Big crowd = better team??

Been wondering this. I know home teams play better than away. But do crowd sizes have an affect on the home team or the away team?

For example being the away club at Old Trafford affect your match more than a full Wigan (DW Stadium) stadium?

Or on the reverse. If you build or expand your stadium to one of the biggest will you notice better home play?

I wouldnt think so tbh?

A full Wigan stadium? That ranks with Shergar and the Scarlet Pimpernel in the 'things that have never been seen' stakes

As far as I'm aware, the size of the crowd doesn't have an impact in game. Home/Away does have an impact howvere.

I know home/away has an impact. But think about it, an away club would be alot more edgy playing infront of 60,000 than 20,000. Not a big difference but enough to matter.

It really should be a formula. Because some players feed off playing away. Frankly it might be harder to play at home to a club with fans who have high demands on the players and club and a large large stadium. National teams too. Take Brazil for example. If you don't win by a huge margin and beautifully the fans and media will destroy you. The same goes for clubs in Italy especially when its derbies.

A full Wigan stadium? That ranks with Shergar and the Scarlet Pimpernel in the 'things that have never been seen' stakes

As far as I'm aware, the size of the crowd doesn't have an impact in game. Home/Away does have an impact howvere.

This is something I have always found V strange about football. Better at home than away. Why ???

In American Football (the throwing variety) home/away doesn't make ay difference whatsoever unless the weather conditions for the home side on that date are extremely advantageous, e.g A V snowy/cold Green Bay, Soldier Field (Chicago).

Home and away seems to be 'something in the head' as far as I see it. You are programmed with the mentality that you are gonna perform worse away from home,than at home. So that's how you do perform. Irrespective of the abilities of the players

This is something I have always found V strange about football. Better at home than away. Why ???

In American Football (the throwing variety) home/away doesn't make ay difference whatsoever unless the weather conditions for the home side on that date are extremely advantageous, e.g A V snowy/cold Green Bay, Soldier Field (Chicago).

Home and away seems to be 'something in the head' as far as I see it. You are programmed with the mentality that you are gonna perform worse away from home,than at home. So that's how you do perform. Irrespective of the abilities of the players

Huh? it absolutely does make a difference in american football. Certain teams and/or stadiums are renowned for their crowd noise, to the extent that the away team cannot hear calls made before each play, and thus often have to resort to a silent count. This frequently leads to false-start penalties.

That's not a factor, as such, for *cough* real football, but yeah, to me crowd size could/should have some impact (either positive or negative ... some crowds may be more likely to boo their own team, if they're playing badly.

I think in the NFL all pitches are the same size while in football it varies. This can have quite a big differance on how a team plays or can play at any particular stadium. Then you have pitch condition to think about aswell.

If your pitch is perfectly flat it'll help with an on the ground passing game. If it's not perfectly flat then it may be easier to pass the ball in the air better. If you play wingers on a very long thin pitch it will be harder as there's less room for the wingers to exploit. if you play long ball tactics you may want a short pitch so it's easier to get it up to your strikers.

Home and Away is not just in the head by any means.

Neil

I'm fairly sure that the size of the crowd does have an effect on the match. I remember in the past people have reported instances of many crazy goals scored from beyond the half way line, it turned out that an editor had been used to give a crowd of half a million people.

I'm fairly sure that the size of the crowd does have an effect on the match. I remember in the past people have reported instances of many crazy goals scored from beyond the half way line, it turned out that an editor had been used to give a crowd of half a million people.

I'd like to think it does have an affect on things. It's like a BSP team in the FA Cup playing Man United at Old Trafford and the size of the crowd not having an affect on then. The team would be feel quite intimidated by the stadium, number of fans and the noise, or atleast they should do.

Neil

The team would be feel quite intimidated by the stadium, number of fans and the noise, or atleast they should do.

Couldn't the opposite be true as well? Some players probably really enjoy that kind of atmosphere, but as you said, some wouldn't. That's how I'd hope it was implemented.

I'd like to think it does have an affect on things. It's like a BSP team in the FA Cup playing Man United at Old Trafford and the size of the crowd not having an affect on then. The team would be feel quite intimidated by the stadium, number of fans and the noise, or atleast they should do.

Neil

bit of a bad example there. A BSP team playing Man Utd anywhere would be intimidated. It doesnt have to be Old Trafford. They are playing Man Utd, they would all be covered in the smelly stuff

This is something I have always found V strange about football. Better at home than away. Why ???

