You know in those episodes of the original Star Trek, when a search party would beam down to a newly discovered planet ? There’d invariably be Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a unidentified minion usually wearing a red shirt with black collar…

…all lined up with Phasers invariably set to stun.
 

Typical Star Trek, changing three kits each season…

You knew instinctively that three of those four would make it back to the Enterprise but as for the fourth…

 As an aside…have you ever seen that photo of Ian Callaghan playing for Crewe…?) 

Well, that’s kind of how I feel right now when I look at the top of the Championship. Three of the top four are recently-relegated Premier League clubs still in receipt of the divisive parachute payments; in fourth and occasionally wearing red & black, are little old Blackburn Rovers. The key questions to ask therefore:

• Have we got any lines, or are we to remain mute in the mid-distance ?
• Are we contracted to appear in any subsequent episodes ?
• Is our Phaser working and set to “stun” ?

Fulham apparently are quite ruthless on the break, especially away from home and have the ability to put inferior sides to the sword with consummate ease. Bournemouth, incredibly difficult to beat, in particular at home and West Bromwich Albion are rapidly becoming the ultimate yo-yo side capable of beaming up & down to the Premier League at will. 

Rovers fans know all too well the perils of a season in the Championship, what it’s like to drop through to League One, what it is to miss out on a play-off spot on the final day and to lumber around aimlessly in mid-table. 

However, if we reference the “2nd tier” rather than “The Championship”, then we can point to several appearances in the play-offs, winning one memorable final and a runners-up spot to boot. 

If we are to consider all of the available evidence, what are the chances that Blackburn Rovers are in fact the expendable extra wearing red & black, or are we possibly the cosseted Enterprise officer-class wearing blue (or yellow) that lives to tell the tale ?

We have the division’s most exciting goal scoring talent at our disposal, a vibrant, fluid midfield and we appear to have discovered a defensive line-up that seems to be gelling with each passing week…could we actually, you know….beam down and return safely to the Premier League mothership after all ?
 

Well here’s the thing; it turns out that the “red shirts” weren’t the category statistically* most in jeopardy in the average Star Trek episode after all (10%), rather, it’s the gold shirted commanders that were most vulnerable (18%). Only 6% of the blue shirted scientist crew perished, so the moral is clear.

From now on, home shirts to be worn in all possible fixtures, if a change is required, red and black halves.
 

*source :

https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-red-shirts-werent-statistically-the-most-likely-to-die-after-all/