TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - An analysis of home advantage in the top two Spanish professional football leagues
JO  - Perceptual and motor skills
A1  - Sánchez, Pedro A.
A1  - García-Calvo, Tomás
A1  - Leo, Francisco M.
A1  - Pollard, Richard
A1  - Gómez, Miguel-Ángel
SP  - 789
EP  - 797
VL  - 108
IS  - 3
N2  - This study examines the effect of the points system on home advantage in the two top Spanish professional football [soccer] divisions between the 1980-1981 and 2006-2007 seasons. From 1980-81, teams were awarded 2 points for a win. This was increased to 3 points starting in 1995-1996. Lower home advantage was expected with the 3-point system as a consequence of encouraging more attacking play from away teams. The results of an analysis of 20,992 games showed no significant differences in home advantage values between the First Division (66.3% before and 62.1% after the 3-point system) and the Second Division (65.6% before and 59.5% after). Nevertheless, there was a significant decrease in home advantage in both the First and Second Divisions after the introduction of the 3-point system. The results were compared with two similar studies of professional football in England.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0031-5125
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/PMS.108.3.789-797
ID  - ref1
ER  -