Empty Stadium Syndrome: What impact is it having on matches, players and their performance level?

Have you stopped to think about how the absence of crowds is affecting your team?

Behind closed doors at the Keepmoat Stadium. Photo: George Wood/Getty Images

Has it hindered them? Could it possibly have helped them?

And what about individual performance levels? Have you noticed any ‘crowd-pleasers’ going into their shells or can you spot an introvert seemingly revellling in the crowd-free environment?

Dr Maurice Duffy, a world renowned mindset and leadership coach, has written about Empty Stadium Syndrome and concludes that sport without crowds lacks in Gladiatorial behaviours and passion.

Duffy, who coached disgraced Australian cricket captain Steve Smith back from his ball tampering ban, also claims his research shows that games played without a crowd display 22% less emotional intensity.

"Performing in front of a crowd can be a great distraction to fatigue,” he writes.

"Sports people are natural performers and may suffer from a significant lack of energy during potential games without fans and they will have to address this issue by striving for more meaning and purpose from within.”

Duffy recently spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle about his findings...

You've looked into Empty Stadium Syndrome and how it affects players, what have you concluded?

I call it 'ghost games'. I see a lot of players playing with a zen-like quality.

What we find is that supportive crowds can positively affect a performance and we know that a hostile and critical crowd can have numerous negative implications.

But from looking at games in 2018, 2019 and around 190 games that were played behind closed doors what we discovered is that there are less emotional situations, there are less arguments, there are less interactions with opposing players, there is less advantage from the referee being a 'homer' and there is less intensity within the game itself.