Crowd Statistics And Viewing Figures
The latest facts and figures from Football League HQ make interesting reading for fans, as attendances shoot up across all three divisions, and ITV Digital's highest viewing figure for a football match to date (excluding Champions League), shows up as being a Second Division fixture.
Figures including all Nationwide League matches up until the end of February show a sharp rise in lower league crowds, with the Third Division increase the most noticeable - up 13.8% on the same time last year. Division Two crowds are also in a healthy state, up 13.2% on the previous season, while Division One attendances have also gone up, but only by 6.43% in comparison.
The average Division Three crowd from the 417 games played before March was 4,270 while in Division Two the average from 424 matches was 7,025. Division One's typical gate was 14,987 from the 422 games played in that particular league.
The figures total up to show a massive cumulative crowd of 11,084,133 for the entire Football League, with 1,780,642 coming from Division Three, 2,978,789 from Division Two and 6,324,702 from Division One.
Meanwhile, ITV Digital bosses may well be scratching their heads in bewilderment as to why a Division Two fixture has attracted its biggest audience to the present day.
Stoke City v Brighton & Hove Albion peaked at 128,000 on 1st March - 22,000 higher than the next highest peak of 106,000 for the First Division clash between Manchester City and Coventry City, played just two days later.
The Worthington Cup semi-final first leg clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers pulled in 105,000 viewers at its peak, while the Lancashire derby between Burnley and Preston North End played eight days ago attracted 102,000.
Completing the top six are Coventry City v Chelsea from the third round of the Worthington Cup (98,000) and Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal from the quarter-finals (92,000).
Across the ITV network, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur's Worthington Cup semi-final attracted a total audience of 14,456,000 while the final itself recorded only 6,800,000 viewers.
Nationwide League games shown on a regional basis across ITV provided significantly more respectable reading, with the highest game (Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday, shown in Central and Yorkshire TV area) picking up 1,086,000 viewers.
| TOTAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ATTENDANCES TO END FEBRUARY 2002 | |||||
| Season | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | |
| Games | 1161 | 1167 | 1158 | 1263 | |
| Average | 8236 | 8108 | 8064 | 8776 | +8.83% |
| Total | 9561670 | 9461770 | 9338054 | 11084133 | |
| TOTAL DIVISION ONE ATTENDANCES TO END FEBRUARY 2002 | |||||
| Season | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | |
| Games | 395 | 392 | 393 | 422 | |
| Average | 13460 | 13954 | 14082 | 14987 | +6.43% |
| Total | 5316883 | 5469963 | 5534142 | 6324702 | |
| TOTAL DIVISION TWO ATTENDANCES TO END FEBRUARY 2002 | |||||
| Season | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | |
| Games | 380 | 385 | 381 | 424 | |
| Average | 7403 | 6495 | 6205 | 7025 | +13.2% |
| Total | 2812960 | 2500536 | 2364122 | 2978789 | |
| TOTAL DIVISION THREE ATTENDANCES TO END FEBRUARY 2002 | |||||
| Season | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | |
| Games | 386 | 390 | 384 | 417 | |
| Average | 3709 | 3824 | 3749 | 4270 | +13.8% |
| Total | 1431827 | 1491271 | 1439790 | 1780642 | |
| ITV NETWORK | |||
| Matches | Average Audience | Total Peak | |
| Worthington Cup | 3 | 5,725,667 | 21,256,000 |
| HIGHEST PEAKS | ||
| Match | Date | Highest Peak |
| Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur | 9th January 2002 | 7,356,000 |
| Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea | 23rd January 2002 | 7,100,000 |
| Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur | 24th February 2002 | 6,800,000 |
| ITV REGIONAL | |||
| Matches | Average Audience | Total Peak | |
| All Matches | 22 | 450,786 | 12,432,000 |
| Division One | 18 | 531,444 | 11,980,000 |
| Divisions Two & Three | 4 | 87,825 | 453,000 |
| HIGHEST PEAKS | ||
| Match | Date | Highest Peak |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday | 18th November 2001 | 1,086,000 |
| West Bromwich Albion v Nottingham Forest | 4th November 2001 | 957,000 |
| Birmingham City v Coventry City | 25th November 2001 | 892,000 |
| Wimbledon v Manchester City | 3rd February 2002 | 835,000 |
| Coventry City v Watford | 9th December 2001 | 788,000 |
| ITV DIGITAL | |||
| Matches | Average Audience | Total Peak | |
| All Matches | 75 | 23,165 | 2,672,000 |
| All League | 58 | 20,279 | 1,837,000 |
| Worthington Cup | 15 | 35,653 | 801,000 |
| LDV Vans Trophy | 2 | 13,200 | 34,000 |
| Division One | 49 | 21,110 | 1,554,000 |
| Division Two & Three | 9 | 15,756 | 283,000 |
| Division One Sunday | 21 | 19,580 | 668,000 |
| Division One Other | 28 | 22,250 | 886,000 |
| HIGHEST PEAKS | ||
| Match | Date | Highest Peak |
| Stoke City v Brighton & Hove Albion | 1st March 2002 | 128,000 |
| Manchester City v Coventry City | 3rd March 2002 | 106,000 |
| Sheffield Wednesday v Blackburn Rovers | 8th January 2002 | 105,000 |
| Burnley v Preston North End | 17th March 2002 | 102,000 |
| Coventry City v Chelsea | 1st October 2001 | 98,000 |
| Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal | 11th December 2001 | 92,000 |
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24Mar02 - LDV Vans Trophy Final Photo Feature
17Mar02 - Follow The U's To Cardiff!
10Mar02 - Away Day Blues
03Mar02 - The Best Of The Best?
24Feb02 - The Future of Football?
17Feb02 - U's Fans On Sky TV's Soccer AM
10Feb02 - U's Fans Feature On ITV Digital Quiz
02Feb02 - A Week In The Life of PR Manager Graham Eales
20Jan02 - U's Players Get Darth Vader Treatment
13Jan02 - Kit Carson Explains His 'Head of Talent Development' Role
05Jan02 - Dale Brooks Enjoying New Role
04Dec01 - U's Players Try Out Premiership Physio Machine
10Nov01 - U's Launch New Away Kit
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