What if the Magpies were Robins instead?
Mar 12 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
IT’S enough to make long-suffering Newcastle United fans see red.
According to research by Durham University experts, if the club had adopted a red strip, they would probably have enjoyed greater success over the years.
Research has shown that many of the successful football teams of the past 50 years – like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal – have worn red kits.
The research, involving Durham University and Plymouth universities , suggests that simply wearing a red shirt has given football teams an advantage, thanks to our deep-rooted biological response to the colour.
In nature, red is often associated with male aggression and display. It is a testosterone-driven signal of male quality – the red breast of a robin is an example – and its effect has also been harnessed by English redcoat soldiers.
So what about the black and white stripes?
Prof Robert Barton, of Durham University’s Department of Anthropology, said that stripes were used in the animal kingdom as a way of distracting and confusing enemies.
And while Newcastle’s stripes may distract opponents, they could also confuse the United players.
“It could be a double-edged sword,” he said.
Another possible factor in the red success story is that its higher visibility qualities could help players direct accurate passes to each other.
But if red is so advantageous, why haven’t Sunderland and Middlesbrough fared better?
“If the red is diluted by white, the effect could be that much weaker,” said Prof Barton.
“But both teams are in the Premier League and they could be a lot lower.”
Other recent research by Durham scientists demonstrated that competitors wearing red had increased success in Olympic combat sports and the new project set out to discover whether such an effect could be detected in football.
Prof Barton and Dr Russell Hill, also of Durham University and authors of the Olympic combat study, analysed data on English football league results since the Second World War.
They concentrated on how teams have performed at home when they nearly always wear their main kit colour. They discovered a significant difference in success levels between red, white, blue and yellow/orange teams, with red teams across the whole of the top 68 clubs winning more often at home. Comparing the results from all cities in England where there is a team playing in red and a rival team of another colour – for example, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham – the red teams have performed significantly better in the league, despite sharing the same potential resource base.”
Prof Barton said: “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 Hill added: “In close matches where teams are evenly balanced, we still predict that wearing red could tip the balance between success and failure.”