In American Football (the throwing variety) home/away doesn't make ay difference whatsoever unless the weather conditions for the home side on that date are extremely advantageous, e.g A V snowy/cold Green Bay, Soldier Field (Chicago).

Home and away seems to be 'something in the head' as far as I see it. You are programmed with the mentality that you are gonna perform worse away from home,than at home. So that's how you do perform. Irrespective of the abilities of the players

Scientific inquiries into that hint at the crowds being responsible for intimidating the ref into unconsciously favouring the hosts.

On top of that the crowd's support actually raises adrenaline in the home team players and causes them to play more attacking, aggressiveand self-conscious. Also it helps if you are used to the pitch and all surroundings more than the opposition.

Last but not least I also believe that there is some purely psychologic thing in it as well.

But from the above I would expect some crowds to have more influence than the others. Actually some teams are better at home than others irl as well.

Perhaps someone who is familiar with a save game editor could test this out for us?

You could try playing the same match twice, with vastly different attendances and report back to us on the differences between the two games.

Perhaps someone who is familiar with a save game editor could test this out for us?

You could try playing the same match twice, with vastly different attendances and report back to us on the differences between the two games.

I'm not exactly familiar with save game editors, but I'm going to try and do this... I'll report back on my findings...

Sometimes the crowd can be a 12th man, which often happens at Millwall . I think this should be implemented in the game. If you play against a team known for good/hostile atmospheres (Liverpool, Leeds, Stoke, Millwall, Galatasaray etc.) there could be a bit more build up to the game, especially if it's a important one.

Also, it could work the other way. Maybe if your a Premier League club, or club from the top division and you have an away match in the cup at somewhere like Accrington or Barnet your players may find it hard to play on a bad, small pitch infront of a crowd that's so close to the pitch.

I'm not exactly familiar with save game editors, but I'm going to try and do this... I'll report back on my findings...

Nice one

I'm not exactly familiar with save game editors, but I'm going to try and do this... I'll report back on my findings...

Wasn't there a guy who posted here a year or so ago who couldn't figure out why his team slaughtered every home game... then admitted he'd upped the stadium capacity to something like 2 million?|

Okay.. Here's what I've found:

NOTE: I used the exact same players and the exact same tactics and for neither match did I give any teamtalks or make any substistutions.

In a 65 000 (Chelsea at home) seater stadium with an exact attendance of 65 000 - Chelsea vs Marseille.

The final score was: 5-0

Then at a 700 000 seater Zola Park with an attendance of 668 858.

The match ended: Chelsea 3-1 Marseille (I should add that David Santon was sent off for a red card in the 40th minute)

To improve accuracy I then ran the experiment again:

100 Attendance: Chelsea 1-1 Marseille (HT: 0-1)

65 000 Attendance: Chelsea 2-1 Marseille (HT: 0-1)

668 858 Attendance: Chelsea 3-0 Marseille (HT: 1-0)

So make what you want of that... Hope this helps.

If having a big crowd meant better team, then Celtic would be conquering Europe and Sunderland would be a top 4 club, no?

If having a big crowd meant better team, then Celtic would be conquering Europe

No, because Barcelona, Man Utd., Dortmund and Arsenal all get higher average attendaces (... I think)

I'd like to think it does have an affect on things. It's like a BSP team in the FA Cup playing Man United at Old Trafford and the size of the crowd not having an affect on then. The team would be feel quite intimidated by the stadium, number of fans and the noise, or atleast they should do.

Neil

I have a feeling that if a BSP team were playing Man Utd at OT the crowd at OT would hardly be intimidating, thered probably be more noise from the away fans because its a nothing game really to Man Utd fans whereas its probably the biggest game of their lives for the BSP teams fans

They would however be intimidated playing against one of the worlds best teams at their own ground

No, because Barcelona, Man Utd., Dortmund and Arsenal all get higher average attendaces (... I think)

Dortmund do have the greatest attendance record in the world but they're hardly a dominant European force these days

Dortmund do have the greatest attendance record in the world but they're hardly a dominant European force these days

However irl they overperform.

Considering they have no money and looking at their squad, they shouldn't have been able to finish 6th last season and sit in 5th this year.

I still don't believe there is a strong link between their attendance and home form though. The attendance is impressive and the ambience as well, but Dortmund have still not been known to perform better at home than they should, compared to the expectations.

I'd love to be in attendance at a Dortmund match. The other day on GOLTV they had a Fubtol Mundial segment on Dortmund, its history and its current team and manager, very interesting. I'm quickly getting more and more into German football thanks to GOLTV.