Home form no advantage in A-League

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By Mike Tuckerman, 26 Aug 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, football, Gold Coast United

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Gold Coast United FC player Tahj Minniecon during the United A-league team's first training session at Southport on the Gold Coast, Tuesday April 7, 2009. AAP Image/Tony Phillips

Don’t bother shutting the gate, Gold Coast United have already bolted. What’s interesting about Gold Coast’s form so far is that two of their three wins have come away from home. Of course, they’ve only played at home once so far. But elsewhere home teams are struggling to chalk up wins.

Of the fifteen games played so far, six have resulted in home wins with a further four draws thrown in.

A forty percent success rate for home teams isn’t exactly a catastrophic statistic.

But it does go some way to highlighting that in its five-year history, no one team in the A-League has managed to totally dominate their opponents at home.

Melbourne Victory might be two-time A-League champions.

But they’ve also finished seventh and fifth in the league – mainly on the back of an inability to grind out victories in front of their home fans.

Brisbane Roar are synonymous with being unable to win at home.

Watching them go around on a pristine pitch at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, I wondered again how much home support plays a role.

The fact that only 7,048 fans turned out is in itself not the problem.

That they turned out in a 52,000-capacity stadium arguably is.

It’s a shame there weren’t a few more fans inside Suncorp for Brisbane’s clash with Wellington, because Frank Farina’s side play some of the most attractive football in the league.

Charlie Miller remains a pivotal force in midfield for the Roar, while Henrique looks well on his way to becoming one of the signings of the season.

Brisbane will need to do something about their overall discipline.

Robbie Kruse should have been sent off for his X-rated challenge on Leo Bertos, even if team-mate Tommy Oar was a little hard done by with his red card.

But a more pressing concern for coach Farina is surely how to get his team to win at home.

It’s the same problem faced by A-League coaches across the board.

Adelaide United’s home crowds this season have been impressive, but they were torn apart by Gold Coast United at Hindmarsh Stadium last weekend.

Central Coast Mariners have recorded successive derby-day draws in front of their home fans.

And Melbourne Victory’s only win so far this season came on the road in Townsville.

I expect Victory’s home form to pick up next season when they move to their new football-specific stadium.

But what of a western Sydney team possibly playing out of ANZ Stadium?

If seven thousand fans rattle around inside Suncorp Stadium, I hate to think of the atmosphere set to be unleashed at Homebush’s most infamous white elephant.

Interestingly enough, two games were played at neutral venues in the J. League last weekend.

Second-from-bottom Kashiwa Reysol sacrificed home advantage when they needed it most and drew 1-1 with regional rivals Yokohama F. Marinos at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

And Gamba Osaka lost 3-2 to a Josh Kennedy-less Nagoya Grampus in the neutral surrounds of Kanazawa Stadium.

Meanwhile, a season-high attendance saw Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Urawa Reds at home, while Shimizu S-Pulse smashed local rivals Jubilo Iwata 5-1 in front of a sell-out crowd at the Shizuoka derby.

At the end of the day, there’s no hard and fast rules when it comes to winning at home.

But it’s certainly a useful tactic for those looking to claim silverware!

There’s plenty of interest in whether Gold Coast United can go through the season undefeated.

However, I’m just as interested in seeing if they can consistently win at home – particularly with Gold Coast locals looking set to give Miron Bleiberg’s impressively-assembled squad short shrift over the early rounds of the campaign.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments

whiskeymac said | August 26th 2009 @ 9:47am | Report comment

has been a bit of a curious tradition in the HAl to date – clubs seem to be better on the road than in their own backyard. No one can claim to havea fortress (although the Reds had a reasonable home defensive record) You’d think that NQ might buck the trend with the climate on their side (if they can get their mojo working), but GCU are the most likely to do so (if Clive lets more than 5000 turn up)

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AndyRoo said | August 26th 2009 @ 9:55am | Report comment

I think most fans are hoping Neils bid gets up because they will be based at Parramatta Stadium

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- Ben of Phnom Penh said | August 26th 2009 @ 9:53pm | Report comment
  
  There is something in that. Hindmarsh is a great stadium in so far that it is football specific and you are close to the action, but also because with a 16,500 capacity you can have 11 or 12,000 turn up and have a vibrant atmosphere and it looks great on TV. Hence for one of the mid-sized clubs it’s fine with Adelaide Oval available for the occasional promotional event.
  
