THE RELATIVE AGE EFFECT IN PROFESSIONAL AND YOUTH TEAMS OF SOME TURKISH SOCCER CLUBS

The Relative Age Effect in sports and in education is frequently discussed. It is accepted that players who are born during the early months of the same year have an advantage over those who are born during the later months of the same year. This is known as the Relative Age Effect (RAE). The aim of this study is to observe the relative age effect on elite soccer players currently playing in Turkey. A total of 780 male participants were chosen from professional and young soccer players from Beşiktaş A.Ş., Fenerbahçe A.Ş., Galatasaray A.Ş. and Trabzonspor A.Ş. soccer clubs. Professional teams of each four clubs earned the right to play “Super Final” at the end of 2011-2012 Turkish Spor-Toto Super League. Data was collected by accessing the Turkish Football Federation (TFF)’s website (1) which holds information on all licensed players. Each team’s data were individually analysed for each age category. The birthmonth distribution and any meaningful difference were further analysed by a Chi-square statistical test. Apart from professional teams (A), meaningful statistical findings were observed for the youth players. Out of all the players that participate in youth academies, the majority were born on the month of January. Due to the meaningful differences found in this study which are even more evident in age groups that are in puberty , it can be said that player preference and selection is effected by the relative age effect in elite soccer teams in Turkey.