The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1895-96 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
Notice how Second Division Manchester City had a better average attendance than all clubs apart from the First Division’s third placed club Everton and League champions Aston Villa.
1895-96 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 16000 | Everton |
| 11875 | Aston Villa |
| 10000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 9725 | Bolton |
| 8700 | Sheff Wednesday |
| 8375 | Derby |
| 7600 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 7250 | Sheff Utd |
| 7200 | Newcastle (2) |
| 6975 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 6825 | Preston |
| 6600 | Stoke |
| 6275 | Wolves |
| 6100 | Sunderland |
| 6000 | Bury |
| 6000 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5825 | Small Heath |
| 5600 | WBA |
| 5575 | Liverpool (2) |
| 5575 | Nottm Forest |
| 5500 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 5475 | Burnley |
| 3500 | Grimsby (2) |
| 3125 | Notts County (2) |
| 2775 | Darwen (2) |
| 2725 | Crewe (2) |
| 2625 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2475 | Burton Wanderers (2) |
| 2400 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2075 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1775 | Rotherham Town (2) |
| 1725 | Burslem Port Vale (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1895-96 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
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Gary James' Football Archive 