Preliminary Investigation Into the Seasonal Birth Distribution of England World Cup Campaign Players (1982 – 1998)

Theoretically, the date of birth of international soccer players should be evenly spread throughout the year. Early maturing children or those born early in the academic/competition year (i.e., September to December) may have initial advantages in power, speed and strength. Brewer et al. (1995) reported that over 50% of England U-16 Youth Internationals had their birthdays between September and December.