I've been on holiday so I've not had a chance to post this but the Horizon programme on BBC2 last Monday was very interesting. Research has concluded that wearing red not only makes sports participants perform better, but also makes officials biased towards them. They got this from data analysis and two experiments. The first was based on results from olympic Taekwondo bouts where competitors are randomly issued with red or blue bibs. Those wearing red won many more of the close bouts (which are often decided by umpire rulings). But the researchers then doctored the recordings to switch the bib colours and showed them to a panel of umpires. The results were reversed with contestants wearing the now apparently red bib winning more than half the bouts! They also did some research on amateur footballers who were randomly given red, blue and white shirts and asked to take penalties. Those wearing red seemed to do better and also tested as being less stressed by the event. So perhaps Howard Webb can't help favouring Man U!
The obvious answer is to ban teams from wearing red. Either that or ban teams that wear red, instead. Change your kit or sod off!
I'd like to see teams who play in red, being banned from having 2nd and 3rd strips!...ManU v Liverpool
