ABSTRACT
Consideration of the historical and geographical aspects of home advantage (HA) can give insight into some of the supposed explanations for HA. Much historical data is available in the form of league tables that give home and away breakdowns. These date back to the 19th century, especially for football in England. Long-term trends in HA are presented in graphical form for four of the main football leagues in Europe. Wide variations in HA have occurred over the years, from which it is possible to relate to various causative factors. The overall picture is one of a general decline, especially during the 21st century when HA has fallen to its lowest levels in most of the leagues. Investigation into geographical pockets of high and low HA takes the form of identifying national leagues, national teams, regions and cities with unusually extreme values for HA. These occur all over the world and shed light onto some of the explanations for the HA phenomenon.
