FA Cup's average attendance flatters to deceive
Posted Tuesday, January 05, 2010 by The Independent
Magic of the Cup: not all grounds were as packed as Old Trafford for the third round of the Cup
But the total of 514,172 at 28 ties was boosted by the 74,526 who saw Leeds shock Manchester United, at Old Trafford, and the 41,000 who saw Chelsea rout Watford.
However, the FA will privately be concerned that some clubs suffered huge drops, most obviously at Wigan. Even though they hosted one of only three all-Premier League ties, against Hull, the crowd at the DW Stadium was just 5,335.
That was the lowest Wigan home attendance since just 4,100 watched them against Notts County in last season's Carling Cup. More worryingly, it was a massive 71.1 per cent down on the club's average Premier League attendance, of 18,464.
And clearly the Steel City has not been captivated by the competition; Sheffield Wednesday's crowd, against Crystal Palace, was down more than 60 per cent, to just 8,690, while 24 hours later United attracted less than 12,000 fans against Queens Park Rangers.
Even the attendances at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge were down slightly on the average. Indeed, of the 11 Premier League teams hosting home third-round ties, 10 show a drop on their average League game with only Spurs, with an increase of 0.2 per cent, showing an increase.
And the figure is improved somewhat because four games were postponed, including matches at Accrington, Notts County and Brentford which would have dragged the average gate down.
An FA spokesman said: "Every year we monitor attendances at FA Cup ties closely. We will continue with clubs, supporters and media to do all we can to promote the competition."
On the plus side, the travelling hordes from Newcastle, who made an 800-mile round trip to Devon, boosted Plymouth's crowd to 16,451, an increase of 54.7 per cent. Another West Country club, Torquay, also enjoyed twice their normal attendance, against Brighton.
All the signs point to an overall drop in attendances – for the third year in succession – particularly as United, the best supported club, are now out of the FA Cup. Figures for the competition from round one to the final were down last year, to an average of 13,078 per game, a 1.2 per cent drop of the 2007-08 season.
On Monday, the FA confirmed that Coventry's third-round replay against Portsmouth would be shown live on ITV4 next Tuesday, with Liverpool's replay against Reading live on ITV1 24 hours later.
FA CUP ATTENDANCES
ROUND 1-FINAL
Season Average +/-%
2008-09 13,078 -1.2%
2007-08 13,232 -6.1%
2006-07 14,043 +12.5%
2005-06 12,291 -11.4%
2004-05 13,697 +8.4%
2003-04 12,551 +1.7%
2002-03 12,336 +0.9%
2001-02 12,224 +2.2%
2000-01 11,951 -9.9%
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
CLUB ATTENDANCE LEAGUE AVE +/1 %
1 Wigan 5,335 18,464 -71.1
2 Sheff Wed 8,690 22,374 -61.2
3 Sheff Utd 11,461 26,133 -56.1
4 Leicester 12,307 23,792 -48.3
5 Bolton 11,193 21,439 -47.8
6 Stoke 15,586 27,217 -42.7
7 Portsmouth 11,214 18,929 -40.8
8 Middlesbrough 12,474 20,238 -38.4
9 Sunderland 25,190 40,552 -37.9
10 Aston Villa 25,453 37,780 -32.7
11 West Ham 25,549 33,335 -23.4
12 Scunthorpe 5,457 6,878 -20.7
13 Fulham 19,623 24,345 -19.4
14 Everton 31,196 36,943 -15.6
15 Blackpool 7,332 8,287 -11.5
16 Nottm Forest 20,975 23,655 -11.3
17 Southampton 18,786 20,600 -8.8
18 Chelsea 40,912 41,384 -1.1
19 Man Utd 74,526 74,867 -0.5
20 Tottenham 35,862 35,803 +0.2
21 Huddersfield 13,472 13,172 +2.8
22 Millwall 10,531 9,144 +15.2
23 MK Dons 11,816 10,203 +15.8
24 Reading 23,656 17,211 +37.4
25 Preston 7,621 12,637 +39.7
26 Tranmere 7,476 5,321 +40.5
27 Torquay 4,028 2,860 +40.8
28 Plymouth 16,451 10,634 +54.7
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