###Summary
My visualization shows the trend in fouls per game and fouls per card given over the past ten seasons in the big four European soccer leagues. The intent is to show how the game appears to be refereed differently today. There are fewer fouls called per game and the fouls that are called are more likely to produce a card (either yellow or red).
###Design
I decided to use two line charts to clearly show the trends over time. I colored the lines to closely match colors used by the national teams for the four countries to make it easier to visually match countries with lines. Because there are two very similar charts I cut down on some redundancy by using one legend for both charts in the top right. I also only labeled the bottom x axis since both charts have the same x axis ticks.
After gathering some feedback I decided to zoom in slightly on the y axis rather than having it start at 0. The slight zoom in makes the downward trend more visible. I did not zoom in so much though as to potentially make it misleading.
I also softened the colors a bit after my first draft. I initially started with "red", "blue", etc. I chose a slightly softer red, blue, etc. to make the colors a little easier on the eyes.
###Feedback
I received feedback from four different people so far. Here is the feedback in bulleted list by question.
- What do you notice in the visualization?
Germany clearly has the most fouls per card the past 10 seasons, and Spain the least. England clearly has the least fouls per game.
In the last 10 seasons the number fouls per game has been on a decline, with a larger decrease in the 10/11 season. Germany consistently has the highest fouls per card and Spain consistently has the least fouls per card.
It’s very easy to read. It explains the data throughly. England has a lot fewer fouls per game, but Spain has fewer fouls per card.
I notice that there is a downward trend in the amount of fouls called per game; however, there is a slight increase in the most recent season. Also, there is downward trend in the amount of fouls called per card. This would lead me to believe that the fouls being called are more serious and warrant a card.
- What questions do you have about the data?
Why not show cards per game also?
What caused the larger decrease in fouls for the majority of the teams in the 10/11 season?
Where did the data come from? Would it be beneficial to list the sources on the webpage? Would it beneficial to factor in the average referee experience?
- What relationships do you notice?
England has the least fouls per game, but not for fouls per card. Spain has the least fouls per card, but not for fouls per game. It looks like Spain issues more cards overall per game than England does.
Germany and Italy both have the larger amount of fouls per game and fouls per card while Spain has more fouls per game than England but England has more fouls per game than Spain.
- What do you think is the main takeaway from this visualization?
In the last 10 seasons there have been a noticeable reduction in the fouls per game and fouls per card. Either the referees are calling less fouls or the players are committing less fouls overall.
The referring may be getting more relaxed and they are only calling the more serious fouls. Maybe the average years of referee experience is increasing, which leads to less petty fouls being called. Maybe the players are committing less pretty fouls.
- Is there something you don't understand in the graphic?
Might want to steer clear of using red and yellow lines in your graphic in case someone confuses them with the number of red and yellow cards somehow
Not being a follower of soccer I had to “Google” soccer card rules. Might be a good idea to include a small footnote to explain some very basic “card” rules.
The only other remark I have is regarding the size of the charts. I have large monitors with a high screen resolution. I had to zoom in to 200% on the webpage to see the charts good. Maybe it would be better to increase their native size a little?
##Resources