billsportsmaps.com

January 4, 2008

Non-League Football in England, Attendance Map.

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 4:56 pm

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[ This map was made in connection with the Pitch Invasion site (www.pitchinvasion.net). ]

The statistics used for the map are from December 28, 2007, courtesy of the King’s Lynn FC official website, which you can access, here.** 

Since then, no other club has broken into the top 32 Non-League average attendances, although Worcester City, Stafford Rangers, and Dover Athletic have all now broken the 900-per-game mark (which was my cut-off point, for the map). 

Using the latest gate figures (January 2, 2008), here is the list of the biggest gate increases, from last season to this season, of clubs that made the map.   

A. (#20) Histon, up 56% (from 790 to 1,229).;     B. (#15) Salisbury City, up 34% (from 1,118 to 1,498).;     C. (#3) Cambridge United, up 27% (from 2,818 to 3,519).     D. (#4)  Torquay United,  up 26% (from 2,633 to 3,320).     E. (#22) Chelmsford City, up 19% (from 1,001 to 1,193).;     F. (#4) Stevenage Borough, up 18% (from 2,126 to 2,520).

Histon and Salisbury were both promoted last spring, with their debut in the 5th Level (The Conference).  Cambridge and Stevenage did not move from the 5th Level, but are both doing well this season (both are in the playoff places).  Chelmsford City is a 6th Level club that is in the top 5 of their league (the Conference South).  And Torquay, believe it or not, got relegated out of the Football League, yet has increased their gate by 667 fans a game.  Maybe they are pulling a Bradford City (ie, get relegated, then slash ticket prices.) 

I just checked around, and their prices are about the same as Oxford and Stevenage Borough’s.  Torquay’s unusual gate increase must be because of the optimism engendered by the club’s new ownership.  Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they are playing well.  The Gulls are in 2nd place, four points behind Aldershot Town.  Still, to be cast from the promised land of The League, and then see such a marked increase in attendance, is a good sign for Non-League football.

Other clubs (that did not make this map) with big increases in crowds are (#38) Farsley Celtic, up an astounding 186% (from 308 to 880);  and (#40) Lewes, up 55% (from 520 to 805).    Farsley Celtic are from Leeds, and were just promoted up to the Conference, for the first time.    Lewes, known as The Rooks, are from East Sussex, and are leading the Conference South (in the 6th Level) by 9 pts.  **(See this  feature);   **(see this photo gallery). 

There are a couple other burgeoning minnows, but the one that deserves the final mention here is Chasetown FC.  On Saturday, they will play in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup.  As an 8th Level club, Chasetown will become the lowest ranked club in history to reach the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, when they host Cardiff City, in their 3,000 capacity ground. (See this article.)   This club is from south Staffordshire (just north of Birmingham).  Nicknamed The Scholars, they play in the Southern League, Division One-Midlands (see standings, with attendances, here…  some of the clubs in this league don’t even average 100 per game.) 

Chasetown’s average gate this season is #68 in Non-League football, at 462, up 51% from last season.  Go Scholars !    **(Here is BBC-Staffordshire’s coverage of the story.)    **(Chasetown FC Official site, here.)

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