16 May 2008Coca-Cola Championship makes fourth for attendances

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance | Football Supporters News

The Championship is now the fourth most watched league in Europe, according to the latest attendance figures for the 2007/08 season.

The English second tier drew total crowds of 9.4 million across 195 matches with an average gate of 17,022, placing it behind only the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga.

And with the overall figure for all three League divisions topping the 16 million mark for the fourth consecutive year, Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney took the opportunity to congratulate supporters.

He said: "These are another set of impressive figures. I would like to offer my appreciation to everybody that has gone to watch League football this season.

"Our competitions thrive on the passion and loyalty that fans give to their clubs. I would also like to congratulate League clubs on the efforts they have made to fill their grounds.

"On the pitch, they have provided another season of exciting, competitive football. Off the pitch, innovative community programmes have enabled clubs to engage better with people living locally. "

A total of nearly 4.5 million fans went through the turnstiles in Coca-Cola League One at an average gate of just under 8,000 - its highest figure for 36 years and an increase of 6.7 per cent on last year.

And it was a similar story in Coca-Cola League Two, where the average gate was around 4,300, representing a rise of 5.1 per cent on the 2006/7 season.

Attendance figures have been steadily increasing across the League pyramid for the past 20 years - in which time the total has doubled - and in recent seasons some crowds have hit their highest point for 50 years.

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