Influence of birth month to play in the Spanish professional football

Abstract

Children born later in the year of competition have lower chances of promotion due to their low degree of physical, mental and emotional maturity. This phenomenon is known as Relative Age Effect or RAE. The objective of this study is to determine if the date of birth (month of birth) is a factor in the configuration of the professional teams of Spanish football. As for the methodology, we determined the months of birth of the players of the first and second division of Spanish football. A total of 42 professional teams were analyzed. The data were arranged in semesters and quarters. The results show that there is a strong tendency for the selection of professional players born in the first quarters of the year compared to those born in the later ones. In conclusion, in Spain there is a predominance of professional football players depending on the month of birth

Keywords

• Fecha de nacimiento
• Efecto de la edad relativa
• Identificación de talentos