Football League witnesses over 16 million fans this season

Football Supporters News

Despite the credit crunch, a number of football fans are still turning out in force to cheer on their favourite clubs, it has been revealed.

Over 16.35 million fans watched the 1,656 Football League matches over the 2008/09 season, which is an increase of one per cent on the previous campaign.

Also, this is the fifth successive season in which attendances topped the 16 million barrier, with the Championship drawing in a total audience of 9.9 million fans, making it the fourth most watched league in Europe.

The average Championship attendance rose five per cent for the season to reach 17,891, with League One at 7,500 and League Two 4,100.

Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney said: "I am particularly encouraged that more and more families are going to watch their local league club.

"A number of clubs are already using innovative pricing policies to enable them to continue making live football accessible to everyone in their local community."

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City are two clubs that will not be playing in the Football League next season after sealing promotion to the English Premier League from the Championship.

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