Taxi Zentrale 1 - Torpedo Entenhausen 2

With three games of the season remaining, Torpedo Entenhausen have accumulated the same number of points as in the whole of last season, and look good for a top-half finish. I dashed back from Erlangen for the fixture, but was a bit tired and hungover. This got me thinking about home advantage in the league, as obviously travelling five hours to a game isn't great preparation.

Now that football has turned into a billion business, this question must be worth millions of said units, and whoever solves it could become rich. It has become an accepted fact that the home team has an advantage, and this is reflected in results in all leagues all over the world.

One reason for home team advantage are the crowds, which can boost players and intimidate the referee, but the Spare Time League in Bochum doesn't have any crowds. It is therefore interesting to see that there is still a distinct home advantage. The two divisions in the league had the total results at the end of the season 2008.

Home Wins Draws Away Wins Home Goals Away Goals
Div 2 91 (50%) 18 (10%) 73 (40%) 515 449
Div 1 84 (46%) 22 (12%) 76 (42%) 531 465

Now that seems that there is definitely a home advantage. This could come from the difficulties in travelling across Bochum to get to an away match, funny kick-off times for away matches (some teams play on a Friday), or the strange surroundings and change to routine of an away fixture.

If one of the world's richest football clubs wanted to, they could conduct experiments with local leagues, all without any crowds. In one league all pitches and changing rooms would be the same, like in roman military camps, but players would have to sort out their travelling arrangements. In another league the pitches would vary, but all teams would be bussed together to the away ground. In a third league the teams would be bussed together and play on identical grounds, but be taken ten times around the ringroad before the match. Surely the costs would be small in comparison to hiring a 30 Million Euros player, and the results potentially of great importance.