Historic attendances

[theferret]

This site gives an insight into just how much gates fluctuate over time, and particularly just how damaging that 2012-2019 period was. This is very apparent when using the compare tool - say Cov & Leicester - it shows we had a higher average in 60s, 70s and 80s (roughly the same in the 90s) and then things diverged massively. They really were dark times and the recovery has been remarkable really.

Link here: Football Attendance Database

 

[Hobo]

Attendances go hand in hand with success and status of the league shock horror.

 

[Gint11]

Would Man Utd still get 75,000 if they dropped to L2?

 

[skybluelee]

Would Man Utd still get 75,000 if they dropped to L2?

No

 

[clint van damme]

No

They held up pretty well last time they got relegated

 

[shmmeee]

Would Man Utd still get 75,000 if they dropped to L2?

Would depend on circumstances IMO.

I think there’s a significant overhang and fans want hope. Our attendance went up despite finishing 9th (lower than the previous season) because it still vibed that we were progressing as a club even if technically we finished lower. In L2 things were bleak with no end in sight. Also Man Utd have more than 75k fans as they have 120k on a waiting list. So you’re talking almost 200k fans to burn through with disillusionment over time.

I’d think most Man Utd fans if they ended up in L2 would be expecting quick promotion and unless something happened that made that unlikely they’d still get very big crowds.

Basically we’re building stocks of fans now. A few years in the PL and we’d likely have 40-50k reliable fans who have it as part of their identity just like Man Utd have 195k now.

 

[wingy]

Would depend on circumstances IMO.

I think there’s a significant overhang and fans want hope. Our attendance went up despite finishing 9th (lower than the previous season) because it still vibed that we were progressing as a club even if technically we finished lower. In L2 things were bleak with no end in sight. Also Man Utd have more than 75k fans as they have 120k on a waiting list. So you’re talking almost 200k fans to burn through with disillusionment over time.

I’d think most Man Utd fans if they ended up in L2 would be expecting quick promotion and unless something happened that made that unlikely they’d still get very big crowds.

Basically we’re building stocks of fans now. A few years in the PL and we’d likely have 40-50k reliable fans who have it as part of their identity just like Man Utd have 195k now.

They need to go back to the beginning IMO.

 

[Cov kid 55]

Would Man Utd still get 75,000 if they dropped to L2?

I think they would hold up pretty well to be fair. I think West Ham are still selling out?

 

[Flying Fokker]

Would Man Utd still get 75,000 if they dropped to L2?

You sent me down a rabbit hole. Coventry games feature at least 3 times over the years. Lowest attendance in the season

www.red11.org - Average League Attendances Since 1889

 

[DawlishSkyBlue]

Was surprised how high Birmingham's attendances were. Higher historically on average than ours, WBA, Forest, Southampton, Derby, Leicester and a few others you wouldn't expect. Also Blackburn only filling 44% of their stadium is piss poor

 

[San Francisco]

Was surprised how high Birmingham's attendances were. Higher historically on average than ours, WBA, Forest, Southampton, Derby, Leicester and a few others you wouldn't expect. Also Blackburn only filling 44% of their stadium is piss poor

Derby, WBA and Forest don't surprise me. They've always had big support relative to the size of their local area. And Nottingham is a two club city.

 

[CV22SBA]

Was surprised how high Birmingham's attendances were. Higher historically on average than ours, WBA, Forest, Southampton, Derby, Leicester and a few others you wouldn't expect. Also Blackburn only filling 44% of their stadium is piss poor

Blackburn is a small town. The support is not piss poor its just the stadium is way too big for a town that size.

 

[fernandopartridge]

This site gives an insight into just how much gates fluctuate over time, and particularly just how damaging that 2012-2019 period was. This is very apparent when using the compare tool - say Cov & Leicester - it shows we had a higher average in 60s, 70s and 80s (roughly the same in the 90s) and then things diverged massively. They really were dark times and the recovery has been remarkable really.

Link here: Football Attendance Database

I looked at some comparable clubs recently and the difference between our best average at PL level and worst average at second tier level was roughly in line with the median (did this only for attendances and relegations in PL era). Ours was something like a 28% drop whereas say Sunderland was 46%.

