Jump to content

The end of home advantage through Covid


Recommended Posts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/56597524

I've always been interested in why home advantage is a thing ever since I was a kid. When I was in primary school, I took part in a quiz tournament across schools and we won all of our matches at home and lost all of our matches away, even when we played the same schools. I can vaguely remember feeling uncomfortable with unfamiliar surroundings and faces I didn't recognise. On this level I can understand it.

In sport, back in the day, facilities and surroundings might vary significantly, giving home players an advantage of being used to their own patch. Think Mount Pleasant or Odsal for RL examples. 

However, as sport has become more professional and facilities have improved, I've continued to wonder why it has an effect at this level. If you'd have asked me pre-covid, I'd probably have suspected that it mostly down to a mini placebo effect, where players expect to do better at home (and vice-versa) and are therefore more relaxed and comfortable. 

I like the idea from this study that fans might be a bigger factor than I'd considered. It's not necessarily definitive, but it seems the most obvious explanation for the near elimination of home advantage in the Premier League. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


25 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/56597524

I've always been interested in why home advantage is a thing ever since I was a kid. When I was in primary school, I took part in a quiz tournament across schools and we won all of our matches at home and lost all of our matches away, even when we played the same schools. I can vaguely remember feeling uncomfortable with unfamiliar surroundings and faces I didn't recognise. On this level I can understand it.

In sport, back in the day, facilities and surroundings might vary significantly, giving home players an advantage of being used to their own patch. Think Mount Pleasant or Odsal for RL examples. 

However, as sport has become more professional and facilities have improved, I've continued to wonder why it has an effect at this level. If you'd have asked me pre-covid, I'd probably have suspected that it mostly down to a mini placebo effect, where players expect to do better at home (and vice-versa) and are therefore more relaxed and comfortable. 

I like the idea from this study that fans might be a bigger factor than I'd considered. It's not necessarily definitive, but it seems the most obvious explanation for the near elimination of home advantage in the Premier League. 

I'd suggest in days gone past before transport improved , spending a day on a train or ' Chara ' might well disrupt performance levels when travelling away , that then working into the mindset of the players that a draw away would be seen as a good result , and similarly a draw at home as a bad one 

Also as you point out , home support generally being much larger might well energise the home team more , and why generally as a supporter you will be more vocal ( I am ) when away than at home as you try to compensate for smaller numbers 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Johnoco said:

My theory is that it’s mostly down to familiarity and comfort zones. If you were a gromit flanger and were one of the best at it. Say you worked in the same factory for 25 years and then got another job doing exactly the same thing in a different factory, you might struggle to be as good. Not because you couldn’t do the job but because you were in a different environment, which will play on you even if you don’t realise it. 

The question is then why has there been an effect on sport through Covid? After all, the same things apply just minus crowds.

It's easy to speculate why home crowds could influence performance. There is the energy and emotional boost that they can give, but they can also put pressure on if things are not going so well. In some environments, players may even feel intimidated by opposition fans and therefore uncomfortable.

All of this is of course hard to prove and probably never will be 100%. The current situation at least allows a kind of test study on what happens if crowds aren't there. The problem is that the sample is still relatively small and there could be other factors at play as Nevin outlines such as the home stadium feeling strange rather than comfortable. Maybe if this was the new norm, over 4/5 years a new form of home advantage would start to take effect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.