Why is it such a big deal that a team plays away and is thus seen to have a disadvantage? Yes it is a different ground and you may have fewer supporters but at base it is 11 vs 11 players on a football pitch? What makes the difference by playing at home that you can beat Villa 2-1 one week yet still maintain a dreaful away run since October 2006? Or is this the beauty of football?
When I played the mentality was that the home team will attack us and press us early on as they are at home, I used to argue why don't we as the away team?
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I suppose it might be familiarity for the home team, the fear you are entering somebody else's domain for the away team.
Be interersting comparing statistics between behind closed door games compared to normal games to see if the crowd does have any impact
The 'home advantage' is well known in football. The majority of teams in all divisions score more goals and win more games at home than away.
Factors such as crowd support, referee bias, and familiarity with a venue, have been used to explain home advantage. New research presented on Saturday 16 March 2002, at The British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Blackpool reveals that biological processes may also be important.
Dr Sandy Wolfson and Dr Nick Neave from the University of Northumbria took saliva samples of the hormone testosterone from a football team playing in the Unibond Premier League.
Samples were taken before a home game, an away game, and at a training session. The players' testosterone levels were found to be much higher before the home game than before the away game.
In a second study, Dr Wolfson and Dr Neave carried out the same procedure with the under-19 squad of a Premiership team. This time they took samples before the team played an extreme rival team or a moderate rival team, and found that testosterone levels were much higher when the team was about to play the extreme rival. Also, different patterns of testosterone release were related to a player's position.
The researchers explained this by linking levels of testosterone with territoriality - when a team is about to defend their home territory, testosterone (which is linked with dominance, confidence and aggression) is raised. This is particularly the case when the threat to one's territory is from a strong rival.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Heath Hero[/cite]Well if the comments are true about the team running across a dual carriageway in Newcastle after getting lost before the game, it's a miracle we even manage 11 against 11![/quote]
Say what you like, getting the likes of Borat, Ambrose, Faye & their ilk to play chicken with the traffic on the A1 in Newcastle almost worked - we avoided defeat!!
Pardew should take them for a jog down the hard shoulder of the M27 before the Pompey game.