The Relative Age Effect across an International Soccer Programme in Male and Female Players Aged 12 Years Old to Seniors

Ryland Morgans¹, John Radnor¹, Daniel Nisbet^{1

2}, Jose Teixeira^{3

4}, Toni Modric^{5

6}, Eduard Bezuglov⁷, Halil İbrahim Ceylan⁸, Ronan Kavanagh⁹, Piotr Zmijewski¹⁰, Rafael Oliveira^{11

12}

Affiliations

¹ School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK.
² FA of Wales, Hensol, Cardiff, UK.
³ SPRINT-Sport Physical activity and health Research and Innovation Center, Guarda, Portugal.
⁴ LiveWell Research Centre for Active Living and Wellbeing, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.
⁵ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia.
⁶ High Performance Sport Center, Croatian Olympic Committee, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁷ Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
⁸ Physical Education of Sports Teaching Department, Faculty of Kazim Karabekir Education, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
⁹ Football Performance Hub, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
¹⁰ Faculty of Physical Education, Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
¹¹ Research Center in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Santarém Polytechnic University, Rio Maior, Portugal.
¹² Santarém Polytechnic University, School of Sport, Rio Maior, Portugal.

PMID: 39563755
PMCID: PMC11571464
DOI: 10.5114/jhk/186563

The Relative Age Effect across an International Soccer Programme in Male and Female Players Aged 12 Years Old to Seniors

Ryland Morgans et al. J Hum Kinet. 2024.

. 2024 Jul 17:94:157-169.

doi: 10.5114/jhk/186563. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK.
² FA of Wales, Hensol, Cardiff, UK.
³ SPRINT-Sport Physical activity and health Research and Innovation Center, Guarda, Portugal.
⁴ LiveWell Research Centre for Active Living and Wellbeing, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.
⁵ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia.
⁶ High Performance Sport Center, Croatian Olympic Committee, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁷ Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
⁸ Physical Education of Sports Teaching Department, Faculty of Kazim Karabekir Education, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
⁹ Football Performance Hub, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
¹⁰ Faculty of Physical Education, Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
¹¹ Research Center in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Santarém Polytechnic University, Rio Maior, Portugal.
¹² Santarém Polytechnic University, School of Sport, Rio Maior, Portugal.

PMID: 39563755
PMCID: PMC11571464
DOI: 10.5114/jhk/186563

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the prevalence of the Relative Age Effect (RAE) across an international soccer programme in male and female players aged 12 years old to seniors. One hundred forty-five male (age: 18.8 ± 4.6 years; body mass: 68.1 ± 10.2 kg; body height: 177.3 ± 10.5 cm) and 218 female (age: 15.9 ± 4.6 years; body mass: 66.2 ± 10.5 kg; body height: 170.6 ± 8.3 cm) players from a National Association were assessed. All participants were divided into four quartiles: January to March (BQ1), April to June (BQ2), July to September (BQ3), and October to December (BQ4). The results showed that the distributions for all male squads were significantly skewed, with more players than expected from BQ1 in the U-21, U-19, and U-17 and less players than expected from BQ4 in the U-19 squad. The distributions for all female squads showed significantly more players than expected from BQ1 in the U-16 and less players than expected from BQ4 in the U-14 squad. The distributions across the different positions for the male squads combined were significantly skewed with more forward players than expected from BQ1 and less forward and midfielder players than expected from BQ4. For the female squads, there were significantly more BQ1 defenders from the U-16 squad than expected. In conclusion, this study unveils significant disparities in quartile distributions among male and female squads. Moreover, the data emphasize the potential impact of heightened physical demands in certain positions on the RAE.

Keywords: international teams; relative age effect; senior players; soccer; youth players.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Percentage of players within each birth quartile for all male squads. BQ: birth quartile; * significantly more than expected (p < 0.05); # significantly less than expected (p < 0.05)

**Figure 2**
Percentage of players within each birth quartile for all female squads. BQ: birth quartile; * significantly more than expected (p < 0.05); # significantly less than expected (p < 0.05)

**Figure 3**
Percentage of players in each position from specific birth quartiles for all male squads combined. BQ: birth quartile; * significantly more than expected (p < 0.05); # significantly less than expected (p < 0.05)

**Figure 4**
Percentage of players in each position from specific birth quartiles for all female squads combined. BQ: birth quartile; # significantly less than expected (p < 0.05)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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The Relative Age Effect across an International Soccer Programme in Male and Female Players Aged 12 Years Old to Seniors

Affiliations

The Relative Age Effect across an International Soccer Programme in Male and Female Players Aged 12 Years Old to Seniors

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous