2nd Tier of english football in 1986.

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Interesting to see how attendances have grown in the 2nd tier of English football since 1986..
I saw this on the Championship forum.

16,052 Sunderland
13,722 Norwich City
13,614 Portsmouth
13,259 Leeds United
10,798 Sheffield United
9,726 Brighton & Hove Albion
8,288 Stoke City
7,672 Hull City
6,821 Huddersfield Town
6,787 Crystal Palace
6,257 Middlesbrough
6,067 Barnsley
6,028 Charlton Athletic
5,826 Blackburn Rovers
5,816 Bradford City
5,459 Millwall
5,157 Grimsby Town
4,651 Oldham Athletic
4,624 Fulham
4,578 Wimbledon
4,010 Carlisle United
3,927 Shrewsbury Town

 

[Smithy]

There was a slump in attendances across all divisions in the 80's, not just the second tier. Even so, isn't the Championship now the fifth most watched division in Europe?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Lol. I like that table but I'm not going to say why.

 

[Smithy]

Lol. I like that table but I'm not going to say why.

Palace?

 

[upthealbion1970]

Lol. I like that table but I'm not going to say why.

Was before they reported tickets sold as attendance up the road

 

[Sussex Nomad]

80's football was dreadful for attendances. The decade when hooliganism was heightened above any other, poor facilities and to be fair a very poor standard of football in this country with no European football at the time of this table. I remember a huge amount of the cinemas closing down in the late 70's/early 80's too and they made a comeback. However the 10k minus average attendances are still quite staggering. We love to hate Sky, etc. but they really did help pull English football out of the mire. I remember at the time there being serious debates about football in this country just closing up shop. And it was serious debates, after Hillsborough, Heysel, Bradford... all was not well. Great to see football make a comeback and now being the preferred diet of many an Englishman and woman. Life's good, life is the Amex.

 

[Albion Rob]

There was a slump in attendances across all divisions in the 80's, not just the second tier. Even so, isn't the Championship now the fifth most watched division in Europe?

I may be wrong but I think there may be something a bit odd about that stat. Think it's something to do with it being aggregate attendance rather than average and the Chmpionship has about 8-12 games more than most other leagues. Either way though things have imroved drastically.

As someone who was born in 1981 and whose first memory of football was circa Hillsborough it's hard to imagine a time when if you didn't get a smack in the face at the football then you'd either get roughed up by the police or suffer terrible facilities and, without putting too fine a point on it, the authorities treated the welfare and even the lives of football supporters with cavalier abandon - as evidenced with Bradford and Hillsborough.

Looking at it through the eyes of someone who was there but not there due to my age is seems that the 80s was a bloody grim time across the piece for a lot of people - interesting that attendances are holding up against a backdrop of high unemployment now etc. On the hooliganism front, I just wonder if the police became so good at policing football and the penalties dished out to football hooligans were so severe that it moved the problem into town centres on a Saturday night instead, many of which now feel like no go areas after about 8pm. Nothing scientific about that, mind, just a gut feeling.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I may be wrong but I think there may be something a bit odd about that stat. Think it's something to do with it being aggregate attendance rather than average and the Chmpionship has about 8-12 games more than most other leagues. Either way though things have imroved drastically.

As someone who was born in 1981 and whose first memory of football was circa Hillsborough it's hard to imagine a time when if you didn't get a smack in the face at the football then you'd either get roughed up by the police or suffer terrible facilities and, without putting too fine a point on it, the authorities treated the welfare and even the lives of football supporters with cavalier abandon - as evidenced with Bradford and Hillsborough.

Looking at it through the eyes of someone who was there but not there due to my age is seems that the 80s was a bloody grim time across the piece for a lot of people - interesting that attendances are holding up against a backdrop of high unemployment now etc. On the hooliganism front, I just wonder if the police became so good at policing football and the penalties dished out to football hooligans were so severe that it moved the problem into town centres on a Saturday night instead, many of which now feel like no go areas after about 8pm. Nothing scientific about that, mind, just a gut feeling.

Albion Rob, that is an excellent post for a 'youngster'. The violence also happened in town centres in the 70's and 80's... I remember! But the policing did change and it did change for the better. CCTV and the likes changed football completely. Handing out bigger sentences did the same. Football was always on a collision course with tragedy back then and it took many deaths to realise it. I remember queuing up for the Blackpool game in 78 when we had 33k in the stadium. I thought I was going to die in the crush, it seriously was that bad. Unfortunately it takes serious acts to bring along serious measures. But let us not forget that things haven't changed for the better quite yet. Football is lorded for it's safety precautions and lack of hooliganism nowadays yet it is still happening in the town centres and away from the ground as you alluded to. We aren't quite there yet.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Don't underestimate the effects of TV coverage of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 Euros. Both of these tournaments seem to have had a big impact on the willingness and enthusiasm of English fans to resume watching live league football.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

1985-86 season was the low point of the slump, attendances slowly began to climb the year after, returning to the 1980-81 level the season before the premiership was introduced.

 

[Stat Brother]

Don't underestimate the effects of TV coverage of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 Euros. Both of these tournaments seem to have had a big impact on the willingness and enthusiasm of English fans to resume watching live league football.

More so for '96.
These tournaments went some way to shake off the past, and generate the stadiums and atmosphere that people would want to go to, and be a part of.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

I may be wrong but I think there may be something a bit odd about that stat. Think it's something to do with it being aggregate attendance rather than average and the Chmpionship has about 8-12 games more than most other leagues. Either way though things have imroved drastically.

As someone who was born in 1981 and whose first memory of football was circa Hillsborough it's hard to imagine a time when if you didn't get a smack in the face at the football then you'd either get roughed up by the police or suffer terrible facilities and, without putting too fine a point on it, the authorities treated the welfare and even the lives of football supporters with cavalier abandon - as evidenced with Bradford and Hillsborough.

Looking at it through the eyes of someone who was there but not there due to my age is seems that the 80s was a bloody grim time across the piece for a lot of people - interesting that attendances are holding up against a backdrop of high unemployment now etc. On the hooliganism front, I just wonder if the police became so good at policing football and the penalties dished out to football hooligans were so severe that it moved the problem into town centres on a Saturday night instead, many of which now feel like no go areas after about 8pm. Nothing scientific about that, mind, just a gut feeling.

Post of the day for sure.

 

[Max Paper]

Don't underestimate the effects of TV coverage of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 Euros. Both of these tournaments seem to have had a big impact on the willingness and enthusiasm of English fans to resume watching live league football.

My first real memories of football were the 86 world cup, the Liverpool v Everton finals but the one that HOOKED me was Italia 90. Pavaroti, Cameroon, Penalties, last minute wonder goals. Hard to think that only 6 years later I was under age drinking in the Fox and Hounds watching the Germans do us on penalties again.

 

[gripper stebson]

Palace?

Bloody plastics!!!

(Edit - this is not rhyming slang)

 

[Wozza]

More so for '96.
These tournaments went some way to shake off the past, and generate the stadiums and atmosphere that people would want to go to, and be a part of.

It was ridicuously easy to get tickets for Euro 96. I saw about 10 matches, inc all the matches at Wembley - and getting rid of spares wasn't easy.

Things definitely changed after that...

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

how can anybody complain , an era when you didn't have to queue much ,plenty of room to stand , realistic ticket prices, sensible stewards if any, i thought it was everything football was meant to be, off down the boozer on the saturday with your mates if you were at home or down your local rail station persil vouchers in hand for that away trip !
great times, anybody who says different must have been wrapped up in cotton wool.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

how can anybody complain , an era when you didn't have to queue much ,plenty of room to stand , realistic ticket prices, sensible stewards if any, i thought it was everything football was meant to be, off down the boozer on the saturday with your mates if you were at home or down your local rail station persil vouchers in hand for that away trip !
great times, anybody who says different must have been wrapped up in cotton wool.

As a 16 year old at this time i would totally agree with you,but times have changed,for instance we used to turn up at the Goldstone and just dump the car along the road by Hove park.Imagine trying to do that now!.There were very few families going to football then from what i can remember compared to the Amex.I loved these times at the Goldsone but i equally love the Amex.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

As a 16 year old at this time i would totally agree with you,but times have changed,for instance we used to turn up at the Goldstone and just dump the car along the road by Hove park.Imagine trying to do that now!.There were very few families going to football then from what i can remember compared to the Amex.I loved these times at the Goldsone but i equally love the Amex.

amex is good, BUT FOR OUT AND OUT ALL ROUND EXPERIENCE YOU WILL NOT BEAT THE 80'S it's just the way it was then .

 

[Shuggie]

European leagues averaging over 10,000 as follows.


42,665 Germany
35,294 EPL
28,221 Spain
24,306 Italy
19,742 France
19,296 Holland
17,386 England II
14,796 Germany II
13,670 Scotland
12,250 Russia
11,574 Belgium
11,365 Switzerland
10,080 Portugal

See here for all leagues: http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm

Will be interesting to see if we beat the average La Liga attendance in a year or two.

 

[Questions]

how can anybody complain , an era when you didn't have to queue much ,plenty of room to stand , realistic ticket prices, sensible stewards if any, i thought it was everything football was meant to be, off down the boozer on the saturday with your mates if you were at home or down your local rail station persil vouchers in hand for that away trip !
great times, anybody who says different must have been wrapped up in cotton wool.

They were great days. BUT, now I go with my wife and kids I prefer the seats and the 'sanitised exerience' as some people see it.