[WhoScored] ValueError: time data 'Aug' does not match format '%b'

[salvassc]

Describe the bug
With Python version 3.10.11 and soccerdata library version 1.8.7, I get the error "ValueError: time data 'Aug' does not match format '%b'" when executing calls to some functions

Affected scrapers
This affects the following scrapers:

• ClubElo
• ESPN
• FBref
• FiveThirtyEight
• FotMob
• Match History
• SoFIFA
• Understat
• WhoScored

Code example

whoscored = sd.WhoScored()

ws = sd.WhoScored(leagues="ENG-Premier League", seasons=2021)

epl_schedule = ws.read_schedule()
epl_schedule.head()

# Injured and suspended players
missing_players = ws.read_missing_players(match_id=1485184)
missing_players.head()

Error message

ValueError: time data 'Aug' does not match format '%b'

[probberechts]

Is your OS or Python environment set to a non-English locale? You can check this by running the following in Python:

import locale
print(locale.getlocale(locale.LC_TIME))

If that is the issue, you can fix this by forcing an English locale in your session:

import locale
locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, "C")

or by setting an environment variable

export LC_ALL=C

---

The ideal long-term fix would be for soccerdata to parse dates using locale-independent logic or explicitly set locale when parsing. But until that’s changed upstream, the above would be an easy workaround.

[salvassc]

Yes, my OS non English locale

import locale
print(locale.getlocale(locale.LC_TIME))

('es_ES', 'cp1252')

If i use locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, "C"), do i have to add that code to every cell.

Is there a way to apply that to all cells in my Jupiter Notebook?

[probberechts]

Running it once at the beginning of your notebook should be sufficient. You can also start your notebook server with a specific locale by running:

LC_ALL=C jupyter notebook

[salvassc]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried running import locale; locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, "C") at the very beginning of the notebook, before importing soccerdata.

However, in VS Code with Jupyter on Windows, this does not reliably apply to the whole notebook: it only works in the cell where it is executed, and subsequent cells still fail with the same locale-related error.

I understand that starting Jupyter with LC_ALL=C would be the cleanest solution, but this has been difficult to apply consistently in my Windows environment.