Home Advantage

It’s something I’ve never really thought about in the solo game, but I know plenty of other players who have, and it never ceases to amaze me at the lengths some players go, in their pursuit of what they perceive as realism in their games.

I recently had a pleasant email exchange with Phil Marsden creator of the “Alive and Flicking” Facebook Group who told me about his LOGacta based system to decide if any team in a match had an advantage.

If you’re not familiar with the LOGacta principle it was a dice game that was on sale during the mid 70’s and into the 80’s. It basically consisted of different coloured dice which whereby a league season including cup competitions could be simulated by rolling dice which were all biased differently. Each team was given a dice to roll in a match, which dice they rolled was dependant on whether that team was playing at home or away, it’s league position compared to it’s opponent, and the kind of form that team was in at the time of the match. The rolls of each teams particular dice determined the score for that game.

The LOGacta System

Phil’s system in a nutshell was based on that principle but instead of generating a score it created a possible advantage to one or the other team in the match about to be played. For example the home team may be in the top 6 playing the away team in the relegation zone and 12 or more points adrift of their top 6 opponents. The dice each team would choose would be decided on these factors by looking on a table and determining what coloured dice they were entitled to, both teams roll their dice and the face values were compared to determine what advantage which team if any, would bring to the table in terms of goals disallowed by their opponents, the maximum being 2 disallowed goals. The tables Phil uses and a brief explanation how to use them can be found  Here

Can it be Improved

Through my email exchange with Phil, I found that he was not entirely happy with this. he was looking for something better that possibly reflected more things that could possibly affect a match, such as star players, injuries etc. To add in his words “A touch of realism”.

This started me thinking if it was possible to produce a system that encompassed more and be simple to use, because at the end of the day if it was far too complex it could detract from the game about to be played. The advantage it gave in my opinion, must reflect the situation, but still give the disadvantaged team at least some reason to take the field.

Back to Basics

One thing I didn’t like about Phil’s LOGacta system was that a team could effectively at times have to score 3 goals before 1 counted, that didn’t sit right with me so I decided to limit the disadvantage to 1 goal even before I started to look more closely into this.

I started by looking at some historic English Division one, final league tables from the 70’s up to the start of the Premier League in ‘93. They all seemed to follow a pattern, teams in the top half of the league won twice as many games as those in the bottom half, the majority of the time at home as well as away. The total number of home wins by all teams in a season was around 1.5 to 2 times greater than away wins, so from that we can possibly conclude that most home wins are accrued by the teams in the top half of the table. So any system had to hopefully reflect this in our pursuit of realism.

The Modifier System

Using my knowledge of wargaming, and Phil’s input of what he wanted from such a system, I decided to apply modifiers to each team based on certain things that could advantage or disadvantage one team or another, or even both before the start of a game.

It could work something like this based on a 10 team league and assuming 3pts for a win :

All Games, Weeks 1 to 3:

Each side roll a D6, and the home side adds 1 to its total.

Home side wins roll: Away sides 1st goal is disallowed.

Away side wins roll: 1st goal by Home side goes to VAR.

Rolls are Equal: No advantage to either side.

League Tables are then produced so that in the following weeks the modifiers make sense. Up to this point our only aim is produce a league Table, and play some Subbuteo at the same time.

All Games, Weeks 4 to 18:

before each game both sides roll a D6 and then adds or subtracts any of the relevant modifiers below to it’s result to get its total for that match.

+1   Home Team.

+1   Home Team is in top half of the League and the Away Team is in the bottom half, and the Home Team has a 3pt advantage.

+1  Away Team is in top half of the League and the Home Team is in the bottom half, and the Away Team has a 6pt advantage.

+1  To the team with better form over the last 3 matches (Based on number of wins if equal, the number of goals scored, if still equal no modifier added).

One then compares the dice rolls of each side:

Home side wins roll: The 1st goal by the Away team is disallowed.

Away side wins roll : The 1st goal by the Home side goes to VAR. (unless the Away side is 9 or more points clear of the Home side then the goal is disallowed).

Rolls are equal: Either all 1st goals by both teams go to VAR or no advantage to either side (however you see fit).

Now VAR. has been mentioned in the above, It doesn’t mean that you need a hotline to Stockley Park, it’s simply a D6 if it turns up odd the goal is disallowed, if it’s an even number the goal stands.

That as it stands is the basic framework of the system, but it can be simplified or enhanced by removing, altering, or adding modifiers to suit your needs, or the needs of the league.

So What Else Can be Added?

That all depends to what level of perceived realism you wish to achieve. You may want to add a modifier to give the team with more “Star” players a plus 1 modifier, a manager gets sacked, might carry a minus modifier. If a team has injuries and suspensions for a game that could also carry a minus modifier. You could probably think of more if you so desire and how these things are determined is entirely up to you.

I myself have never seen any reason in my solo league to apply an advantage, to any of my teams, but I know plenty of you do, and if you’re thinking of trying one out for whatever reason you choose, our system could give you a few ideas to start you off. I’m under no illusion that our way is the only way, or even the best, that is and always will be down to the individual. We probably all have different perceptions of what home advantage is.

I presented this system to Phil, his reaction was favourable and he wanted to add certain things and tweak it to his liking, Like any framework it can be altered to suit, even changed beyond recognition, as long as the system reflects what you are trying to achieve is all that matters.

A Simpler Alternative

Before I go, I’d like to mention a very simple method of creating a home advantage, from my good friend David Forsyth, who has contributed to this Blog from the outset. He has some great ideas now and again, and his DAR system in my eyes is one of those, it stands out to me because of it’s simplicity and can have a bearing on the potential outcome in a match for the Home team.

In every match if the away team scores first, a dice is rolled, an even number the goal stands, an odd number the goal is disallowed, It’s only used once per match, and only if the away team score the first goal. Like I said it’s simple, it may not add the realism some of you desire but it does what it says on the tin.

You may have noticed in the system that Phil and I devised, that VAR is mentioned. The similarity to David’s DAR is no mere coincidence, I just couldn’t think of a better or simpler way to apply it.

I use a DAR system in my games but not for the purpose of goal validity, it’s there to decide on those moments in games when you’re not quite sure how to ref them, so the decision then becomes 50-50, and I can just get on with the game. Very rarely does it come into play, but it does a job if needed.

And Finally

I’ve tried to give a few alternatives to applying home advantage from the simple to the more complex, so any of you wishing to employ such methods can see what can be done with a little thought. You may already have a system you already use, and I’d love to hear them, or any comments about the ones discussed in this post.

Keep On Flicking

Ian

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