“He’s Just a Wee Laddie”: The Relative Age Effect in Male Scottish Soccer

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.

Are Soccer and Futsal Affected by the Relative Age Effect? The Portuguese Football Association Case

“…Moreover, a longitudinal investigation into the RAE in an English professional soccer club showed that Q4 male soccer players were approximately four times more likely to achieve adult professional status than Q1 player's, despite the reduced number of players within Q4 (Kelly et al, 2019). This reinforces the changes associated with the transition from youth to professional adult level, which has implications in the RAE, as reported by others (Brustio et al, 2018;Lupo et al, 2019;Dugdale et al, 2021).…”

“…No comparisons with other studies are possible, as this is the first study reporting the RAE according to each club or academy classification level, which is attributed based on a specific certification process implemented by the FPF. Of note, when looking into the RAE on male Scottish youth soccer players, Dugdale et al (2021) showed an influence of the playing level within male soccer academy structures.…”

“…For example, in a nationwide analysis of Swiss child and youth football players, Romann et al (2020) found a RAE at the grassroots level and that the use a selection system seems to increase RAEs created by coach's selection. Also, Dugdale et al (2021) on their analysis of playing levels and ages of male Scottish youth soccer players found a bias in selecting individuals born earlier in the selection year within academies, but not at amateur level.…”

“…Research suggests that the RAE is increasingly prevalent as the level of competition standard improves and on male athletes. Some studies have explored the RAE using nationwide data (e.g., Finnegan et al, 2017;Romann et al, 2020;Dugdale et al, 2021). However, no study so far has analyzed original data at the level of a National sports governing body structure on both genders and football codes (i.e., soccer and futsal), and including data from National teams.…”

Physical and Anthropometric Characteristics Do Not Differ According to Birth Year Quartile in High-Level Junior Australian Football Players

“…The relative age effect (RAE) is a demographic phenomenon involving a bias towards the selection of athletes born earlier in an age group year compared to those born later in the same year [2][3][4]. Further, the RAE is commonly observed in male invasion sports that require physical precocity, such as Australian football [3,5,6], basketball [7][8][9], ice hockey [10][11][12], rugby [13][14][15], and soccer [4,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”