Smallest Ever Crowd - Most eL Clubs Would Be Glad Of It

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Lowest attendance for a competitive game 5 May 1966

The lowest attendance for a competitive men's game at Highbury took place on May 5, 1966.

A mere 4,554 spectators turned up to watch the Division One clash with Leeds United, and by all accounts the ones that failed to show didn’t miss much.

Leeds ran out 3-0 winners thanks to two goals from Jim Storrie and one from Jimmy Greenhoff.

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Taken from Arsenal.com

Hard to believe how our average crowds are so small now.
I wonder what crowds the League of Ireland teams were getting back in 1966???

In the fifties and early 60s crowds in the LOI were huge. Nothing unusual to get 20,000 for Rovers v Drums or Rovers v Waterford

'The Star' reported today that there were only 85 people at the Dublin City vs Limerick game..... :eek:

The population of England is about 50 million. The population of the 27 counties is about four million. You have to take that into account when looking at these numbers.

Not that it matters a whole lot, but I'd say there was about 150 at the DCFC V Limerick game...whopping :(

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

The population of England is about 50 million. The population of the 27 counties is about four million. You have to take that into account when looking at these numbers.

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there are a lot less clubs and leagues in ireland though,you also have to take that into account

And don't forget Cork City get an average gate of 1.5 million for every game at Turners X, well according to some of their reports they do.

So that evens out the average a fair bit I'd say.

:D

It's alright - those figures are down a lot since they started releasing official gates! :p

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Originally Posted by Maynard

Not that it matters a whole lot, but I'd say there was about 150 at the DCFC V Limerick game...whopping :(

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Absolutely no chance. I was at the game among the Limerick support and 85 sounds about right. I remember commenting on how poor the home crowd was, especially considering it was a top-of-the-table game, and after having a quick look through the stand there was no more than 60 there, tops. At our side we had about 30 people, tops. I can't see Dublin City lasting much longer because they have no permenant home and no real identity. Seery would be better off heading down the country and starting up a team in a town\county where he might get a return for his money. To be up at the business end of the able and only command a crowd of that size is absolutely shocking. If ye were down at the bottom ye'd still probably get the same numbers :eek:

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

In the fifties and early 60s crowds in the LOI were huge. Nothing unusual to get 20,000 for Rovers v Drums or Rovers v Waterford

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Thats two games a season.
Hibs used to get a few huge gates as well, Maybe Waterford, but these attendances were the exception, not the norm.
Average crowds were a lot higher then though, anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000......

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Originally Posted by Shelsman

'The Star' reported today that there were only 85 people at the Dublin City vs Limerick game..... :eek:

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Does that include players/management/Rocky Seery?

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Originally Posted by seansouth

And don't forget Cork City get an average gate of 1.5 million for every game at Turners X, well according to some of their reports they do.

So that evens out the average a fair bit I'd say.

:D

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Shels bring it down a bit with their three men and a failed boxer!

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

The population of England is about 50 million. The population of the 27 counties is about four million. You have to take that into account when looking at these numbers.

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Which 27 counties would that be.......? You including 'Free Derry' in that ? :D

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

The population of England is about 50 million. The population of the 27 counties is about four million. You have to take that into account when looking at these numbers.

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The population of Ireland was far smaller in the 60's but I'm certain the crowds were higher.
Some of the pictures and footage I've seen of days gone by showed terraced grounds, bursting at the seams!

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Originally Posted by Peadar

The population of Ireland was far smaller in the 60's but I'm certain the crowds were higher.
Some of the pictures and footage I've seen of days gone by showed terraced grounds, bursting at the seams!

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Attendances were huge, becuase clubs were the pillars of their community. People went to games becuase it was cheap and it was somewhere to go with friends and family. it would be the only entertainment some people would have after a long hard week working. People were also less cynical and friendlier back then and it wasnt about standards of football or anything. it was about supporting the club where you were from. supporting the players they knew. playing for a league team back then was a huge thing. football clubs were basically social clubs, where everyone would get together and enjoy some time off without worry. it was a chance to basically forget their problems. at least for 90 minutes.

But combinations of overseas football being widely available now, failures by clubs to be leading players in their community, intense media coverage in anything but soccer , our own association all but ignoring eircom league, etc etc etc, have all combined to make football what it isnt today.

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Originally Posted by Peadar

A mere 4,554 spectators turned up to watch the Division One clash with Leeds United, and by all accounts the ones that failed to show didn’t miss much.

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Part timers....

Match of the Day started the trend of really following brit football according to those I know who were there at that time. There's a (lapsed) Rovers fan in here that'll reminisce about a packed Milltown and having to get a season ticket to guarantee he got into every game.

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Originally Posted by 4tothefloor

Absolutely no chance. I was at the game among the Limerick support and 85 sounds about right. I remember commenting on how poor the home crowd was, especially considering it was a top-of-the-table game, and after having a quick look through the stand there was no more than 60 there, tops. At our side we had about 30 people, tops. I can't see Dublin City lasting much longer because they have no permenant home and no real identity. Seery would be better off heading down the country and starting up a team in a town\county where he might get a return for his money. To be up at the business end of the able and only command a crowd of that size is absolutely shocking. If ye were down at the bottom ye'd still probably get the same numbers :eek:

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Spot on. Seems to me the only logic in this club is to lay artificial claim to the name as some sort of marketing wheeze.
Dublin City got no reason.

I read about that game before somewhere.

I think it was on the same night as the Liverpool - Dortmund Cup Winners Cup final which was live on TV and a bit of a novelty at the time.

Also the match had no significance in terms of league position etc. Hence the tiny crowd.

wimbledon drew a crowd of less than 4000 for an english premier league game in the mid 90s

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Originally Posted by anto eile

wimbledon drew a crowd of less than 4000 for an english premier league game in the mid 90s

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Wimbledon hold the record for smallest crowd at a senior league game in England full stop. Two seasons ago they attracted a tiny crowd to a Tuesday night fixture against either Rochdale or Rotherham. It was approx 1,400, from memory.

The sooner they implode in Milton Keynes the better....