INFLUENCE OF FANS ON RESULT EFFICIENCY IN FOOTBALL

ABSTRACT

Some previous studies suggest that fans have a positive influence on the home teams and the result of competition. The primary goal of this paper is to test the hypothesis of the positive influence of fans on players and referees on the football field. We used the term "home field advantage", meaning that the fans bring the home team an advantage at the game. The study sample consists of seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 in the 1st Croatian league. The variables in the study are points won, shots on target, yellow cards, red cards, fouls and fans attendance. Due to the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019/2020 season, almost all matches were played without spectators, which allowed us to test the hypothesis of the connection between the "home field advantage" and the presence of fans on the stands. Statistically significant differences were detected in the variable's points won by the host, free kicks by hosts and guests and shots on target by hosts. Statistical analysis indicated that with the presence of spectators, the home team won 1.76 points, while in the period without the fans it was 1.44 per game. The results of this study confirm that audience contributes to the performance of the home team and inferior performance of visiting team, also on performance and decision-making of referees.