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May 18, 2021 · For the first time since December, supporters are back at Premier League games, but how much do the fans help their teams?
- Overview
- Top-flight attendances at all-time highs
- Packed to the rafters
- Will home advantage matter in the future?
- What does the future look like - can stadiums meet demand?
What does the future hold for stadiums and fans in the stands? Have attendances topped out? Do fans help deliver success on the pitch?
As part of the Future of Football series, Sky Sports investigates the past and present, before making predictions for the future, based on data and projections from leading experts...
The average attendance for a top-flight football match in England smashed the 40,000 threshold for the first time ever last season.
It hasn't been an incremental rise over the years, though. The record of 38,793 set in 1948/49 before all-seater stadiums had stood for 71 years until 2019/20 - having halved to around 20,000 during the 1980s.
The landmark comes with a caveat, in that clubs now count all season ticket holders in their attendance figures, regardless of whether they turn up to the match - but the general upward trajectory for capacity crowds remains clear.
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The graphic below shows how attendances have expanded and contracted over the past 135 years, and also highlights how attendances have typically spiked after periods of national and global crises - notably both World Wars.
In the men's game, the table below reveals how Manchester United have dominated the domestic all-time records - clocking the top attendance in 56 of the 124 seasons, followed by Everton (14), Arsenal (12), Chelsea and Newcastle (both 10).
Image: Manchester United's Old Trafford recorded an average attendance of 73,671 last season
Old Trafford averaged at 73,671 last term, having sustained similar levels for 16 years since the most recent expansion added 8,000 seats in 2006.
However, German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund attracted the biggest capacity crowds in Europe last season with an average attendance of 81,228 - having leapfrogged Barcelona's Nou Camp in 2011/12 and staying on top since.
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Clubs clearly have financial interests in gate receipts, while fans increasingly want to get their hands on tickets - but does strong home support correlate with success on the pitch?
While not linked directly to the sheer number of fans, the so-called '12th man' in the men's game has long been associated with driving sides over the line and data suggests it helps - but the impact has been on the wane.
Back in 1894/95, teams playing on home soil enjoyed a win ratio of 65 per cent, but that figure has been on a steady decline over the past 128 years - hitting merely 41 per cent in 2015/16.
Home advantage - with fans in the stands - still exists. The 2020/21 campaign underlined that fact when home teams in empty stadiums recorded the lowest win rate in the history of the game at just 38 per cent. Teams on the road won more games then their hosts for the first time ever.
The overall declining trend suggests home advantage may not continue in the future.
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So, we know attendances are rising, but at what point will they top out?
As it stands, the Narendra Modi Stadium in India is the largest stadium in the world and holds up to 132,000 cricket fans. The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in North Korea was originally built to hold 150,000 before alterations reduced capacity to around 114,000.
Image: The Narendra Modi Stadium in India is the largest stadium in the world and holds 132,000
Barcelona's Nou Camp is the largest football stadium in Europe with a capacity of 99,354, while Wembley - the home of football in England - ranks among the top 20 worldwide at 90,000.
Image: Barcelona's Nou Camp has a capacity of 99,354
But, in the future, does capacity have a ceiling? For all the advances in technology and engineering, a stadium, in its traditional form, appears to have a limit - beyond which the experience would either become impractical logistically or the experience would be diluted too far from the action.
- 2 min
- Adam Smith
Aug 12, 2021 · So how will the experience differ for supporters? BBC Sport looks at the current guidance, the changes that have been made and what clubs are doing to allow the return of capacity crowds. What...
Sep 24, 2024 · How Football Fans Boost Their Team. Since the return of the Bundesliga, teams playing at home have only won 21.7% of games. In comparison to during the season when fans were attending, home teams were winning up to 43.3% of games. This illustrates that in the early stages the “12th man” has played some part to increase home advantage.
Apr 30, 2023 · Attendances have not been diluted by changes to a routine during that joyless 2020-21 season. Instead, the crowds have come back bigger than ever. This season’s average across all four divisions ...
- Philip Buckingham
- Correspondent
May 18, 2021 · A long-awaited small step to normality, but how much does fans being there actually help their team? We got the reaction from some Premier League managers and looked at some stats.
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