2021/2022 Attendances: Lower and non-league football biggest winners

As the 2021/2022 football season reaches its conclusion, embattled football chairmen will be buoyed by rising attendances across the lower and non-leagues.

This season represents the first in a post-pandemic world and fans have returned in their numbers with the biggest winners being the National League, League One and National League South.

Data from English football’s top six tiers has been interpreted by the Sports Gazette from figures provided by Football Web Pages, who keep track of crowds up and down the nation each weekend. These numbers do not include any post-season play offs.

Overall attendances rise 

On average every weekend 834,724 people went to watch live football from one of England’s top six tiers, a slight rise on the last unaffected season. This is in spite of there being two less fixtures to watch each weekend.

National League biggest riser

National League Top Ten Clubs by Attendance

Sunderland help lift League One to record attendances

The next biggest riser is a League One significantly boosted by the addition of Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.

Sunderland’s average attendance 33,062 is a new League One record, bettering their own mark of 2018/2019 (32,157).

Sunderland’s crowds are only bettered by 12 sides in the Premier League and will be the biggest in their new home in the Championship.

Championship crowds down by a sixth

Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest drew 2021/2022’s biggest Championships crowds. The division has felt the impact of Leeds United’s promotion as well as the relegation of Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich.

Interestingly Bournemouth’s lowly attendances were not only the lowest in the top tier during their time there but were the lowest in the Championship this year too.

Premier League grows but looks likely to decrease next year

Despite their difficult year, Man Utd continue to draw the biggest crowds thanks to the largest stadium in domestic football in Old Trafford. All Premier League stadiums operate near to capacity each weekend but with the arrival of Bournemouth (9,753) and Fulham (17,774) attendances should decrease in the coming season. Fulham have, however, announced however that their Riverside stand will open for the 2022/23 season, with Craven Cottage set to move to closer to 30,000 capacity.

Interestingly both Burnley and Watford would also have been relegated in a theoretical attendance league with Norwich fifth from bottom.