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 1897-98 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.
1897-9 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 17550 | Everton |
| 15325 | Aston Villa |
| 12125 | Liverpool |
| 11800 | Sheff Utd |
| 11600 | Newcastle (2) |
| 10925 | Sunderland |
| 9475 | Sheff Wed |
| 9050 | Derby |
| 8600 | Notts County |
| 8300 | Bolton |
| 8050 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 8000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 7875 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 7425 | Nottm Forest |
| 6950 | WBA |
| 6925 | Wolves |
| 6825 | Stoke |
| 6200 | Preston |
| 6125 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 5900 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5400 | Small Heath (2) |
| 5200 | Bury |
| 3825 | Burnley (2) |
| 3525 | Grimsby (2) |
| 3325 | Luton (2) |
| 2950 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2825 | Walsall (2) |
| 2600 | Darwen (2) |
| 2300 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2250 | Gainsborough Trinity (2) (2) |
| 2050 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1825 | Blackpool (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 1897-98 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
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Gary James' Football Archive 