Relative age effect in elite soccer: More early-born players, but no better valued, and no paragon clubs or countries.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Doyle JR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5805271 | biostudies-literature | 2018
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Relative age effect in elite soccer: More early-born players, but no better valued, and no paragon clubs or countries.
Doyle John R JR Bottomley Paul A PA
PloS one 20180208 2
The paper analyses two datasets of elite soccer players (top 1000 professionals and UEFA Under-19 Youth League). In both, we find a Relative Age Effect (RAE) for frequency, but not for value. That is, while there are more players born at the start of the competition year, their transfer values are no higher, nor are they given more game time. We use Poisson regression to derive a transparent index of the discrimination present in RAE. Also, because Poisson is valid for small frequency counts, it ...[more]
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