Conference 2022
RTÉ	Industry	[Link]

Teaching