Attendances 2024

[nigel-harps1954]

And official attendance for every game has now been provided.

PREMIER DIVISION

Bohs - 4,241 (4,243 {2023}; 3,209 {2022};2,878{19}; 2,148; 2,006; 1,627; 1,724; 1,395; 1,597; 1,496; 1,488)
Derry - 2,875 (3,336; 3,184; 2,049; 2,297; 1,517; 1,563; 1,124; 1,106; 1,446; 1,460; 2,135)
Drogheda - 2,023 (1,916; 1,941; 721 FD; ; 377 FD; 850; 583 FD; 813; 1,064; 817; 977; 811)
Dundalk - 2,419 (2,636; 2,689; 2,775; 2,738; 2,674; 2,738; 3,158; 2,534; 1,997; 949; 1,355)
Galway - 3,014 (2,018 FD; 2,081 FD; 780 FD; 746 FD; 1,376; 1,169; 1,290; 975 FD)
Pat's - 4,402 (4,232; 3,489; 1,919; 1,621; 1,504; 1,088; 1,321; 1,386; 1,687; 1,474; 1,346)
Rovers - 6,071 (6,109; 5,379; 3,384; 2,749; 2,809; 2,041; 2,890; 2,269; 2,763; 3,127; 3,779)
Shels - 4,262 (3,393; 2,913; 1,071 FD; 654 FD; 496 FD; 554 FD; 596 FD; 713 FD; 1,114; 1,187; 781 FD)
Sligo - 2,858 (2,555; 2,166; 1,995; 1,853; 1,717; 1,750; 1,750; 1,959; 2,342; 3,007; 2,103)
Waterford - 2,733 (1,833 FD; 1,705 FD; 1,496; 2,329; 1,550 FD; 314 FD; 460 FD; 470 FD; 478 FD; 453 FD; 466 FD)

FIRST DIVISION

Athlone - 642 (872; 307; 382; 130; 154; 156; 314; 653 PD; 754; 271; 200)
Bray - 644 (663; 482; 773; 643 PD; 966 PD; 957 PD; 769 PD; 718 PD; 891 PD; 965 PD; 1,121 PD)
Cobh - 731 (1,020; 872; 268; 236; 358; 403; 366; 223; 439; 2008 - 1,122 PD; 681)
Cork - 2,881 (3,666 PD; 3,517; 2,505 PD; 4,245 PD; 4,559 PD; 2,533 PD; 3,263 PD; 3,777 PD; 1,965 PD; 2,786 PD; 2,128)
Harps - 1,023 (1,154; 1,293 PD; 1,154 PD; 708; 1,202 PD; 1,216 PD; 784; 449; 479; 429; 433; 644)
Kerry - 610 (784)
Longford - 450 (679; 500; 610; 449; 342; 488 PD; 803 PD; 567; 379; 365; 315)
Treaty - 1,060 (642; 695)
UCD - 336 (809 PD; 953 PD; 739 PD; 365; 236; 297; 216; 397 PD; 487 PD; 506 PD; 558 PD; 610 PD)
Wexford - 556 (689; 445; 235; 181; 338; 585 PD; 553; 331; 227; 302; 216)

PREMIER AVERAGE: 3,490 (3,289; 2,687; 2,185; 2,170; 1,902; 1,476; 1,681; 1,502; 1,566; 1,630; 1,547)
FIRST DIVISION AVERAGE: 894 (1,035; 1,193; 586; 413; 477; 476; 486; 495; 391; 372; 578)

OVERALL AVERAGE: 2,192 (2,162; 2,051; 1,500; 1,249; 1,387; 1,117; 1,249; 1,160; 1,140; 1,125; 1,110)


OVERALL PREMIER ATTENDANCE: 628,157 (592,093; 486,365; 393,238; 316,515; 376,627; 292,204; 332,805; 297,334)
OVERALL FIRST ATTENDANCE: 160,964 (186,369; 178,000; 79,115; 55,756; 53,461; 52,807; 54,474; 55,408)

OVERALL COMBINED ATTENDANCE: 789,121 (778,462; 664,365; 472,353; 372,271; 430,088; 345,011; 387,279; 352,742)

[nigel-harps1954]

Top attendances Premier:

Shamrock Rovers v Bohemians - 29th March - 10,094
Shamrock Rovers v Waterford - 1st November - 9,522
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne - 24th May - 8,276

Top attendances First:

Cork City v Kerry - 16th February - 5,603
Cork City v Wexford - 18th October - 4,268
Cork City v Cobh Ramblers - 5th April - 3,619


Each teams best and worst attendance in Premier Division:

Bohemians:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 1st September - 4,436
Worst - v St Pat's - 14th October - 3,761

Derry City:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 20th September - 3,382
Worst - v Waterford - 3rd June - 2,084

Drogheda United:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 18th October - 2,357
Worst - v Galway United - 23rd September - 1,618

Dundalk:
Best - v Galway United - 23rd February - 3,122
Worst - v Sligo Rovers - 4th March - 1,663

Galway United:
Best - v Sligo Rovers - 25th October - 4,323
Worst - v Drogheda United - 13th June - 1,668

St Pat's Athletic:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 4th April & v Bohemians - 28th June - 5,015
Worst - v Drogheda United - 1st September - 3,022

Shamrock Rovers:
Best - v Bohemians - 29th March - 10,094
Worst - v Galway United - 25th August - 3,017

Shelbourne:
Best - Six Separate Games - 4,755 sell out.
Worst - v Waterford - 17th May - 3,586

Sligo Rovers:
Best - v Derry City - 24th February - 4,317
Worst - v Waterford - 3rd May & v Bohemians 17th May - 2,087

Waterford:
Best - v Shelbourne - 16th February - 4,390
Worst - v Drogheda United - 11th October - 2,030

[LTFC]

That is fantastic work Nigel, fair dues.

So if we took the best crowd of each of the top 8, and same for Cork, and Drogs or Bray around the same...with a bit of thought we could get close to 50k attending first 2 rounds of fixtures next season..think its something they should aim at. This would be my take on it.

Waterford V Cork 4.5k
Derry V Rovers - with new stand 4.5k
Bohs v Sligo 4.5k
Galway V Pats 4.5k
Shels V Drogs/Bray 4.5k

Week 2
Rover V Bohs 10K
Cork V Shels 6k
Sligo V Galway 4.5k
St Pats V Waterford 5k
Bray/Drogs V Derry 2.5k

[EalingGreen]

And official attendance for every game has now been provided.
PREMIER AVERAGE: 3,490 (3,289; 2,687; 2,185; 2,170; 1,902; 1,476; 1,681; 1,502; 1,566; 1,630; 1,547)

Even if they've "plateaued" since last season, those figures are impressive when set against where they were a few seasons ago, with future planned stadium upgrades and capacity enlargement at a number of grounds promising further increases, I think?

Meanwhile, it's very curious that IL Premiership crowds have shown almost the exact same percentage growth over the last few seasons, plus a similar plateauing this season from last.

So far this season, the IL Prem is averaging 1,594, which I think stands up well against those in the LOI PD, since ours covers 12 teams (the two bottom placed teams, Carrick and Loughgall, also have the lowest crowds), with no top tier team from our second city (you-know-who )

FIRST DIVISION AVERAGE: 894 (1,035; 1,193; 586; 413; 477; 476; 486; 495; 391; 372; 578)

The NIFL doesn't publish the figures for our Championship, which is probably not coincidental, since I doubt they're anywhere near those figures.

[LTFC]

Top attendances Premier:

Shamrock Rovers v Bohemians - 29th March - 10,094
Shamrock Rovers v Waterford - 1st November - 9,522
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne - 24th May - 8,276

Top attendances First:

Cork City v Kerry - 16th February - 5,603
Cork City v Wexford - 18th October - 4,268
Cork City v Cobh Ramblers - 5th April - 3,619


Each teams best and worst attendance in Premier Division:

Bohemians:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 1st September - 4,436
Worst - v St Pat's - 14th October - 3,761

Derry City:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 20th September - 3,382
Worst - v Waterford - 3rd June - 2,084

Drogheda United:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 18th October - 2,357
Worst - v Galway United - 23rd September - 1,618

Dundalk:
Best - v Galway United - 23rd February - 3,122
Worst - v Sligo Rovers - 4th March - 1,663

Galway United:
Best - v Sligo Rovers - 25th October - 4,323
Worst - v Drogheda United - 13th June - 1,668

St Pat's Athletic:
Best - v Shamrock Rovers - 4th April & v Bohemians - 28th June - 5,015
Worst - v Drogheda United - 1st September - 3,022

Shamrock Rovers:
Best - v Bohemians - 29th March - 10,094
Worst - v Galway United - 25th August - 3,017

Shelbourne:
Best - Six Separate Games - 4,755 sell out.
Worst - v Waterford - 17th May - 3,586

Sligo Rovers:
Best - v Derry City - 24th February - 4,317
Worst - v Waterford - 3rd May & v Bohemians 17th May - 2,087

Waterford:
Best - v Shelbourne - 16th February - 4,390
Worst - v Drogheda United - 11th October - 2,030

PREMIER AVERAGE: 3,490 (3,289; 2,687; 2,185; 2,170; 1,902; 1,476; 1,681; 1,502; 1,566; 1,630; 1,547)

Really is amazing that the smallest crowd of the season at a Premier League game of 1618 is around the average of those last 6 seasons, 2011-2017

[exiled_gufc_fan]

Is there weekend vs Monday averages? Apart from one Monday fixture our other Monday' seemed a lot less.

[nigel-harps1954]

Is there weekend vs Monday averages? Apart from one Monday fixture our other Monday' seemed a lot less.

There would be, but it's way too much effort. Definitely a marked drop for any games outside the 7:45pm Friday slot, or Saturday in Sligos case.

[nr637]

Just on the growth of LOI attendances, I was thinking what are areas where more fans could be attracted to Premier clubs games.

Some teams like Bohs & St. Pats are definitely restricted by their ground capacity when big games are in demand. Bohs are limited with space and could add any where up to another 2000+ to their home game average of over 4,000+ if it was available according to club sources.

Pity the Tramway terraced end could not be open in some way with a restricted amount just like the Ballybough end at Tolka. Likewise Richmond Park with its capacity of about 5,000 always seems to need extra space to facilitate more demand for certain games, but re-development is their only option here.

Shelbourne on the other hand have increased their home attendances by improving areas of Tolka Park within the H & S regulations. If they could now get the West Stand open again they could really offer more improvements to fans.

While Shamrocks have plenty of capacity to help increase their average numbers and now newly promoted Cork City have plenty of space in TC to generate a decent average attendance!

Derry will have a great opportunity now to increase their average with the new North terrace stand available for the new season,

Drogheda are really restricted with ground space.
Sligo have plenty of space but need the Railway end seating to be covered to offer more fans an option.
Galway have options to increase their average while a new stand at the Dyke Road end would be an option.
Waterford have plans to increase capacity at the RSC after agreeing a 50 year contract with Waterford C & CC., covered terracing behind each goal ends is now the more likely option.

If Bray were promoted how best could they improve their average, maybe covering for the open terrace on the Railway seafront side!

Anyone club fans with further insight or ideas !

[yurt]

Galway have options to increase their average while a new stand at the Dyke Road end would be an option.

Anyone club fans with further insight or ideas !

Capacity of EDP was close to 6k before the 2021 season. Was reduced due to an engineering report suggesting that most of the standing room wasn't safe with the amount of exits from the stadium. Apparently could be possible to bump up the capacity again to closer to 6k with some relatively straightforward work on additional turnstiles.

I doubt the club is in too much of a rush to increase capacity. The 4300 is a perfect size for where we are for next season at least. Selling out a few games a season and the averaging 3k in a 4.5k stadium seems like an ok place to be.

I would be very pleasantly surprised but I really can't see a third stand being built in EDP in the next 20 years.

