Birth clue to football position

Always stuck in goal - England's David Seaman

The number and age of a footballer's siblings could be a key factor in determining their position on the pitch, says a researcher.

While goalkeepers tended to have only one brother or sister, strikers had larger numbers of siblings.

Dr Michael Perkin, an expert in child health from St George's Hospital in London examined the family records of third division players in England.

Fewer brothers meant more time in goal, he told the British Medical Journal.

The lighthearted research was inspired by a more serious study which found that family size seemed to have a bearing on the likelihood of allergic diseases such as hayfever and asthma.

Jumpers for goalposts

Dr Perkin - as the father of three young boys - noticed that his youngest always seemed to end up in goal when they played football together.

He had the theory that the youngest child would be more likely to end up between the goalposts, while the older boys hogged the limelight as strikers.

One explanation for goalkeepers being from smaller families may be that in such families individual children spend longer in goal Dr Michael Perkin, St George's Hospital Medical School

Writing to higher division clubs yielded little co-operation with his survey, but 14 out of 24 English third division clubs sent information about the numbers of brothers and sisters of each member of their squad.

In all, 232 players formed part of the analysis.

The results suggested that birth order did play a role in determining whether a player would roam the outfield - or forever be stuck "between the sticks".

Goalkeepers, on average, had 1.13 siblings, defenders 1.79, midfield players 2.4 brothers and sisters, and finally strikers had on average exactly two.

Pele assesses his family's size

"One explanation for goalkeepers being from smaller families may be that in such families individual children spend longer in goal, whereas children in bigger families can rotate through other positions," he wrote.

Another possibility, of course, is that "only children" and those from smaller family groups might somehow develop physically in a different way - making them more likely to reach the height requirement needed to make them either a goalie or a defender.

Some of the world's most famous players seem to support the hypothesis - former England goalkeeper David "Safe Hands" Seaman has one brother, while the great Brazilian World Cup winner Pele is the eldest of three children.