Originally Posted by
EalingGreen
Here are the opening home attendances for each of the 12 clubs, played over the last week in August/first 2 weeks in September, followed by their seasonal averages to date (brackets):
Portadown v Glenavon: 1,422 (1,003)
Larne v Coleraine: 1,934 (1,875)
W'point v Ballymena: 160 (396)
Linfield v Crusaders: 2,048 (2,812)
Dungannon v Glentoran: 1,178 (503)
Cliftonville v Carrick: 1,054 (1,670)
Carrick v Warrenpoint: 230 (515)
Glentoran v B'mena: 1.920 (2,598)
Glenavon v Carrick: 615 (900)
Ballymena v Glenavon: 972 (1,269)
Coleraine v Ballymena 3,183 (2,176)
Only 4 of the 12 exceeded their average on their season opener.
Tbh in NI at least, the attractiveness or otherwise of the opposition looks to count for far more in boosting/suppressing crowds than the date/time of year, i.e. local derbies (Portadown, Coleraine); or one of the Big Two coming to town (Dungannon).