[redobit]

Sligo have plenty of space but need the Railway end seating to be covered to offer more fans an option.

Anyone club fans with further insight or ideas !

Its something Rovers fans have always said about the Railway end, it badly needs covering. On a bad weather evening you can see the attendance fall off, the Treacy stand fills up quick these days and if you dont want to go the Jink (its in poor nick and views are poor) then your are left out in tbe rain on the Railway.

Of course all changed now with the allocation for the redevelopment. First up is to rip up the pitch which will be extended and that means the Jink will be knocked straight away. So putting a roof on the Railway will be required early too. A roof on Railway will help with atmosphere too Id say. Im guessing the Forza lads will go behind the goals and a new roof will help with noise and more fans will koin in with signing. There'd be a fair few older Shed end lads in the Railway who will join in with chants.

Our attendance will drop to max. 3100 ish during construction.

[dundalkfc10]

Its something Rovers fans have always said about the Railway end, it badly needs covering. On a bad weather evening you can see the attendance fall off, the Treacy stand fills up quick these days and if you dont want to go the Jink (its in poor nick and views are poor) then your are left out in tbe rain on the Railway.

Of course all changed now with the allocation for the redevelopment. First up is to rip up the pitch which will be extended and that means the Jink will be knocked straight away. So putting a roof on the Railway will be required early too. A roof on Railway will help with atmosphere too Id say. Im guessing the Forza lads will go behind the goals and a new roof will help with noise and more fans will koin in with signing. There'd be a fair few older Shed end lads in the Railway who will join in with chants.

Our attendance will drop to max. 3100 ish during construction.

Where would the away fans go?

[nr637]

Where would the away fans go?

Of course they will be put into the Jink Stand with its poor nick and views!

[Buller]

Meanwhile, it's very curious that IL Premiership crowds have shown almost the exact same percentage growth over the last few seasons, plus a similar plateauing this season from last.

So far this season, the IL Prem is averaging 1,594, which I think stands up well against those in the LOI PD, since ours covers 12 teams (the two bottom placed teams, Carrick and Loughgall, also have the lowest crowds), with no top tier team from our second city (you-know-who )

Oh that's interesting. Much of the increase in the LOI has been attributed to national academies and social media that are drastically increasing the reach of clubs into communities. Is there any explanation in the north for the rise?

[EalingGreen]

Oh that's interesting. Much of the increase in the LOI has been attributed to national academies and social media that are drastically increasing the reach of clubs into communities. Is there any explanation in the north for the rise?

Not close enough to express a firm opinion. Expect it's a combination? In no particular order:

Post-Covid bounce (though now at an end, hence the current plateau?);
More teams going f-t, meaning they're also professionalising their off-field operations;
More competition at the top (i.e. Linfield not running away with it every year);
Larne FC - currently 1,680 in a town of <20k - a nearly five-fold increase from a few years ago at the bottom of the second tier;
The Northern Ireland Football League (i.e. clubs) taking over the running of the competition from the IFA (like eg Prem Lge in England);
Far better media coverage, both Social but also Mainstream (esp) - most Friday evenings there's a game live on BBC NI, generating extra interest all round;
Reasonably priced tickets;
P&R freshening up the make-up of the Prem (eg Portadown relegated/Loughgall promoted, Warrenpoint down/Newry back up);
Lots of local Derbies - Belfast (obv), East Antrim (Ballymena/Carrick/Larne), Mid-Ulster (Ports/Glenavon/Loughgall/Dungannon);
Better facilities at a couple of clubs.

While I do think the Media coverage is v.important, I freely admit that some of the others may be overstated, even incorrect, but overall I don't think it 's all down to one or two individual reasons.

Meanwhile, a further thought occurs. The population of ROI is x 2.5 that of NI, meaning that on a simple per capita basis (admittedly always dubious), if the IL is getting just over 1,600 average, then the LOI "should" be pulling in an average of 4k.

While the IL Prem is 12 clubs, so that if you excluded Carrick and Loughgall (bottom of the lge and lowest crowds), the average would be 1,780, equating to just under 4.5k for LOI. And that's without a Senior club in our second city, while DCFC further boosts the LOI.

