Home Advantage in City and Same-Stadium Derbies: Evidence from European Professional Football

ABSTRACT

The search for the main factors of the home advantage phenomenon in professional European football is a hot topic for scientific research. We assessed the contribution of individual factors to the home advantage using the statistical results of European city derbies, same-stadium derbies, and matches of the championships of microstates. We compared the statistical results of the European city and stadium derbies, as well as matches of the championships of Luxembourg and Malta, played in the presence of spectators in the stands (2017–2020) and without spectators in the Covid-19 pandemic (2020–2021). The number of home victories was compared with the number of away victories using a paired t-test, and the impact of the number of spectators in the stands on the outcome of matches was assessed based on a logistic regression model. Home advantage was present in European city derbies and Luxembourg championship matches before the Covid-19 pandemic. For popular city derbies from Europe's elite leagues, home advantage has been maintained through the Covid-19 pandemic with no spectators in the stands. There was no home advantage in stadium derbies and Maltese championship matches. We conclude that the home advantage can be determined by the influence of only one factor – familiarity of the players of the home team with the football stadium. The information presented in the article can be used by players, coaches and managers of professional football clubs to improve the performance of the game. © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved.