Jacie
3/12/2008, 08:01 PM
You're going to love this . . .
Wearing red makes you more likely to score
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:01pm GMT 11/03/2008
Football fans might assume the footballing dominance of Manchester United and Arsenal is down to factors such as Alex Ferguson's tactical nous and Cesc Fabregas's midfield mastery.
However new research suggests the historical success of teams who play in red is not simply a matter of the talents of their managers and players.
Analysis of English league results since the Second World War shows that teams whose strips are predominantly red win more often, get more points per game and finish higher in the league on average compared with those who wear other colours.
Scientists believe the colour can confer an advantage in competitive sports because opponents subconsciously associate it with aggression and dominance, and as a result act in a more defensive manner when confronted with it.
Lead author Prof Martin Attrill, of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Plymouth, said: "Previous evidence from studies on combat sports and psychological tests suggest that competitors wearing red perform better than average.
"It is believed the colour can stimulate deep-rooted aggressive and dominance in competitive situations. Similarly research shows players who encounter opponents in red display more defensive reactions."
The researchers, whose work is due to be published later this year in the Journal of Sports Sciences, calculated the percentage of home wins and average points per game for 68 top clubs playing primarily in red, blue, white or yellow/orange between 1947 and 2003.
Teams with mixed strips or those of other colours were placed in a fifth "other" category.
Teams with red strips were found to have won the league 60 per cent of the time, compared with 20 per cent for those in blue, despite more wearing blue.
They gained an average of 1.84 points per home game, compared with around 1.79 for blue and white teams and 1.75 for those playing in orange or yellow.
All results were standardised to three points for a win, a change introduced in 1981.
Teams with red, blue, white and yellow/orange strips won at home during the period 53 per cent, 51 per cent, 51 per cent and 50 per cent of the time respectively.
Over the 56 seasons studied, they ranked on average 25th (red), 34th (blue), 35th (white) and 50th (yellow/orange) out of the 68 teams looked at.
However researchers found teams whose home strip is red performed no better than teams who play in other colours in away games - in their non-red away strips.
The researchers also analysed the performance of eight pairs of teams from cities and areas in which one played in red and the other had a home strip of another colour.
In the cases of Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Notts County, Bristol City and Rovers, Stoke and Port Vale, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and Millwall and Charlton, the red team came out on top over the study period.
Sheffield United was the only team with a red home kit who did worse than their non-red rivals – in their case Sheffield Wednesday.
Research published in 2005 showed that Olympic boxing, wrestling and taekwondo contestants performed significantly better on average than those in blue.
Studies involving a wide variety of animal species have shown red is a sexually-selected signal of male dominance.
Co-author Dr Russell Hill, from Durham University, said: "The influx of wealthy foreign owners has changed the resources available to some teams and this should result in increased success, regardless of their shirt colour.
"Nevertheless, in close matches where teams are evenly balanced, we still predict that wearing red could tip the balance between success and failure and the red advantage will still persist."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/03/11/scicolour111.xml
Wearing red makes you more likely to score
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:01pm GMT 11/03/2008
Football fans might assume the footballing dominance of Manchester United and Arsenal is down to factors such as Alex Ferguson's tactical nous and Cesc Fabregas's midfield mastery.
However new research suggests the historical success of teams who play in red is not simply a matter of the talents of their managers and players.
Analysis of English league results since the Second World War shows that teams whose strips are predominantly red win more often, get more points per game and finish higher in the league on average compared with those who wear other colours.
Scientists believe the colour can confer an advantage in competitive sports because opponents subconsciously associate it with aggression and dominance, and as a result act in a more defensive manner when confronted with it.
Lead author Prof Martin Attrill, of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Plymouth, said: "Previous evidence from studies on combat sports and psychological tests suggest that competitors wearing red perform better than average.
"It is believed the colour can stimulate deep-rooted aggressive and dominance in competitive situations. Similarly research shows players who encounter opponents in red display more defensive reactions."
The researchers, whose work is due to be published later this year in the Journal of Sports Sciences, calculated the percentage of home wins and average points per game for 68 top clubs playing primarily in red, blue, white or yellow/orange between 1947 and 2003.
Teams with mixed strips or those of other colours were placed in a fifth "other" category.
Teams with red strips were found to have won the league 60 per cent of the time, compared with 20 per cent for those in blue, despite more wearing blue.
They gained an average of 1.84 points per home game, compared with around 1.79 for blue and white teams and 1.75 for those playing in orange or yellow.
All results were standardised to three points for a win, a change introduced in 1981.
Teams with red, blue, white and yellow/orange strips won at home during the period 53 per cent, 51 per cent, 51 per cent and 50 per cent of the time respectively.
Over the 56 seasons studied, they ranked on average 25th (red), 34th (blue), 35th (white) and 50th (yellow/orange) out of the 68 teams looked at.
However researchers found teams whose home strip is red performed no better than teams who play in other colours in away games - in their non-red away strips.
The researchers also analysed the performance of eight pairs of teams from cities and areas in which one played in red and the other had a home strip of another colour.
In the cases of Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Notts County, Bristol City and Rovers, Stoke and Port Vale, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and Millwall and Charlton, the red team came out on top over the study period.
Sheffield United was the only team with a red home kit who did worse than their non-red rivals – in their case Sheffield Wednesday.
Research published in 2005 showed that Olympic boxing, wrestling and taekwondo contestants performed significantly better on average than those in blue.
Studies involving a wide variety of animal species have shown red is a sexually-selected signal of male dominance.
Co-author Dr Russell Hill, from Durham University, said: "The influx of wealthy foreign owners has changed the resources available to some teams and this should result in increased success, regardless of their shirt colour.
"Nevertheless, in close matches where teams are evenly balanced, we still predict that wearing red could tip the balance between success and failure and the red advantage will still persist."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/03/11/scicolour111.xml