Second Division average attendances 1981-2

I have just found the average attendances for Division 2 in 1981-2. It is striking just how low they were in comparison to today. We had the 3rd highest at 15,098. Sheffield Wednesday had the highest ( of course) at 19,170. Newcastle were second at 17,276. Chelsea were 7th with 13,132. Derby 10th with 11,828. Bolton were 15th at 7,597. Wrexham had the lowest average attendance at 4,304. In the 2023/4 season so far, 14 clubs in the Championship are averaging over 20,000, with the highest average being Sunderland's at just under 41,000.

 

Those were magic days weren't they, and didn't we finish 6th ?. If the Play offs had been around then, I think we'd have had a great chance of winning them.
How many would have gone to Wembley ehh, to watch players like McCarthy, Banks, Glavin, Aylott, Parker, and the rest, on the hallowed turf.

 

If ever a team deserved to be promoted, it was that one.

 

CBA looking at a census but I imagine the populations of every club of that season was a few million less than the populations of the clubs in that league now.

 

By 'club' I assume you mean town or city. How many towns/cities in England do you believe have a population of more than a million?

 

15 000 low , I wish we had that average now.
That was amazing football on show though.
Would love to see the average away following .
It was pure bliss following the reds around the country then.

 

It’s worth pointing out that the average attendances in 1981/82 were based on people who were actually at the game! Today’s figures are grossly exaggerated - at all Clubs - though ours is one of the best examples.

What is our true average today? Around 9,000?

 

Down to less violence these days, I would imagine.

 

It's Impossible to base support on populations from one era to another.
There are so many different factors to take into account.
Affordability
Success
So many more different activities to partake in.
As for population figures you are way off the mark. Take Sheffield for example. 100k more than 1980. 750k compared to 650k And bear in mind at todays figures you are looking at around 7.5% go to games . (That's for both clubs based on 55k including away fans )
In comparison we have around 5.5% inc. Away fans. We compare well tbh.

 

I find it particularly interesting that our attendances were higher than those of Chelsea and Derby, amongst others. By the way, there wasn't a single club averaging 10,000 in Division 3 that season. Nationally, attendances have gone up significantly. It is interesting to ponder why. In a TV snippet from 1982, which was put on this site a few weeks ago, on which Danny Blanchflower also appeared, Skinner Normanton was asked if he went to Oakwell, to which he replied that he went only very rarely, as he was put off by crowd hooliganism. Perhaps others were too, though, curiously, this aspect did not seem to put people off from attending FA Cup ties. The whole subject would provide an interesting topic for a doctoral thesis.

 

This is the thing when people say that Barnsley's traditional and rightful home is the Championship - times have changed. Sadly, Barnsley hasn't propered as a town and seen the population growth of other areas, our attendance has dropped whilst others have risen. This is especially the case in more affluent southern areas of the country, teams like Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton and Plymouth were all traditionally below Barnsley with less resources.

 

Summary : fkd by Thatcher.

 

Absolutely superb memories.. even more memorable than the Premier season.

 

It was grim in those days at times , I used to go to the occasional Newcastle game as I was at Poly there , the one that stands out was a game against West Ham , total mayhem with a petrol bomb thrown into the West Ham fans for good measure .

 

I remember when we got promoted from the 4th div under Sniffer all the club's we played away had there highest attendance and we had 20000 ish fans at home when the season reached it climax .

 

I believe and will stand corrected. We sold out every away allocation in the premier, only team to do so that season.

 

Aww I always liked the fact that Sid 'skinner', named himself after my famous hometown.

 

Still my favourite ever Reds season is 1981-82. Went to every league game home and away, the only time I’ve ever managed that. What a side we had then. Trevor Aylott leaving started the break up of a great team.

 

Give over. The attendances now are based on tickets sold using much better technology than 1981. Our crowds have never been as good, they've been good for years not just the odd season like 40 years ago.

https://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/league/bars.htm

 

The days of chants like, "You're gonna get your f***ing heads kicked in" and "We only carry hatchets, to bury in your head".