The relative age effect in Dutch Football (PDF)

Diploma Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Sport - Sport Economics, Sport Management, Tilburg University, course: Master Thesis Economics, language: English, abstract: The Relative Age Effect (RAE) is a phenomenon that impacts an individual's outcome. In particular, the RAE in sports favors those athletes that have been born prior to a cut-off date and is detrimental for those who were born later in the same period. The grouping of soccer players in academies benefits the early born football players in the selection for the elite team because of physical advantages that are based on biological maturation. Therefore, evidence suggests that the effect is more likely to be observed in the lower youth categories. This study examines the RAE in the Dutch football leagues by investigating data from the national teams U-15 and U-19 of the national team. A Pearson X^2 test provides evidence that the observed birth date distribution deviates from the expected one, which leads to a skewed birth date distribution. The findings suggest that the early born football players have indeed an age advantage in the selection system in relation to their late born peers. Moreover, there is higher probability that they will become professional in the future. Also, the RAE seems to decrease overtime, but it still exists, even in the elite category.