Relative age effect in elite soccer: more early-born players, but no better valued, and no paragon clubs or countries

Doyle, John R. and Bottomley, Paul Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8131-6768 2018. Relative age effect in elite soccer: more early-born players, but no better valued, and no paragon clubs or countries. Plos One 13 (2) , e0192209. 10.1371/journal.pone.0192209

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

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 supports analysis at the disaggregated levels of country and club. From this, we conclude there are no paragon clubs or countries immune to RAE; that is clubs and countries do not differ systematically in the RAE they experience; also, that Poisson regression is a powerful and flexible method of analysing RAE data.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
ISSN:	1932-6203
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 February 2018
Date of Acceptance:	19 January 2018
Last Modified:	11 May 2023 11:54
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/109129

Citation Data

Cited 34 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item