Dr Iain Greenlees and Michael Eynon at the University of Chichester asked 40 University strikers to take 10 penalties against a goalkeeper wearing black, followed by 10 penalties against a goalkeeper wearing red, yellow, green or blue.
Before each set of 10 penalties the striker had to estimate the number of they would score.
The colour of the goalkeeper's jersey made no difference to the confidence of the strikers; however, it did make a difference to the number of goals scored, as you can see in the table below.
Colour of Goalkeeper's Top |
Goals Conceded |
|
Red |
54% |
|
Yellow |
69% |
|
Green |
75% |
|
Blue |
72% |
"These findings lend support to the idea that red clothing could give a sportsperson or team a small but meaningful advantage (one penalty in five) in a competitive encounter. It also has implications for sports in which a competitor is assigned a coloured corner randomly, like boxing and martial arts in the Olympics." said Dr Greenlees.
So, whether he chooses David James, Ben Foster, Robert Green, Joe Hart or Paul Robinson, Fabio Capello should at least make sure he wears red if we play Germany.
Source: BPS (Press Release)
