League announce record high crows

Last updated : 24 May 2005 By Smallsy
In an era dominated by worries over financial problems and lowering crowds, the Football League announced today that attendances across 2004/05 had risen to a 45 year high.

The news comes as a huge boost to many troubled football clubs who had feared that a downward spiral in their clubs fortunes would see them losing their biggest assets - the fans however in statistics shown today, football still seems to be booming at the 'lower levels'.

The figures show a 3% rise which indicates that the 1,656 games across all three leagues are being watched by around 16.4 million people. Infact over the past 10 years crowds have been rising and the football league hoped that this rebranding at the beginning of the football season of the three leagues would continue this rise and it certainly has done.

In paticular league one crowds rise by 3% themselves which is more than twice that of the German and Italian equvalent leagues and more than four times the number who attend French football matches. Total attendances equaled 4,270,064 and the average attendance at a league one game is 7,737.

Football League chairman Sir Brian Mawinney is delighted with todays showing and said,

"It is encouraging that more and more people want to watch our clubs play, paticularily as this was one of the stated aims of The League's re-branding programme which began last summer."

He went onto say,

"These figures are a fitting reflection of the entertainment our clubs have provided and the imaginative efforts they make to attract fans to their games. This is also a testament to the supporters themselves and I salute them for their commitment and loyalty"

"We look forward to next season and hopefully we can build on these figures by working with our clubs to aid attendance driving initiatives to ensure that the next generation of football supporters continue to follow their local clubs"