The Ramsey Effect

About

The Ramsey Effect, also known as The Ramsey Curse or The Rambo Effect, is a theory which asserts a temporal correlation between the deaths of famous public figures and scoring of goals by the Welsh professional footballer player Aaron Ramsey. After its initial coinage in the wake of the deaths of several well-known individuals and celebrities in 2012, many British football fans and followers of the English Premier League have continued to build on the theory by citing additional examples that supposedly support its validity.

Origin

The coincidental proximity between the times at which Aaron Ramsey, who plays as a midfielder for the English Premier League club Arsenal F.C., scores goals and the deaths of notable celebrities was first noticed by football fans in February 2012, based on an observation that each of the four goals scored by Ramsey for Arsenal F.C. during the 2011-2012 season were followed by the death of a notable celebrity within a margin of a few days at the most.

Spread

On February 11th, 2012, the British public's attention surrounding the theory skyrocketed following the death of American singer Whitney Houston. On February 12th, British tabloid The Sun first pointed out how Ramsey was being bizarrely linked to Whitney Houston’s death by fans.^[6] Later that day, a Sharenator article on the phenomenon was created,^[5] which also pointed out that Ramsey broke his leg in February 2010 just before an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hit Chile. On February 13th, the Facebook group "Saving an aaron ramsey shot is like saving someone's life" was created.^[4] On February 15th, the Daily Mail UK ran an article about the Ramsey Effect,^[1] followed by the Telegraph^[7] on February 17th after a video was created by Next Media Animation that same day (shown below).

Throughout the years, Ramsey's goals have become associated with various celebrity deaths and other negative events; gaining his goals the repuation of being a bad omen and Ramsey the nickname of "The Grim Reaper of Soccer". Although the deaths of lesser known celebrities usually don't get as much attention, Ramsey's goals and the "curse" they carry are brought up most commonly with the deaths of memorable celebrities.

A video explaining the curse was uploaded by Venezuelan vlogger and Youtuber DrossRotzank on January 15th, 2016, and managed to gather over 3 million views and over 150,000 likes over the next 2 months; turning it in the most popular video regarding the alleged curse.

November 2013: Paul Walker

On November 30th, 2011, Ramsey kicked off his 2012-2013 EPL campaign with two goals against Cardif. Shortly thereafter, on that same day, Fast and the Furious actor Paul Walker dies in a car accident.

August 2014: Robin Williams

On August 10th, Ramsey scored the opening goal in Arsenal’s first game against Manchester City. The day after, on August 11th, American actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead at his home in California in an apparent case of suicide.

January 2016: David Bowie & Alan Rickman

On January 9th, 2016, Ramsey scored Arsenal's second goal in their 3-1 league win over Sunderland. The day after, on Januarty 10th, prolific English musician and songwriter David Bowie died from liver cancer. On Januarty 13th, Ramsey scored Arsenal's first goal in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool. On January 14th, British actor Alan Rickman died from pancreatic cancer.

Ramsey's Reaction

In August 2014, Ramsey addressed the phenomenon in an interview with Sport magazine, calling it "ridiculous" but at the same time joking about it. That same month, the reply was also featured in an article by Metro.^[8]

"The most ridiculous rumour I’ve heard is that people die after I score. There have been loads of occasions where I’ve scored and somebody has died. That’s just a crazy rumour. Although I took out some baddies!"

Search Interest

External References