The success of football teams wearing red shirts – including Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal – is no coincidence according to academics.
Their findings suggest that simply wearing a red shirt has given football teams an advantage – thanks to our deep-rooted biological response to the colour.
The research, by the University of Plymouth and Durham University, has been published in the Journal of Sports Sciences.
Researchers analysed data on English football league results since the Second World War – concentrating on how teams have performed at home when they nearly always wear their main signature kit colour.
They found teams wearing red across the whole of the top 68 clubs winning more often at home. Teams wearing yellow or orange shirts had the worst record.
But the researchers found no difference at all in performance away from home, when teams typically wear a range of colours that often change over the years.
In nature, red is often associated with male aggression and display – and in the sporting arena research by Durham scientists demonstrated that competitors wearing red had increased success in Olympic combat sports.
Professor Robert Barton, from Durham University, said: “We see a couple of possible explanations.
“Firstly, over time supporters may have been subconsciously more attracted to a club wearing red, so the club has developed an increasing resource base within its community.
“Secondly, there may be a positive psychological boost from wearing red, or being associated with a red team, that is reflected on the field of play. Competing against a team in red could also impair performance.”
Dr Russell Hill, also from Durham University, said: “It is certainly true that 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.”
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