No Crowds, No Home Advantage in Football during the COVID-19 Season: Are Crowds Able to Manipulate All but the Best Referees’ Behaviour?

References

• Albanese, A., Baert, S., & Verstraeten, O. (2020). Twelve eyes see more than eight. Referee bias and the introduction of additional assistant referees in soccer. Plos One, 15(2), e0227758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227758.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Balmer, N. J., Nevill, A. M., & Williams, A. M. (2001). Home advantage in the Winter Olympics (1908-1998). Journal of Sports Sciences, 19(2), 129–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/026404101300036334.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Balmer, N. J., Nevill, A. M., & Williams, A. M. (2003). Modelling home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21(6), 469–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/0264041031000101890.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bland, M. (2015). An introduction to medical statistics. Oxford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Boyko, R. H., Boyko, A. R., & Boyko, M. G. (2007). Referee bias contributes to home advantage in English Premiership football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(11), 1185–1194. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410601038576.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Christensen, R. (1996). Analysis of variance, design, and regression: Applied statistical methods. CRC Press.
   Google Scholar
• Clarke, S. R., & Norman, J. M. (1995). Home ground advantage of individual clubs in English soccer. The Statistician, 44(4), 509–521. https://doi.org/10.2307/2348899
   Google Scholar
• Courneya, K. S., & Carron, A. V. (1992). The home advantage in sport competitions: A literature review. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14(1), 13–27. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.14.1.13
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dawson, P., Massey, P., & Downward, P. (2020). Television match officials, referees, and home advantage: Evidence from the European Rugby Cup. Sport Management Review, 23(3), 443–454.
   Google Scholar
• Dohmen, T. J. (2008). The influence of social forces: Evidence from the behavior of football referees. Economic Inquiry, 46(3), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00112.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Erikstad, M. K., & Johansen, B. T. (2020). Referee bias in professional football: Favoritism toward successful teams in potential penalty situations. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2, 19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.00019.
   Google Scholar
• Grabowski, M., & Sanborn, S. D. (2003). Human performance and embedded intelligent technology in safety-critical systems. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 58(6), 637–670. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1071-5819(03)00036-3
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hancock, D. J., Bennett, S., Roaten, H., Chapman, K., & Stanley, C. (2021). An analysis of literature on sport officiating research. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 92(4), 607–617. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2020.1756198
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Koyama, M., & Reade, J. J. (2009). Playing like the home team: An economic investigation into home advantage in football. International Journal of Sport Finance, 4(1), 16–41.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Matos, R., Monteiro, D., Antunes, R., Mendes, D., Botas, J., Clemente, J., & Amaro, N. (2021). Home-advantage during COVID-19: An analysis in Portuguese football league. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3761. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073761
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• McCarrick, D., Bilalic, M., Neave, N., & Wolfson, S. (2021). Home advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Analyses of European football leagues. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 56, 102013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102013.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Nevill, A. M., Balmer, N. J., & Williams, A. M. (2002). The influence of crowd noise and experience upon refereeing decisions in football. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 3(4), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(01)00033-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Nevill, A., Balmer, N., & Williams, M. (1996). Crowd influence on decisions in association football. The Lancet, 353(9162), 1416. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(99)01299-4
   Google Scholar
• Nevill, A. M., & Holder, R. L. (1999). Home advantage in sport: An overview of studies on the advantage of playing at home. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 28(4), 221–236. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199928040-00001.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Nevill, A. M., Webb, T., & Watts, A. S. (2013). Improved training of football referees and the decline in home advantage post WW2. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.32.4.483
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• O’Brien, K. A., & Mangan, J. (2021). The issue of unconscious bias in referee decisions in the National Rugby League. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, 739570. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.739570.
   Google Scholar
• PGMOL. (2019). 2018–2019 end of year financial statements. Companies House.
