Birthplace and Birthdate Effect during Talent Process in Professional Soccer Academy Players

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to detect, from among a set of innate, acquired, and contextual factors, those variables that are ascribed to players ultimately promoted to the professional team of a Spanish league club during the earlier selection and development phases. The data were presented in frequencies and correlations and by means of a classificatory cluster model. The variables used for the analyses included date of birth, birthplace density, player position, laterality, academy entry stage, international participation, and debutant status. These variables were related to the talent selection and promotion phases (i.e., academy entry stage and player debut). A dataset of information on 1411 players from the last 30 seasons of the Athletic Club de Bilbao (1993–2021) was used. Regarding the results, first, there was an over-representation of players with respect to their Q1 birth date and K5 density quintile in the selection phase; however, once players joined the academy, their chances of promotion (debut) fell for players in the Q4 birth date and K3 density quintiles. Second, there was a significant correlation between players’ debut and the stage of incorporation (p < 0.01; V = 0.46) and internationalisation (p < 0.01; V = 0.5). Finally, the birthplace density and laterality variables converged as classificatory features of the players.