Bostik League attendances continue to rise

October is over, and already our League Statistician Mike Wilson has crunched the numbers- and the news is good! Attendances for last month were almost sixteen per cent higher than at the same point last season, and eighteen per cent higher when that comparison is done over the first three months of this campaign.

Four of the top five crowds in the Premier Division happened in October. As you can see from the list below, the biggest by far was the two thousand, four hundred and seventeen that watched Dulwich Hamlet beat Needham Market 2-0 on Non League Day, and Market have the distinction of being involved in two of the top five, as do Billericay Town. The eight hundred and fifty five who watched Worthing return to Woodside Road for their match against Met Police begs the question of how high the average would have been had the Mackerel Men been able to play their home matches as scheduled during August and September, rather than moving them away from home or to Bognor Regis.

2417 Dulwich Hamlet V Needham Market 07.10.17.
1988 Billericay Town V Hendon 07.10.17.
855 Worthing V Metropolitan Police 14.10.17.
632 Margate V Tonbridge Angels 15.08.17.
607 Needham Market V Billericay Town 31.10.17.
603 Lowestoft Town V Billericay Town 15.08.17.
549 Tonbridge Angels V Tooting & Mitcham United 21.10.17.
525 Burgess Hill Town V Worthing 28.08.17.
523 Thurrock V Billericay Town 28.08.17.
514 Enfield Town V Harlow Town 28.08.17.

Overall, Hamlet lead the way with the highest average attendance of 1500, Billericay Town are in second place with an average of 1350, Margate have the third best average of 527, with Tonbridge Angels and Lowestoft next at 459 and 443 respectively.

Looking at statistics covering increase/decrease compared with last year, Billericay Town are the big winners, their attendances up a massive 138.9% since last season! Thurrock saw a 56% increase, whilst Brightlingsea Regent are up 46.3% and Dorking Wanderers 38.1%, which demonstrates conclusively that if you want to get ahead, get promotion or find a wealthy benefactor! Worthing have seen the biggest drop in attendances, but that is due to them not playing at home during August and September, whilst Kingstonian's move away from Kingston has seen their average drop by 25.8%.

In the North Division, the two matches between Canvey Island and AFC Sudbury brought the two highest crowds of the campaign so far, with the match by the seaside leading the way. Hertford Town, Grays Athletic and Aveley come in third, fourth and fifth- Aveley's beautiful Parkside is obviously being well used!

Canvey Island have the highest average attendance with 287, but praise goes to Aveley, who have an average of 279- up 224% on last season. Bury Town sit in third in the average league table with 278, whilst Grays Athletic have 244, and Heybridge Swifts sit in fifth with 237, a massive 94.5% above last season. Credit is also due to Haringey Borough, as their performances this season have seen their average rise by 166.1% to 157.

389 Canvey Island V AFC Sudbury 21.10.17.
384 AFC Sudbury V Canvey Island 12.08.17.
379 Hertford Town V Ware 30.09.17.
377 Grays Athletic V AFC Hornchurch 16.08.17.
354 Aveley V Bowers & Pitsea 12.08.17.
338 Bury Town V Maldon & Tiptree 24.10.17.
329 Heybridge Swifts V Maldon & Tiptree 28.08.17.
244 AFC Hornchurch V Romford 28.08.17.
230 Soham Town Rangers V Bury Town 28.08.17.
228 Mildenhall Town V Soham Town Rangers 12.09.17.

In the South Division, Guernsey still lead the way with the 743 who attended their opening day fixture with East Grinstead Town, with league-leaders Lewes involved in the matches which rank second and third.

Guernsey have the highest average attendance, too, with 644, followed by the Rooks with 431 and Hastings Utd with 371- although each of these figures are slightly down on last year. The biggest increase by far goes to Walton Casuals, who prove that there is no substitute for a home of your own by seeing a rise of 179.3%! Horsham, who are waiting for their own new ground to be built, show the opposite trend, 38.2% fewer travelling to Lancing as visited Gorings Mead during the last campaign.

743 Guernsey V East Grinstead Town 12.08.17.
699 Hastings United V Lewes 28.08.17.
480 Lewes V Molesey 30.09.17.
362 Carshalton Athletic V Ramsgate 30.09.17.
351 Hythe Town V Ashford United 16.09.17.
296 Walton Casuals V Horsham 09.09.17.
289 Ashford United V Carshalton Athletic 12.08.17.
269 Herne Bay V Ashford United 26.09.17.
253 Ramsgate V Hastings United 26.08.17.
242 Corinthian-Casuals V Carshalton Athletic 28.08.17.

Check back at the start of December for a review of the crowds for November!