Crowds at matches in the Coca-Cola Football League have broken the seventeen million mark for the first time in 50 years.
A total of 17.1m supporters attended the 1,656 league matches played during 2009/10, an increase of 4.4% on last season and the highest aggregate crowd figure since the 1959/60 campaign.
The Football League continues to enjoy sustained attendance growth with gates having more than doubled during the last 25 years.The average Football League crowd is now higher than 10,000.
The Coca-Cola Championship has retained its place as the fourth most watched league in Europe with a total audience of more than 9.9m fans.Crowds grew by 0.3% this season and averaged 17,949.
Only Germany's Bundesliga (13.1m), the Premier League (12.9m) and Spain's La Liga (11.0m) can boast more fans through the turnstiles, with The Football League's top division, once again, attracting more supporters than Italy's Serie A (9.1m) and France's Ligue 1 (7.6m).
Crowds for matches in Coca-Cola League 1 and Coca-Cola League 2 averaged 9,136 and 3,853 respectively, with crowds in the former increasing by a remarkable 21%.
These figures continue to outstrip those of comparable levels of the game in Europe's other major footballing nations. League 1 crowds are more than 75% greater than those in Germany and more than three times higher than those recorded in Italy and France.League 2, attendances are twice those of their German equivalents and almost five times those of Italian football.
Football League Chairman, Greg Clarke, said:
"Attracting more than seventeen million fans into their grounds is an outstanding achievement by Football League clubs, particularly in the current economic climate.
"Our clubs are focussed on attracting a new, family audience to football and those efforts are clearly working.
"I would like to thank everybody that has been to one of our matches this season for supporting their club and our competition."
2009/10 Football League Attendance Figures (2008/09 figures in brackets)
Coca-Cola Football League:
Total: 17,078,333(16,352,920)
Average: 10,313 (9,875)
% Change: +4.4%
Coca-Cola Championship:
Total: 9,907,942 (9,875,902)
Average: 17,949 (17,891)
% Change: +0.3%
Coca-Cola League 1:
Total: 5,043,279 (4,172,343)
Average: 9,136 (7,559)
% Change: +20.9%
Coca-Cola League 2:
Total: 2,127,112 (2,304,675)
Average: 3,853 (4,175)
% Change: -7.7%
Figures are based on figures issued by clubs to the media. There may be a small variance with the final official figures, which only become a matter of record once all gate statements have been received and processed by The Football League.
European figures sourced from www.european-football-statistics.co.uk
Historical Attendance Growth
1959/60 - 18,064,859
1960/61 - 15,657,132
1970/71 - 14,201,752
1980/81 - 10,509,691
1985/86 - 7,450,652
1990/91 - 10,921,055
1995/96 - 11,375,309
2000/01 - 13,546,724
2001/02 - 14,803,081
2002/03 - 14,871,981
2003/04 - 15,889,750
2004/05 - 16,364,419
2005/06 - 16,216,672
2006/07 - 16,473,930
2007/08 - 16,204,795
2008/09 - 16,352,920
2009/10 - 17,078,333
Historical analysis based on the transcription of The Football League ledgers by Brian Tabner.Figures for seasons prior to 1992/93 are based on Divisions 2, 3 and 4 of The Football League.
