Whenever you go to check the sport fixtures and upcoming matches for your team, what do you look for?
Most people would check the opposition, what time the game is on, and maybe the betting odds for both teams.
You will also most likely check whether or not your team is playing at home as subconsciously you believe that playing at home will affect your team’s performance for the better.
However, when your team plays a home game it may not really be an advantage at all. Many times it could also be a disadvantage.
The common arguments for a ‘home advantage’ are:
1. You have the crowd and fans on your side
2. You are familiar with the surroundings and playing field
3. There is not the added burden of travel time.
To what extent does having the crowd on your side affect a player or team’s performance? Are athletes too much ‘in the zone’ of the game to notice the fans roaring or booing?
The home crowd advantage will largely depend on the type of sport being played and the fan-base with that particular team.
However, as is very prominent in the NRL and AFL, many teams have the same home ground, or their grounds are in the same city and very close to each other. Does this essentially take out the factor of home crowd support for many teams?
Everyone who competes in sport loves being able to compete at his or her home ground. They know the dressing rooms inside out and recognise the familiar geographical conditions that come with it.
However, when you support a team that competes in a national comp, the playing surface is essentially the same for each ground, and a good sportsman or team should be able to adapt to each ground they play at.
The travel time for teams to play against opposition is said to also have an impact on your team. Though could playing and travelling away for a game actually be an advantage?
The time spent travelling could be used to read over and memorise your team’s gameplays or it could give you time to get into the right mindset for the game. There is also the incentive in a player’s mindset to not go back with a loss considering they have travelled this far.
Four games into this year’s English Premier League, 13 teams have yet to win a game at home whereas only two teams have won both of their two home games.
Whereas in the AFL and NRL ladders this year, there is very small difference in the home-and-away results between the best teams. Some of the best teams have won more games away from home.
So in conclusion, playing at home may not really be an advantage like you think. Overall it mainly comes down to the quality of the teams playing and their desire to win, regardless of the surroundings.
Jonathan Pips
Roar Rookie
For many football teams playing at home can be a clear disadvantage when you consider their playing style. Take Crystal Palace in the EPL, for instance. Alan Pardew has his side defending deep and uses pacey forwards to launch quick, incisive breaks from their own half. It's not tactically groundbreaking, but as the recent win away to Chelsea shows, it can be very effective when the opposition is dominating possession. The flip side of this is that, when playing at home, there's an expectation from the home fans that their team should be proactive, maintain possession and dominate the game. A counter-attacking team isn't typically able to adapt to this change; the pacey wingers don't have space to run, whilst the steely midfield doesn't have the nous to control the game. Hence, you'll probably find that Pardew's Palace - and probably some others - finish the season with more wins away than at home. It is interesting to compare this idea across codes, though. The idea of 'defending deep' and 'playing on the break' doesn't really apply to either NRL or AFL.
Me Too
Guest
Toram the point homeabout interstate advantage here are the Home win loss compared with the away win loss records of the interstate teams. Irrefutable. Home games. Away games WIn. Loss. Win. Loss WC. 219. 98. 137. 177 AC. 180. 93. 109. 164 PA. 129. 78. 84. 122 Freo. 139. 92. 75. 155 BL. 121. 85. 77. 129 GC. 19. 35. 9. 46 GWS. 14. 30. 6. 38
Andy
Guest
What most people dont seem to realize is that its not so much the pitch but the stadium itself which is the advantage, you know that if you need to aim for the tall building behind the stadium to get the ball on the edge of the 18 yard boxs or something, you dont have to take that extra half a second to aim directly for a spot because in your peripheral you can see a certain sponsers sign or the wheelchair section so you know where to hit it with what power from what position. That is the advantage that stadiums give.
Kaks
Roar Guru
If you think there is no such thing as home field advantage then I recommend you make a multi at the nearest TAB and see which favourite playing away from home screws you over.
Ads
Guest
In the AFL the non-Melbourne teams (incl. Geelong here) have a massive advantage- it's very hard to win in WA, Adelaide Oval, SCG. The Melbourne teams all share MCG and Etihad, it's no real advantage. Collingwood's home record for 2015 was 4-7 and 2014 it was 5-6
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The numbers do tell the story, however it might not be the numbers you are thinking of. Traveling sides expend significant amount of resources in producing an environment for their team that is as close to their home routine as possible in order to negate home ground advantage. These are expenditures that are not made when playing at home because the advantage is already present. If home ground advantage did not exist, there would be no reason to prepare a team beyond keeping them fit. Interestingly the studies consistently show that home sides receive favourable refereeing. Whether this is because of crowd influence or not is conjecture, however the statistics show across sports and countries that this occurs.
Bovs
Guest
Is playing at home really an advantage? All you have to do to know is look at the statistics... do home sides win more often? Do the numbers change for home sides in games featuring sides from 2 states compared to games where both sides are based in the same state? If you want to know why home sides win more often, then yes you can look at the psychological or logistical aspects. But if you just want to know if it's true, the numbers are definitive.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Ground consolidation does go a long way towards reducing home advantage, particularly when coupled with the geographical concentration of the AFL in Melbourne. It is no accident that North Melbourne worked towards engineering an "away" date with Richmond in order to avoid a potential away game with Adelaide, as the trip to Adelaide Oval is a trip to foreign turf with a hostile crowd. With the A-League this is less of an issue, with only the two Melbourne sides engaging in any level of ground sharing there is a material difference between home and away fixtures.
Me Too
Guest
Home advanttage is very significant in the afl, with two extra factors - ground size varies quite markedly, and umpiring, especially if you're a WA team, favours you heavily. It won't mean a bad team will beat a good one every game, but they'll regularly give a better account. Can you imagine the Lions beating the Dogs at Etihad, the Suns drawing the eagles away, geelong beating adelaide in adelaide? The very top teams obviously have better records than most when playing away, but ask any Freo or WC fan if they'd think themselves the same chance if playing finals away.
144
Roar Guru
I think that having the fans behind you cheering you on helps out a team at least to an extent. It would be easier hearing people cheering for you than away fans booing you at an away game. If you put into context the merseyside derby Everton v Liverpool. Does a home advantage really take action here. They are in the same city literally 10 minutes down the road from each other. When a rugby team from Sydney has to travel to Brisbane or Adelaide it could affect their playing style. But teams should really be going out there and playing there game at home or away, home advantage shouldn't be relied upon too much and if teams lose away from home they shouldn't be blaming the away aspect of the match. Four games into this year’s English Premier League, 13 teams have yet to win a game at home whereas only two teams have won both of their two home games. Whereas in the AFL and NRL ladders this year, there is very small difference in the home-and-away results between the best teams. Some of the best teams have won more games away from home. Considering this stat, is it necessary to compare the NRL and english premier league considering that a team like Norwich may have had Manchester united Chelsea and Arsenal at home while they have Watford and Bournemouth away from home. Does this affect their performance or win ratio home to away. great article, good of you to make this comparison here.
Wayne
Roar Guru
Routine is a major thing, home grounds have same routine. You take same roads, you sit at same bench in changerooms, you walk around same park to warm up. There is something about that 'normality'