   Google Scholar
• Phillips-Wren, G., Jefferson, T., & McKniff, S. (2019). Cognitive bias and decision aid use under stressful conditions. Journal of Decision Systems, 28(2), 162–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/12460125.2019.1643695
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Plessner, H., & Haar, T. (2006). Sports performance judgments from a social cognitive perspective. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(6), 555–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.03.007
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pollard, R. (1986). Home advantage in soccer: A retrospective analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 4(3), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640418608732122.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pollard, R., & Pollard, G. (2005). Long terms trends in home advantage in professional team sports in North America and England. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(4), 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410400021559.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Raab, M., Avugos, S., Bar-Eli, M., & MacMahon, C. (2021). The referee’s challenge: A threshold process model for decision making in sport games. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14(1), 208–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2020.1783696
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ramchandani, G., Millar, R., & Wilson, D. (2021). The relationship between team ability and home advantage in the English football league system. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 51(3), 354–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-021-00721-x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Reade, J. J., Schreyer, D., & Singleton, C. (2021). Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias. Economic Inquiry, 60(3), 1416–1436. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3743972
   Google Scholar
• Ridinger, L. L., Kim, K. R., Warner, S., & Tingle, J. K. (2017). Development of the referee retention scale. Journal of Sport Management, 31(5), 514–527. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2017-0065
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Russell, S., Renshaw, I., & Davids, K. (2022). Sport arbitration as an emergent process in a complex system: Decision-making variability is a marker of expertise in national-level football referees. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 34(3), 539–563. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2020.1831651
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Samuel, D., Tenenbaum, G., & Galily, Y. (2021). An integrated conceptual framework of decision-making in soccer refereeing. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19(5), 738–760. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2020.1766539
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Schwartz, B., & Barsky, S. F. (1977). The home advantage. Social Forces, 55(3), 641–661. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/55.3.641
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scoppa, V. (2021). Social pressure in the stadiums: Do agents change behavior without crowd support? Journal of Economic Psychology, 82, 102344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2020.102344
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Slack, L. A., Maynard, I. W., Butt, J., & Olusoga, P. (2013). Factors underpinning football officiating excellence: Perceptions of English Premier League referees. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 25(3), 298–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2012.726935
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sors, F., Grassi, M., Agostini, T., & Murgia, M. (2021). The sound of silence in association football: Home advantage and referee bias decrease in matches played without spectators. European Journal of Sport Science, 21(12), 1597–1605. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1845814
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• SportsMole. (n.d.). Football news, previews, predictions, transfers. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/premier-league/2018-19/table.html.
   Google Scholar
• Statbunker. (n.d.). Football stats, team stats, player stats, soccer stats. https://www.statbunker.com.
   Google Scholar
• Statto. (n.d.). Compare stats, teams and odds. http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2011-2012/true-table/full.
   Google Scholar
• Unkelbach, C., & Memmert, D. (2010). Crowd noise as a cue in referee decisions contributes to the home advantage. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32(4), 483–498. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.32.4.483.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T. (2014). The emergence of training and assessment for referees in Association Football: Moving from the side-lines. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 31(9), 1081–1097. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2014.905545
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T. (2017). Elite soccer referees: Officiating in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. Taylor & Francis.
   Google Scholar
• Webb, T. (2018). Referees and the media: A difficult relationship but an unavoidable necessity. Soccer & Society, 19(2), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2015.1133414
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T. (2022). The evolution of referees in the English Premier League. Soccer & Society, 23(4–5), 400–410.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T., Dicks, M., Thelwell, R., & Nevill, A. (2016). The impact of referee training: Reflections on the reduction of home advantage in Association Football. Soccer & Society, 19(7), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2016.1267626
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T., O’Gorman, J., & Markham, L. (2021). Striving for excellence: Talent identification and development in English football refereeing. European Sport Management Quarterly, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2020.1864748
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Webb, T., & Thelwell, R. C. (2015). “He’s taken a Dive”: Cultural comparisons of elite referee responses to reduced player behaviour in Association Football. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 5(3), 242–258. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-04-2014-0019
   Google Scholar
• Wilke, A., & Mata, R. (2012). Cognitive bias. In V. S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (pp. 531–535). Academic Press.
   Google Scholar
• Wunderlich, F., Weigelt, M., Rein, R., & Memmert, D. (2021). How does spectator presence affect football? Home advantage remains in European top-class football matches played without spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic. PloS One, 16(3), e0248590. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248590
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar