The Sock of Poskett
The best is yet to come (spoiler alert)
- Jun 12, 2009
- 2,810
Bill Edgar
Published at 12:01AM, December 10 2012
Brighton & Hove Albion fans pushed hard for a new stadium for more than a decade and their home attendances over the past two seasons reflect that desperation.
Such has been the demand for tickets since they moved into the Amex Stadium in the summer of last year that their crowd figures in the league this season are now 3½ times larger than in 2010-11, their final season at the Withdean Stadium.
Should they maintain their present average attendance of 25,446 in the npower Championship, they would have achieved a rise of 246 per cent compared with the figure of 7,351 in 2010-11 (the Withdean’s capacity was 8,850). That would represent the third-largest jump over a two-year period for any club since league football started in 1888.
Last season, an average of 20,027 watched Brighton’s league games but stadium development has allowed for another rise this season, when capacity is around 27,500.
According to figures produced by those who run the excellent English National Football Archive (http://www.enfa.co.uk), the biggest two-year leap in attendances was achieved by Millwall, who attracted an average of 4,304 in the second tier in 1986-87 but 15,416 in the top division in 1988-89, a rise of 258 per cent.
Northampton Town’s increase of 246 per cent to 6,316 over two seasons to 1986-87 is the second biggest and will be beaten by Brighton this season if the latter improve their present average for this season by a mere ten spectators.
Published at 12:01AM, December 10 2012
Brighton & Hove Albion fans pushed hard for a new stadium for more than a decade and their home attendances over the past two seasons reflect that desperation.
Such has been the demand for tickets since they moved into the Amex Stadium in the summer of last year that their crowd figures in the league this season are now 3½ times larger than in 2010-11, their final season at the Withdean Stadium.
Should they maintain their present average attendance of 25,446 in the npower Championship, they would have achieved a rise of 246 per cent compared with the figure of 7,351 in 2010-11 (the Withdean’s capacity was 8,850). That would represent the third-largest jump over a two-year period for any club since league football started in 1888.
Last season, an average of 20,027 watched Brighton’s league games but stadium development has allowed for another rise this season, when capacity is around 27,500.
According to figures produced by those who run the excellent English National Football Archive (http://www.enfa.co.uk), the biggest two-year leap in attendances was achieved by Millwall, who attracted an average of 4,304 in the second tier in 1986-87 but 15,416 in the top division in 1988-89, a rise of 258 per cent.
Northampton Town’s increase of 246 per cent to 6,316 over two seasons to 1986-87 is the second biggest and will be beaten by Brighton this season if the latter improve their present average for this season by a mere ten spectators.