The phrase ‘home advantage’ is one of football’s oldest sayings.

Used to display how the home team, playing in their own stadium in front of their own supporters who take up the majority of the stands, have the upper hand in the contest before a ball is kicked.

But does being the home side REALLY give you the edge over your opponent, and what are the advantages playing at home gives a team?

Factors Contributing to Home Advantage

Being the home team and playing at your own stadium can have both physical and psychological benefits compared to playing away from home.

The clearest and most obvious, is the impact of the crowd. Supporters in the stadium have been counted as being the ‘12th man’, helping to make the atmosphere as loud, intimidating and hostile as possible both to help encourage their own team towards success, and also aim to have an effect on the opposing team to have a negative affect on their performance.

Having the majority of the stands filled with the colours of your own side, with the supporters chanting and cheering you on can give any team a lift, and make the opposition feel intimidated and isolated.

Another key factor is travel, particularly relevant for continental competitions such as the UEFA Champions, Europa and Conference Leagues and Copa Libertadores.

Whilst many elite teams will of course be treated with the best, most efficient and most exclusive travel available, footballers are not immune to the effects long distance travel can do to the average human.

Travelling along the distance of many countries can of course take out both a lot of time and energy, especially if any disruptions or disturbances affect the travel to the destination of the away team. Also, that travel time takes away from any potential time which could be used to train ahead of the fixture that is due to take place, something that the home side can benefit from. Potentially helping to give them the upper hand.

A further aspect to consider is the familiarity with the playing surface the home team would have. Playing regularly at the stadium, mostly at least once within a fortnight. As well as taking part in training sessions there occasionally, helps build up a strong understanding on the pitch, and how to understand how it can be used based on it’s size.

This is less of a strong consideration in the elite level, due to most pitches being almost perfectly well kept by world-class groundskeepers, and almost all of a similar size. But it can still have an impact on the opposition.

Statistical Evidence: The Impact of Fans

Celtic’s 1967 European Cup winning manager John ‘Jock’ Stein once stated his famous quote “football without fans is nothing”, and there can arguably be no stronger statement to sum up the sport and just how important a role fans play on a matchday.

The influence of supporters can perhaps be seen as going just as far as those on the pitch, helping to create the atmosphere of a stadium which can affect both teams in different ways. In truth, the players may score the goals, make the moments and have the spotlight, but fans are the lifeblood and soul of football and their clubs, and this advantage is a key factor when looking for the best betting tips 1x2 today.

And this is the main reason why home advantage can be seen as being a legitimate factor within the sport, with data existing to back up this particular point of view within the argument.

The 2020/21 season was unique in football, with the season beginning, and playing out throughout almost it’s entire majority, without fans attending due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data, historically home teams win anywhere between 55-65% of matches throughout a regular league season, but in the Premier League at least, this season was far from regular.

Across the Premier League during the 2020/21 campaign, just 48% of home matches were won. Making up a total of just 144 wins from a total of 380 matches played throughout the entirety of the season. On the other hand, 153 matches were won by away teams during the season, the only time since the re-formation of the top flight into the Premier League in 1992 that there were more away wins than home during a campaign.

The statistics surrounding that unique season goes a long way into proving just how much of an advantage playing in front of your own supporters can be, and how much of an important role fans in the stadiums play with the influence they can have on the motivation of their team. With no noise generated by fans within stadiums, aside from travel the state of play was all but neutral.

With no home fans to roar on their beloved team, the intimation and advantage of being in the home of your own supporters was lost, making the home advantage cease to exist and as a result, more away wins and less home wins than ever was seen during a Premier League season.

That 2020/21 season also saw some of the craziest results in Premier League history, often in the favour of the visiting team. Tottenham travelled to Old Trafford and humiliated Manchester United 1-6, Leicester City put five past Manchester City at the Etihad vs Manchester City. And Liverpool saw their nearly four year unbeaten Premier League record at Anfield go as Burnley won at Liverpool’s home stadium for the first time in the Premier League era.

The campaign acts as a strong piece of evidence pointing towards how important home advantage can be with a full support, and how influential fans can be on their teams.