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David V. said | August 26th 2009 @ 10:48am | Report comment

It’s baffling why A-League clubs have trouble domianting at home considering the long distances comparative to most leagues.

Torino won their last Scudetto in 1976 on the back of winning 14 and drawing 1 of 15 home games, in a close two-horse race with Juventus. They finished a close second the following season and were again unbeaten at home winning all but two, which were drawn.

That same year Sunderland won the Second Division championship on the strength of home form- 19 wins and 2 draws from 21 home games. They won promotion from the same division four years later after, you guessed it, staying unbeaten at home. Exeter won the Fourth Division title in 1990 again on the back of home form, with 20 wins and 3 draws from 23.

The great Ajax sides of yesteryear even managed 100% home records on a few occasions, and rolled teams mercilessly at home.

Yet more proof the A-League simply defies all football logic.

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Realfootball said | August 26th 2009 @ 12:44pm | Report comment

Perhaps it has something to do with crowds and stadiums, specifically the fact that our smallish crowds are often in large stadiums, thus diminishing the psychological advantage of playing in crowded venue with the atmosphere that brings. Etihad, SFC, Suncorp are all too big for the crowds the teams pull in for all but exceptional games, and I know from personal experience at Suncorp the diminishing of atmosphere that produces. Atmosphere works strongly for the home team and against the away team. It’s a simple equation – dilute the atmosphere by spreading the crowd through a large space and you reduce the psychological value of home support for the team on the park. I don’t believe that it is any coincidence that Adelaide United have a strong record at home and if any A-League stadium is a tough away trip, it is Hindmarsh. Small stadium, often almost full, crowd close the pitch equals great atmosphere and thus a marked advantage for the home side. My hunch is that at the new Melbourne stadium, the Victory will become a very tough nut to crack.

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brown dog said | August 26th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment

The large crowd helps as it puts pressure on the referee.

Even if the referee belives they do not favour the home side, the crowd has an influence, you see in other sports like rugby league

I actaully think our referees try too hard not to be seen as favouring home teams they actually favour the away team

I believe sport is entertainment therefore it should be harder for away team

referees if have 50/50 decision should favour the home team

therefore the number of home wins will increase and then crowd goes home happy and more likely to return

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dasilva said | August 26th 2009 @ 1:42pm | Report comment

Robbie Slater had a theory that when teams play at home. They try to play a more attacking game.

However since in past A-league season, there was a lack of really quality strikers, they are unable to trnaslate their dominance to putting the ball in the back of the net. Teams playing away play more defensively and manage to win playing on the counter.

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Pippinu said | August 26th 2009 @ 10:07pm | Report comment

Brown dog makes a good point – I’ve longed to see the Dome’s big crowds influence the ref into favouring MV – but I’m yet to see it. Now that the crowds are starting to drop even at the Dome (18,000 in 52,000 seater isn’t great either), I guess I’ll never see it.

In the days when MV regularly got 28,000+ at the Dome, including quite large crowds of 40,000 and 50,000 in the 2nd season against Adelaide and Sydney respectively – I did develop a theory about why we had such a poor home record.

Remember that in season 2, a stellar season when we opened with 7 straight wins, our away record was better than our home record.

Why? I simply believe that teams relished playing at the Dome in front of a big crowd, they loved it – I’m talking about the opposition. Also, if there’s a noisy North End South End chant going – it’s just as likely to rouse the opposing team as MV!!

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- AndyRoo said | August 27th 2009 @ 9:53am | Report comment
  
  I remember people saying this about Perth Glory in the old NSL. It was such a thrill for opposing players to play in front of a big crowd and the shed (with its chanting) that they were always bang up for the game.
  
  There were other teams that could get decent crowds now and then but they had a different style of support
  
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Football Person 2 said | March 20th 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment

The situation will change when the clubs build THEIR stadiums ( yes Melbourne too, they can’t survive at bubble land ) .

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