 

[Hobo]

Was surprised how high Birmingham's attendances were. Higher historically on average than ours, WBA, Forest, Southampton, Derby, Leicester and a few others you wouldn't expect. Also Blackburn only filling 44% of their stadium is piss poor

Coventry population 369,026, Blackburn population 124,983.

 

[skybluelee]

I think they would hold up pretty well to be fair. I think West Ham are still selling out?

West Ham aren't in League 2.

 

[shmmeee]

Coventry population 369,026, Blackburn population 124,983.

Then don’t build a 32k stadium?

 

[Legia Sky Blue]

Man Utd had big crowds last time they were relegated, but they were playing exciting football, winning games and getting promoted. Their attendances in the couple of seasons before that when they were struggling in the top flight were not so good.

That said due to the global pull of the PL they are a much bigger club now than they were then. I can't really see any scenario where they get relegated from the PL, but if they did they would bounce straight back, as West Ham are likely to this season. They will never end up in League 2, so asking about the level of their crowds if they were is fairly pointless.

 

[Skyblueabo1111]

Then don’t build a 32k stadium?

Built in 1890, upgraded 1992, when they were in top league.

 

[oscillatewildly]

Built in 1890, upgraded 1992, when they were in top league.

It certainly wasn't upgraded in 1992.
I was at the midweek 5-2 humbling of them in January 1993 and the newest part of the ground then (Riverside stand?) is now the oldest.

 

[ovduk78]

It certainly wasn't upgraded in 1992.
I was at the midweek 5-2 humbling of them in January 1993 and the newest part of the ground then (Riverside stand?) is now the oldest.

I went to the 5-2 win in the January and to the 2-1 defeat the following November & in that time they had knocked down both ends and were in the process of building the new 2 tier stands & they were officially opened the following February. By the start of the following season the mish mash of stands on the side were knocked down & the Jack Walker stand was built.

 

[Skyblueabo1111]

It certainly wasn't upgraded in 1992.
I was at the midweek 5-2 humbling of them in January 1993 and the newest part of the ground then (Riverside stand?) is now the oldest.

It was around that time, according to the internet. My main point was, it was upgraded, at a time, when they were in the top league. I was replying to current attendances, capacity of ground

 

[oscillatewildly]

I went to the 5-2 win in the January and to the 2-1 defeat the following November & in that time they had knocked down both ends and were in the process of building the new 2 tier stands & they were officially opened the following February. By the start of the following season the mish mash of stands on the side were knocked down & the Jack Walker stand was built.

That speed of redevelopment does seem quite quick - I might be wrong but similar projects seem to drag now in the 30 years since then.
The next time I visited Ewood park was for a Lg cup game in 1994 - I've just checked and the attendance that night was lower than for the 1993 game.
'Build it and they will come', has a lot to answer for (even if it is a misquote.)

 

[shmmeee]

It was around that time, according to the internet. My main point was, it was upgraded, at a time, when they were in the top league. I was replying to current attendances, capacity of ground

They’ve never had attendances that justified it. Even when top of the league.

 

[Skyblueabo1111]

They’ve never had attendances that justified it. Even when top of the league.

Don't you build for the future? Hoping to be a Man Utd? Hardly a big capacity, or are you just looking for an argument?

 

[shmmeee]

Don't you build for the future? Hoping to be a Man Utd? Hardly a big capacity, or are you just looking for an argument?

No you don’t. It’s not Field of Dreams. You build based on projections and there was no projection that justified it. I could ask the same of you.

 

[Broken Hearted Sky Blue]

No you don’t. It’s not Field of Dreams. You build based on projections and there was no projection that justified it. I could ask the same of you.

So Fisher was correct we should have built a 15000 seat stadium that could be expanded to 25000 if required. Because at the time there was no projection that justified anything bigger.

 

[Shannerz]

They’ve never had attendances that justified it. Even when top of the league.

Mid-high 20s when they were a Premier League club, based on the link in the OP. Their stadium size doesn't seem too unreasonable based on that.

Tbf, when the CBS first went up, our attendances were mid-teens; so their stadium is no more ridiculous than ours, really. It's only now we're filling ours.

 

[Skyblueabo1111]

No you don’t. It’s not Field of Dreams. You build based on projections and there was no projection that justified it. I could ask the same of you.

There average attendances for may years were 25,000..So not that far below capacity, hardly a big stadium. Using your argument, why did we build a 32,000 seater stadium?