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Peak age of footballers

What is it about?

The article examines at what age professional footballers exhibit peak performance. For this it analyzes performance ratings of players in the four top-flight leagues in Europe (Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga and Serie A) during the 2010/11-2014/15 seasons. According to the results, professional footballers generally peak between 25 and 27 years of age. Following conventional wisdom, attacking players peak earlier (around 25) than defensive players (around 27).

Why is it important?

The evidence so far on peak age of footballers is overwhelmingly anecdotal. This study provides the first systematic, comprehensive and thorough examination of the issue. It uses a unique metric (performance rating), a large sample (all outfield players in the major leagues), a long time-frame (5 seasons) and various approaches (distributional analyses and regression modeling). Coaches, managers, executives and fans will all be informed by the findings.

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