Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40292194›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in sports and active living2025

Born to win? Investigating the relative age effects in the big five European women's football leagues.

Benito Pérez-González, Iyán Iván-Baragaño, José Bonal, Jairo León-Quismondo, Álvaro Fernández-Luna, Pablo Burillo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in sports and active living, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Positional relative age effect in europe's top ten football leagues.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Benito Pérez-GonzálezFacultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Madrid, Spain.
Iyán Iván-BaragañoDepartment of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain.
José BonalDepartment of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain.
Jairo León-QuismondoDepartment of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain.
Álvaro Fernández-LunaDepartment of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain.
Pablo BurilloDepartment of Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: This study examines the presence of the Relative Age Effects (RAEs) among players in the top five European women's football leagues during the 2023/24 season. Methods: A total of 1,634 professional players from the Women's Super League (England), Liga F (Spain), Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A Femminile (Italy), and Division 1 Féminine (France) were analyzed. Birth date distributions were assessed to determine the prevalence of RAEs both collectively and within each league. Results: Poisson regression analyses revealed significant overall RAEs, with a higher proportion of players born in the first semester of the year. Individually, significant RAEs were found in England, Spain, Italy, and France, while Germany did not exhibit statistically significant effects. When analyzed by playing position, significant RAEs were observed among goalkeepers and midfielders, but not among defenders and forwards. Discussion: These findings highlight the ongoing influence of RAEs in elite women's football and underscore the need for strategies to mitigate its impact on talent identification and player development.

Indexed as

birth datedevelopmentmaturationrelative age effectssoccertalent identification

Identifiers

PMID40292194
PMCPMC12021812

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.