Attendance League Table
We at Counties Podcast (well Rob anyway) love a good attendance statistic therefore we have decided to compile the first ever Counties Podcast Attendance League Table. A league table involving just NWCFL teams would be no fun though so we decided to include the attendances from the other Step 5 and 6 leagues which feed directly into the Evo-Stik League as a means for better comparison as to the strength of the leagues attendances. In addition to this, we also decided to include the Evo-Stik Premier Division, First Divisions North and South to give a true indication of the strength of the NWCFL league (as well as some former NWCFL clubs which have risen through the ranks) as some teams in our league have support that Step 3 and 4 clubs would be envious of.
Step 5 Average Attendances
In addition to the Attendance League Table we also collated the attendances of every Step 5 and 6 League in the Country and compiled both the total and average attendance for the season and ranked them in order. In addition we compared them to 2013/14 to identify growth within each league (for the Midlands League we used its predecessor league for comparison).
As of 05/05/2015
Although the Northern League were the overall leaders for the second year in a row despite a less than 1% decrease in attendance the North West Counties and Northern Counties East League were able to leapfrog the United Counties League into second and third place respectively. Promotions, relegation’s and reprieves were the reason the two leagues were able to benefit as 1874 Northwich joined the party in the NWCFL whilst Shaw Lane Aquaforce and Worksop Town boosted the NCEL.
Step 6 Average Attendance
In the Step 6 league the NWCFL fell off the pace mostly due to 1874 Northwich’s promotion it was the South West Peninsula League that lead the way thanks to AFC St Austell’s remarkable season. Riding just behind them was the Mildand League First Division as they enjoyed the benefits of Conference Phoenix clubs Bromsgrove Sporting and Hinckley AFC. With Hereford joining the league next season they are likely to be topping the tables once again.
Note: No complete data could be located for the Sussex County League Second Division in 2013/14 and no data at all could be found for the West Midlands League.
North West Counties League – Year on Year
The League Table? We are getting to that…first we have a year on year comparison of attendances in the NWCFL for the last 11 seasons.
The first thing of to note is that attendance in the league was at its highest overall since FC United were promoted as Champions in 2007 with an eye watering 84,601 people attending NWCFL league games this season. Even more impressive is this doesn’t include the various FA Cup, Vase, League Cup or Play Off games which would have increased the number significantly again.
North West Counties League Team-by-Team
Just to show you that we’ve done our homework and not copied and pasted from anywhere else (even if this does look suspiciously like its come from West Didsbury & Chorlton’s programme) we’ve compiled every individual attendance in both NWCFL leagues.
The most improved attendance might surprise a few people in a season in which 1874 Northwich enjoyed promotion and both Runcorn Linnets and Glossop North End enjoying highly successful seasons as AFC Blackpool (124%) and Colne (91%) enjoyed the highest percentage gains.
NWCFL Premier Division (Click Image to Enlarge)
NWCFL First Division (Click Image to Enlarge)
Note: Cammell Laird 1907 attendance is a previous comparison to Cammell Laird, the club they followed even though Martin will argue about them being a separate club.
In the First Division, despite the loss of Formby and the huge support of 1874 Nortwich promoted to the Premier Division, Atherton Collieries was the place to be with an average attendance of 193 increased by a whopping 94% (and that is just taking into account league action). Promoted AFC Darwen enjoyed an average attendance of 130 which would make them the 10th best supported club in the Premier Division already and that’s before you take into account their play off crowds of 359 in the Semi Final and 842 in the Final. There might be a huge crate of Corona on its way to Emil’s house!
The most improved attendance in the NWCFL was another surprise as Daisy Hill reaped the benefits of playing Monday night football increasing their attendance by a full 25% in a year when First Division attendances were down almost 20%.
So here it is the First Ever Counties Podcast League Table…
Well done for making it this far…
Sources: Football Mitoo, Non-League Matters, dozens of league websites and possibly hundreds of club websites. Every care has been taken to ensure that these statistics are accurate but we can accept no responsibility if they are wrong.