#KeeperTopColourStats

Keeper Top Colour Stats

Update : 28 September 2025

All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper top because it supposedly changes the behaviour of other players around the box. Links to the coverage at the time (2008) are here. It was in the Daily Mail, so it must be true ;) and the fact that it appeared in multiple papers probably means that the original source was a press release from Chelsea FC. 

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/chelsea-goalkeeper-cech-says-new-orange-kit-will-distract-strikers-to-boost-push-for-double-and-scientists-agree-6641354.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-564804/Chelsea-goalkeeper-Cech-says-new-orange-kit-distract-strikers-boost-push-double--scientists-agree.html

My table below is up-to-date as far as my trip to Manchester City Women v London City Lionesses on Sunday 28 September.

From the last 342 games I have watched, the performance table by keeper top colour is below. It is time to persuade someone to compute a Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance for us. I bet you can't wait. In the hope of making this manageable, the lines for Radioactive Bile and Yellow have been merged, as have Fire Cracker and Orange. This gives eleven distinct colours. There has been a late application from Teal at Quorn, but that's Green enough for me.

As yet there is no evidence that this vital information is being put to use by anyone at all, even at Chelsea.

	P	W	D	L	GC	CS	Pts	PPG
Grey	89.5	43.0	19.0	27.5	141.5	29.0	151.5	1.693
Red	18.5	8.5	3.0	7.0	25.0	5.5	31.0	1.676
Green	188.1	92.8	27.0	68.3	300.0	51.0	260.4	1.384
Blue	72.1	29.0	12.0	31.1	120.0	19.0	74.0	1.026
White	4.9	1.0	1.0	2.9	6.0	1.0	3.0	0.612
Purple	41.0	15.0	6.0	20.0	85.0	11.0	21.0	0.512
Orange	104.2	38.7	19.0	46.5	174.5	18.5	53.1	0.510
Black	16.7	7.0	3.0	6.7	31.0	2.0	3.0	0.180
Pink	37.0	13.0	8.0	16.0	66.0	5.0	6.0	0.162
Maroon	8.0	3.0	1.0	4.0	15.0	1.0	0.0	0.000
Yellow	104.0	34.0	15.0	55.0	221.0	19.0	-9.0	-0.087

Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS). Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers in a different colour. 

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