The science behind football kits and why wearing their green shirts at Liverpool could help Sheffield United spring a major upset

As supporters debated the merits of the striking and controversial design - an “abomination” or “thing of beauty” depending on whose Twitter timeline you read - the images also evoked memories of a trip to Norwich City last year, when Wilder instructed his staff to perform an impromptu makeover of the away dressing room at Carrow Road, after discovering it had been painted in exactly the same colour his team now wear on their travels. “It was white when we got there,” Wilder later explained, noting City’s choice of shade was designed to lower testosterone levels. “I wasn’t tired when we walked in and the lads weren’t tired when they walked out. I’d have been a bit disappointed if any had started yawning.”

Tomorrow, when United’s Premier League season continues with a visit to Liverpool, Wilder’s men are expected to be sporting their green third kit to avoid any clash with the reigning champions.

Dr Lambros Lazuras, associate professor in social psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, has studied the effect colour can have on human behaviour and, speaking ahead of the match at Anfield, told The Star it could help United receive the benefit of the doubt if there are any marginal refereeing decisions to be made during the meeting with Jurgen Klopp’s side.

“There is some evidence from professional football in Germany, their first and second divisions, which shows that defending teams wearing green and also black kits yielded more favourable offside judgements,” Lazuras said. “The researchers suggested this possibly has to do with contrasting colour perception - green and black kits are clearly less visible on the football field compared ti white or other bright kits that make a sharper contract with the turf, but the introduction of VAR could resolve this issue.”

Although primarily a fashion statement, United’s choice of apparel could have a series of unintended consequences according to academics who have researched this subject area. However, highlighting one keynote study, Lazuras explained the effect of colour on performance levels probably appears to stem from people’s perceptions rather than any direct influence.

“There are two influential papers on the effect of colour on sporting performance,” he said. “The first, published in 1998, comes from Frank and Gilovich and described how black is associated more with aggressiveness on the playing field. Again, however, this paper highlights that it’s not the colour per se that is affecting sporting performance, but rather our perception of a particular colour’s symbolism.”

Those perceptions, Lazuras pointed out, probably explain why United are happy to wear a shade which provoked such a dramatic reaction from their coaching staff when they were confronted by it in Norfolk.

“Although there has been plenty of research on the effects of colours such as black, blue and red on human performance, including in sport, there is limited research on the effects of pink,” he said. “Black, red and blue are assumed to have an evolutionary importance. For example, black is seen as a symbol of aggression, war and death historically across many cultures, so it has attracted more research attention than more subtle forms or shades.

“However, we do know that pink isn’t associated with masculinity and manliness in our collective social mind, and this stereotypical reaction - and sometimes homophoibic reaction - could be reflected in some people’s antipathy towards pink.”

“Thankfully,” Lazarus continued, “research has shown that some football players are much more open-minded when it comes to pink and embrace a much more inclusive approach. A 2011 study showed that American soccer players did not display homophobic reactions for wearing pink on the football field. So maybe it is not a question of how pink affects performance in football, but rather of how pink affects our perception of people and footballers wearing it?”

Sometimes there are genuine, tangible reasons why folk take a dislike to a particular colour choice. Nearly a quarter-of-a-century ago, Sir Alex Ferguson ordered his Manchester United players to remove their grey kit after watching them concede three goals during a miserable first-half display against Southampton. At the time, many felt Ferguson had issued the instruction in a fit of pique. However, his former defender turned television analyst later revealed the decision had been influenced by a conversation with the late Professor Gail Stephenson. Prof Stephenson, who established the Liverpool University’s Department of Orthoptics, was working as Ferguson’s ‘eye coach’ at the time.

“It’s going to sound daft but one of the theories going around at the time was that match sharpness wasn’t to do with physical fitness, it was to do with your eye muscles being able to react to things happening on the pitch,” Neville remembered earlier this year. “Sir Alex had it in his head before this kit was a problem, because he’d been told by Gail.”

Kit choices tend to be made on a whim, depending upon the tastes of owners, directors and coaching staff, or are influenced by the commercial arrangement a club has struck with its supplier. But, as sport becomes increasingly scientific, is there anything to be gained by making selections based on a squad’s personality traits?

“Personality is relevant to many things, but it tends to have a more distal effect on actual performance,” Lazarus said. “That is, more immediate and proximal factors directly influence our behaviour. In the case of kit colours, perhaps it would be more useful to consider people’s perceptions if colour and performance - whether merely believing that a colour has an effect, which it then does - like the placebo effects in clinical trials of new drugs.”

“Also, it’s important to distinguish between different sports, and examine more closely whether colour changes performance in some more than others,” he added.

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