Their research looked into the results of English football league clubs since the Second World War and it shows that, when playing at home at least, those teams wearing red are more likely to win than those wearing, say, white, blue or yellow. Apparently the trend doesn't apply to away form, which, if nothing else, conveniently deals with those statistical anomalies they couldn't find an answer for.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, those English league teams that have worn yellow or orange throughout history are officially the least successful. Something to think about the next time someone offers you a ticket to that exciting Norwich v Blackpool FA Cup tie.
Yes we may scoff, but there's obviously something in all this. Maybe it's the psychological effect teams in red have over their opponents that makes them seem somehow invincible. It's that kind of thinking which is already making waves in the football world - so much so that Kevin Keegan has already ordered a redesign of Newcastle's home strip in the hope that it'll change their fortunes too.
Here's what they've come up with, and you can bet your life it'll be hitting the shops sometime very soon…
Posts
9 comments:
It has nothing at all to do with the fact that three of the top 4 teams in England, over a sustained period of time, wear red when playing at home? just asking.
That's probably true, but it sounds like the report is only making a case for correlation, not causation. So if anything, it's more of an interesting side-note than a recommendation.
Though, your probably right that Keegan is desperate enough to try anything (maybe even a stripped kit with two different shades of red).
He may also want to try a kit that doesn't resemble an old prison jumpsuit. That surely has a psychological effect.
Hmm, there might be something in this ..
The last team outside of Glasgow to win the Scottish League and a European trophy wore red.
I think you may have the answer there, chris c paul! Once you've worked that one out, you can probably save yourself about three year's worth of research, I'm guessing...
True, Adam, true. Funnily enough, I tried my hand at designing an all-red Newcastle shirt based on their current black-and-white striped one, but with the Adidas stripes on the sleeves it ended up looking very much like a Liverpool home shirt! Maybe there's a message in there somewhere...
Chris B - it's a perennial problem and not helped by the fact that when one of their players passes by a supermarket barcode scanner, it always shows '£0.65' on the checkout display...
Ah, thegreatdandini - I'm guessing that could be an Aberdeen reference there - would I be right?!?! ;-)
Am I that predictable? :-)
No stats on green tops? No?
Only in a nice way, thegreatdandini! :)
Er no, sorry keving. No stats available, but my guess is were it not for Plymouth Argyle's poor record, Celtic could've put the green shirt brigade at the top of the list single-handedly...
I’m sure the SFA brought in a rule that no-one in Green shall be successful and bestowed the green on Plymouth…..
Post a Comment