Is anyone out there?
Posted in News on Saturday September 17th, 2005 4:06pm
Premiership attendances have fallen from an average of 35,008 in the 2003-4 to 33,892 last season.The fall has been put down to three well-supported clubs going down - Southampton, Norwich and Crystal Palace - and three smaller clubs coming up.
High ticket prices have been blamed by analysts, along with a belief that fans prefer to put their feet up in front of the TV where there is blanket coverage of the nation’s no.1 sport.
Others believe it is the rise of the controversial 4-5-1 defensive formation which is turning fans away in their droves.
Manchester City have suffered the biggest fall in Premiership attendances.
An average of 4,800 fewer fans have watched their meetings with Portsmouth and West Brom compared with last season.
The figures are eye-catching given the club’s resurgence under Stuart Pearce.
More so considering City held rivals United to a 1-1 draw last week. Middlesbrough have experienced the second largest drop of 3,500. Given that Bolton have endured the sixth biggest drop of about 2,000, it seems watching a winning team is not the only factor which makes fans go or stay away and adds strength to the argument that fans simply cannot afford to watch football regularly.
View other posts by Administrator