Anyhow, I don't mean to come across as bragging - God knows, the IL has plenty of other problems - but maybe we're not doing so badly after all, at least in some respects?

(And yeah, our Championship crowds are often paltry)

[pineapple stu]

A few attendances from UCD's Youth League run for the record -

UCD v Stjarnan - 376 (maybe 10 away fans)
Stjarnan v UCD - 175 (20 away)
2 Korriku v UCD - 2,080 (free entry to the national stadium; 12 away)
UCD v 2 Korriku - 463 (maybe 5 away)

[EatYerGreens]

Oh that's interesting. Much of the increase in the LOI has been attributed to national academies and social media that are drastically increasing the reach of clubs into communities. Is there any explanation in the north for the rise?

What has annoyed me about the coverage of the least week re Shels' winning the league (which btw was good for the game here IMO) is how many articles have claimed there has been a 'Duffer effect'. That he somehow has single-handedly contributed in a noticeable way to the increase in attendances across the league. Which is just bullsh!t really.

[EatYerGreens]

Meanwhile, a further thought occurs. The population of ROI is x 2.5 that of NI, meaning that on a simple per capita basis (admittedly always dubious), if the IL is getting just over 1,600 average, then the LOI "should" be pulling in an average of 4k.

While the IL Prem is 12 clubs, so that if you excluded Carrick and Loughgall (bottom of the lge and lowest crowds), the average would be 1,780, equating to just under 4.5k for LOI. And that's without a Senior club in our second city, while DCFC further boosts the LOI.

Anyhow, I don't mean to come across as bragging - God knows, the IL has plenty of other problems - but maybe we're not doing so badly after all, at least in some respects?

(And yeah, our Championship crowds are often paltry)

You keep doing this sort of thing. And it's pointless really.

There is no credible comparison between the status of football north and south on the island vis-a-vis population. Firstly because football in the north doesn't have anything like the level of competiiton from other sports that most of the south does. And secondly because the north is also much more urbanised than the south, and footbal is a predominantly urban sport.

You may as well declare that the Irish League appears to be doing well because no team in the USA gets 180,000+ at their soccer games, extrapolated out on the basis of comparative populations

[EalingGreen]

You keep doing this sort of thing. And it's pointless really.

Buller asked me for my thoughts on IL crowds.

There is no credible comparison between the status of football north and south on the island vis-a-vis population. Firstly because football in the north doesn't have anything like the level of competiiton from other sports that most of the south does.

"Anything like"? Unless you have some data, I'm calling that just an opinion, which is not proven.

For one thing, people don't tend to follow just one sport, to the exclusion of all others. While with ROI being rather wealthier than NI, more people have more disposable income to spend on watching games.

And secondly because the north is also much more urbanised than the south, and footbal is a predominantly urban sport.

Nonsense. You are confusing Geography and Demographics. For example, most people would say Australia is very sparsely populated, since the country is massive, but has a population of juat 26m. Yet it is actually one of the most urbanised countries in the world, since 86% of the population lives in cities and towns, with the great majority of those in just half a dozen cities on the coast.

Consequently, at close to 2m, the population of the Greater Dublin area alone is almost that of the whole of NI. And while Greater Belfast comprises c.640k, at fewer than 100k people, our second city, Derry, is smaller than Cork, Limerick and Galway.

So that just because ROI has large areas of very sparsely populated countryside, it doesn't also mean that the bulk of the population don't live in urbanised areas. In fact, 62% of the ROI population is urban, while the comparable figure for NI is 65%:
https://www.worldometers.info/world-...nd-population/
https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra...ns/ur_main.pdf

You may as well declare that the Irish League appears to be doing well because no team in the USA gets 180,000+ at their soccer games, extrapolated out on the basis of comparative populations

Why stop at the USA? Why not use eg India or China if you want to make really fatuous comparisons?

All I'm saying is that for all our other problems and deficiencies etc, IL attendances are actually quite healthy, at least when lined up against those of our nearest, comparable neighbour.

