Recently the American football blog “Outside of the boot” noticed that a lot of the most successful goalies in football (that’s proper football, as we know it) are bald, and came up with three ingenious reasons as to why.
Why are goalies bald?
These are the reasons the bloggers put forward:
1. Balding is typically associated with ageing, therefore goalies who are getting older and losing or have lost their hair will have gained experience. Consequently, this gives the players the illusion of being experienced and reliable – although that doesn’t actually make them reliable on the field, it does give off an air of reliability and influences fellow teammates and the opposition.
2. Bald men are better streamlined and aerodynamically pleasing, this allows them to glide across the field more efficiently than their teammates who have hair. Therefore being bald could be the reason why some footballers prefer to go bald, although it doesn’t necessarily always happen by choice.
3. Professional football is by no means easy – it’s a stressful sporting career which can take a toll on the player’s hairline.
In fact, the blog even goes as far as suggesting that the balding goalie look could be part of a whacky conspiracy theory in which the footballers are attempting to emulate the appearance of the Bald Eagle of America.
Should all footballers shave their heads?
Although this isn’t really enough evidence to suggest that all footballers are better off going bald, it could perhaps have been a better option for UK footballers such as Wayne Rooney, Jason McAteer and Anthony Stokes, who’ve all undergone hair transplants due to thinning and receding hairlines in the last few years.
If the no-hair look isn’t enough for these guys, then there is always the low-maintenance, cost-effective option of Scalp Micro Pigmentation (SMP). SMP is a simple, straight-forward procedure which consists of depositing hair follicle-like pigments on the scalp, which gives a realistic and natural hairline and the look of a freshly shaved head.
