IT wasn’t that long ago that the words ‘science’ and ‘football’ would not be heard together.

Now there is hardly any part of the game where the two words are not interlinked.

The ‘scientific revolution’ in football has gathered pace over the past two decades, with all clubs doing anything and everything they can to gain that extra advantage.

Covering areas such as diet, physiology, psychology, bio-mechanics, sports technology and performance analysis, no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of success.

Mark Howard knows all about the importance of the scientific side of the game, having worked on it for the past 12 years.

Since joining Rovers under Paul Ince back in 2008 as a fitness coach, Howard has established himself as a key member of the Ewood Park backroom staff.

Now the club’s head of sports science, Howard is continually looking for ways to get that ‘little bit of extra’ out of the Rovers squad. That is how a number of world leaders in sports science came to be at the club’s Brockhall training base.

Over five days, Rovers welcomed speakers from the likes of Manchester United, British Cycling and the world of rugby, to speak to their own staff and others who attended.

Howard said: “The aim was to improve our service to the Rovers team. I had an idea to attract the best people from around the world in the areas that we wanted to learn from.

“It rolled on from there and that resulted in a full week, residential course that has had its challenges.

“But a lot of people have found it has been a really big success and we have gained a lot of experience and expertise.

“It is about knowledge and understanding but, what has really come across in the conference, is that sometimes it is not just about that.

“It is about communication, interaction between departments, and how we achieve those things.

“Rather than the tiny percentages we all talk about, the small pieces of sports science, it is about a bigger picture thing and working together to get the best out of the players and the environment we work in.”

The event attracted a host of Premier League clubs, representatives from Maritimo in Portugal, Trabzonspor in Turkey, the University of Central Lancashire and Myerscough College.

“I can only speak about my own experiences and I’m sure before my experience, which is 12 years now, sports science was prevalent in other sports at a high level,” said Howard.

“Certainly in football over the last 10 years there has been a huge emergence of sports science teams.”