The influence of initial results on the final classification of high-level football teams

Abstract

The aim of this paper is twofold; first, to investigate the relationship between team results in the first weeks of a competition and team results at the end of the season, and second, to analyse whether this relationship differs according to the teams’ budgets. The sample consisted of the results of the Spanish Football League during the 2002-2003 to 2006-2007 seasons. The dependent variable is the performance achieved by the teams in the first five matches of the competition. The conclusions of this study are as follows: first, the team results in the first five weeks of competition have an important impact on the final results at the end of the season for the teams with the lowest budgets and second, this relationship is not significant in teams with the highest budgets.