[EatYerGreens]

Buller asked me for my thoughts on IL crowds.

"Anything like"? Unless you have some data, I'm calling that just an opinion, which is not proven.

For one thing, people don't tend to follow just one sport, to the exclusion of all others. While with ROI being rather wealthier than NI, more people have more disposable income to spend on watching games.

Nonsense. You are confusing Geography and Demographics. For example, most people would say Australia is very sparsely populated, since the country is massive, but has a population of juat 26m. Yet it is actually one of the most urbanised countries in the world, since 86% of the population lives in cities and towns, with the great majority of those in just half a dozen cities on the coast.

Consequently, at close to 2m, the population of the Greater Dublin area alone is almost that of the whole of NI. And while Greater Belfast comprises c.640k, at fewer than 100k people, our second city, Derry, is smaller than Cork, Limerick and Galway.

So that just because ROI has large areas of very sparsely populated countryside, it doesn't also mean that the bulk of the population don't live in urbanised areas. In fact, 62% of the ROI population is urban, while the comparable figure for NI is 65%:
https://www.worldometers.info/world-...nd-population/
https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra...ns/ur_main.pdf

Why stop at the USA? Why not use eg India or China if you want to make really fatuous comparisons?

All I'm saying is that for all our other problems and deficiencies etc, IL attendances are actually quite healthy, at least when lined up against those of our nearest, comparable neighbour.

If you are seriously refuting the fact that there is more competiiton from GAA in the south - particulary in certain counties - than there is in NI, then there is no point even having this discussion with you. And that's before we get onto the strength of rugby in places like Limerick. And even in Galway, where it isn't uncommon to have Connacht and Galway United matches clashing.

Sure keep giving us all the condascending lectures anyway. #Nordsplaining

[ForeForeToo]

Not close enough to express a firm opinion. Expect it's a combination? In no particular order:

Post-Covid bounce (though now at an end, hence the current plateau?);
More teams going f-t, meaning they're also professionalising their off-field operations;
More competition at the top (i.e. Linfield not running away with it every year);
Larne FC - currently 1,680 in a town of <20k - a nearly five-fold increase from a few years ago at the bottom of the second tier;
The Northern Ireland Football League (i.e. clubs) taking over the running of the competition from the IFA (like eg Prem Lge in England);
Far better media coverage, both Social but also Mainstream (esp) - most Friday evenings there's a game live on BBC NI, generating extra interest all round;
Reasonably priced tickets;
P&R freshening up the make-up of the Prem (eg Portadown relegated/Loughgall promoted, Warrenpoint down/Newry back up);
Lots of local Derbies - Belfast (obv), East Antrim (Ballymena/Carrick/Larne), Mid-Ulster (Ports/Glenavon/Loughgall/Dungannon);
Better facilities at a couple of clubs.

While I do think the Media coverage is v.important, I freely admit that some of the others may be overstated, even incorrect, but overall I don't think it 's all down to one or two individual reasons.

Meanwhile, a further thought occurs. The population of ROI is x 2.5 that of NI, meaning that on a simple per capita basis (admittedly always dubious), if the IL is getting just over 1,600 average, then the LOI "should" be pulling in an average of 4k.

While the IL Prem is 12 clubs, so that if you excluded Carrick and Loughgall (bottom of the lge and lowest crowds), the average would be 1,780, equating to just under 4.5k for LOI. And that's without a Senior club in our second city, while DCFC further boosts the LOI.

Anyhow, I don't mean to come across as bragging - God knows, the IL has plenty of other problems - but maybe we're not doing so badly after all, at least in some respects?

(And yeah, our Championship crowds are often paltry)

I have been a long time lurker on this site before becoming a registered user. I have come to the conclusion that you exist on here to simply argue that the IL stacks up to thee LOI. You appear to have a gripe with the LOI bring a better league. Almost a fear of this being the case. I could not care about populations or where people live. The LOI is a better league. Statistics can be presented to bolster any opinion. The quality of football on the pitch and numbers in the stands cannot be argued with. The IL is inferior.