"He's Just a Wee Laddie": The Relative Age Effect in Male Scottish Soccer.

James H Dugdale,Allistair P Mcrobert,Viswanath B Unnithan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633469

James H Dugdale, Allistair P Mcrobert + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633469

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Abstract

Significant structural, developmental, and financial constraints exist in Scottish soccer that may predicate a different approach to talent identification and development. To our knowledge, no published reports exist evaluating the prevalence of the relative age effect (RAE) in Scottish soccer players. Consequently, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the RAE among varied playing levels and ages of male Scottish youth soccer players. Birthdates of male youth players (n = 1,230) from U10 to U17 age groups and from playing levels: “Amateur” (n = 482), “Development” (n = 214), and “Performance” (n = 534), alongside a group of male Scottish senior professional players (n = 261) were recorded and categorized into quartiles (Q1 = January–March; Q2 = April–June; Q3 = July–September; and Q4 = October–December) and semesters (S1 = January–June and S2 = July–December) from the start of the selection year. Birthdates were analyzed for: (a) each playing level and (b) each age group irrespective of playing level. For the varied playing levels examined, an RAE was evident in “Development” and “Performance” playing levels only at youth level. When examining each age group, an RAE was observed in U12–U17 players only. While there was a slight asymmetry favoring Q1 born senior professional players, the RAE was not present within this group of our sample. Results from our study suggest that a bias in selecting individuals born earlier in the selection year may exist within male soccer academy structures, but not at amateur level. The asymmetry favoring chronologically older players at youth but not professional level questions the efficacy of this (un)conscious bias within male Scottish soccer players.

Highlights

The relative age effect (RAE) is a well-established asymmetry in birthdate distribution favoring those born earlier in the selection year for a given sport (Cobley et al, 2009; Hancock et al, 2013)
Results from our study suggest that a bias in selecting individuals born earlier within the selection year exists within male Scottish academy soccer, but not at amateur or professional levels
This bias did not diminish as age increased within our sample of Scottish youth soccer players, and was not present in U10–U11 age groups

Summary

Introduction

The relative age effect (RAE) is a well-established asymmetry in birthdate distribution favoring those born earlier in the selection year for a given sport (Cobley et al, 2009; Hancock et al, 2013). Progress in understanding and communicating the RAE has been made over recent years, the “win ” emphasis encompassing youth sport remains, within soccer (Andronikos et al, 2016; Reeves et al, 2018a; Hill et al, 2019; Lupo et al, 2019; Jackson and Comber, 2020) This demand for immediate success has resulted in a maturation-selection phenomenon, whereby chronologically older players are preferred due to their superior physical qualities (Lovell et al, 2015; Johnson et al, 2017; Hill et al, 2019). Chronologically younger players may be overlooked or deselected during the developmental stages of talent development (Meylan et al, 2010; Helsen et al, 2012)

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