Attendances at
English Premier League games are down by an average of 920 fans per game this season, according to an investigation by Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
The biggest losers are
Newcastle, with a drop-off of 4,631 fans per game with
Sunderland also badly hit at 3,010 down.
Blackburn Rovers, Everton and
Wigan Athletic all suffered drops of more than 1,000.
The league average is almost 1,000-a-week down from last season’s 50-year record of 36,076 — though this season’s figure is slightly distorted after
Manchester United’s home game with
Fulham in August was postponed due to
UEFA Super Cup commitments.
Nevertheless, even the English and European champions are feeling the pinch of the global economic crisis having failed to sell out Old Trafford’s 76,180 seats for any game this season.
The investigation revealed that as of Wednesday none of the weekend’s fixtures were sold out, even tomorrow’s high-profile clashes when
Chelsea play
Arsenal and
Manchester City take on Manchester United.
Attendances are also down in the Third and Fourth Divisions, with the Second Division bucking the trend with a slight increase, the Telegraph said yesterday.
Liverpool and
Everton have announced slight cuts in ticket prices as a result of the government’s decision to cut Value Added Tax (VAT) and the rest of the
Premier League clubs have pledged to follow suit.
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