Genetic Variations between Youth and Professional Development Phase English Academy Football Players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the genotype frequency distribution of thirty-three single nucleotide variants (SNVs) between youth development phase (YDP) and professional development phase (PDP) academy football players. One hundred and sixty-six male football players from two Category 1 and Category 3 English academies were examined within their specific age phase: YDP (n = 92; aged 13.84 ± 1.63 years) and PDP (n = 74; aged 18.09 ± 1.51 years). Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare individual genotype frequencies, whereas unweighted and weighted total genotype scores (TGS; TWGS) were computed to assess differences in polygenic profiles. In isolation, the IL6 (rs1800795) G allele was overrepresented in PDP players (90.5%) compared to YDP players (77.2%; p = 0.023), whereby PDP players had nearly three times the odds of possessing a G allele (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.13–7.09). The TGS (p = 0.001) and TWGS (p < 0.001) were significant, but poor, in distinguishing YDP and PDP players (AUC = 0.643–0.694), with PDP players exhibiting an overall more power-orientated polygenic profile. If validated in larger independent youth football cohorts, these findings may have important implications for future studies examining genetic associations in youth football.