On referee bias, crowd size, and home advantage in the English soccer Premiership

Abstract

In a recent paper in this journal, Boyko and colleagues (2007) identified differences in attendance and referee bias as factors influencing home advantage at soccer matches in the English Premiership. A replication of their study using more recent data found no evidence to sustain either of their claims.

Keywords:

• Soccer
• English Premiership
• home advantage

Notes

¹For example, stories at http://www.eufootball.biz/Competitions/011106-Study-referees-favour-home-teams.html and http://www.midcomb.com/MIDLAND%20REF.htm; and in the Daily Mail newspaper, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_ article_id=453087&in_page_id=1965.