High-pressure matches do not influence home-field advantage: A 30-year retrospective analysis of English professional football

This analysis reevaluated the existence of home advantage (HA) within English professional soccer using a point-based calculation that included drawn matches. The analysis also examined whether the magnitude of HA is influenced by the crowd size or the relative importance of the match. Thirty seasons of archival data (1978/79-2007/08) regarding home results, away results and corresponding crowd attendance was gathered for every club in the top four English professional football leagues. HA was calculated as the number of home points gained throughout the season expressed as a percentage of all points gained whether home and away. Therefore a HA value of greater than 50% would indicate a more points gained at home whereas a HA value of less than 50% would indicate more points gained away. HA was confirmed for all four divisions (mean 61.7, s=0.3%) but there was no difference between the divisions in the magnitude of HA (F3,116=0.3, P>0.05) despite differences in crowd size (F3,87=226, P<0.0001). The magnitude of HA was no different between highstake large-crowd play-offs matches and corresponding league fixtures (t21=-0.3, P>0.05). Home advantage is evident in English professional soccer but the apparently complex underlying causes are not very well understood. The magnitude of HA does not appear to be influenced by crowd size or match importance.