Home-field advantage in football matches is a well-known rule at non GamStop bookmakers, but what determines whether a club has home-field advantage? You’ve probably heard of it: the home-field advantage in football games. Teams that play at home have a better chance of winning. After all, they play on familiar ground and can count on the support of their fans. But how much advantage does a home team have exactly? And what happens to the home advantage if there is less or even no audience in the stands? You will get an answer to these pressing questions in this article!
There Is Some Form of Home Field Advantage in Almost All Sports of Non GamStop Bookmakers
Much (scientific) research has been done into the advantage of the home team at non GamStop bookmakers. Not only football but also sports such as basketball and baseball have been studied. This showed that in almost all sports, some form of home-field advantage is present.
However, in no sport is the home-field advantage as great as in football. Since the formation of the English Football League in 1888, 66% of the total points have ended up in the hands of the home teams. In European competitions, this percentage is even slightly higher at 67%.
Remarkably enough, the home advantage decreases when teams from the same city play against each other. In these city derbies, 56% of all available points went to the home team. Also, in derbies between teams that both use the same stadium, the home advantage turned out to be negligible. In the Derby della Madonnina between AC Milan and Inter and the Derby della Capitale between AS Roma and Lazio, it, therefore, hardly matters who the home and away teams are.
What Is Home Field Advantage Based on?
Fans Support
A well-known argument for home-field advantage is the fact that players play in front of their home crowd and are therefore encouraged. However, research has shown that the number of spectators hardly affects the number of points achieved in-house. Statistically speaking, teams that play for a handful of people benefit just as much from home-field advantage as teams that can count on full stands.
Even during the corona epidemic, the absence of the fans did not appear to have a negative impact on the home-field advantage.
Tiredness From Travelling
It is often said that fatigue from traveling can affect the team playing out. They had to make an effort to even show up at the game.
However, research shows that traveling also has only a small effect on the home advantage for the opponent and, thus, your bets at non GamStop bookmakers. However, we have seen that the home advantage in European matches weighs slightly more. The travel time may only influence the travel distance increases, although the football players in the super deluxe buses and planes are, of course, pampered.
Turf Quality
How many times have we heard the stories of clubs deliberately letting the grass grow a bit longer or not watering the pitch just before kick-off? Such aspects can indeed have an effect, although most football fields are in good condition nowadays. Artificial turf does increase the home advantage somewhat, at least if the visitors themselves have real turf in their stadium. However, the quality of the field generally seems to have little influence on home-field advantage.
Higher Testosterone Value in Home Team Players
However, psychologists have found that players of home teams have more testosterone in their bodies. Especially in goalkeepers, the testosterone value appeared to shoot up significantly. Perhaps a certain primal instinct kicks in when playing on home turf, as if we need to protect our settlement from intruders.
Referees Often Whistle in Favor of the Home Team
Who doesn’t know them, those annoying home whistlers?! Research shows that referees do indeed whistle more often in favor of the home team. Especially in stadiums where the audience is close to the field, referees are usually more easily intimidated. On the other hand, visiting teams generally play more defensively, which means they usually commit more fouls.
Custom Away Team Tactics
Elaborating on this, a defensive tactic by the away side is statistically in favor of the home side. Especially in European competitions with knockout systems, a 1-0 away defeat can also be a positive result.
Psychological Factors
Football is also largely a mental game. If players believe they have a real home-field advantage, they will also perform better when they play at home.
There are also plenty of examples of teams that do not perform well in-house, for example, because the public is not satisfied. Then you no longer believe in your home advantage, with the result that the pressure to perform only increases.
American research on baseball and basketball has even hypothesized that in decisive games such as finals, it is a disadvantage to play at home. Players regularly seem to succumb to the extra pressure of playing for a home crowd.
In football, of course, we are less affected by this since finals are usually played on neutral ground. However, it puts the defeat of hosts Portugal against Greece in the 2004 European Championship final and the defeat of hosts France against Portugal in the 2016 European Championship final in a different light.
