Pitching In Isthmian Premier- stat watch- Attendances

When we feature attendances we like to do a little comparing and contrasting, but that's rather difficult when the last two seasons didn't end. But with help from Neil Pilcher at Folkestone, who has done much of the work you'll see here, we're going to share some lists of top attendances so far this season and then look at some averages- although to some extent with the latter, although we're not comparing eggs with oranges, we might be comparing hen eggs with duck eggs! We're starting at the top!

The Pitching In Isthmian Premier tends, as you might imagine, to have the highest attendances across the League- and it's top ten so far this season look like this:

2,101 Worthing vs Bognor Regis Town
1,148 Worthing vs Bowers & Pitsea
1,051 Lewes vs Horsham
1028 Worthing vs Corinthian-Casuals
839 Folkestone Invicta vs Enfield Town
836 Folkestone Invicta vs Worthing
802 Bognor Regis Town vs Carshalton Athletic
798 Worthing vs East Thurrock United
782 Folkestone Invicta vs Potters Bar Town
772 Folkestone Invicta vs Horsham

It's interesting to note that none of our clubs based in and around London feature in the top ten- or indeed very high in the list. Perhaps Sussex, which only has Brighton and Hove Albion and Crawley Town in the professional ranks, attracts more non league fans accordingly- and of course Folkestone Invicta are not only our top ranked Kentish Isthmian club but the nearest professional side is rather a long way away- although, from experience, you could probably still hear Steve Evans shouting at Gillingham from the seafront in Folkestone.

If we take a look at the averages in the division- and remember that we're only two months in before we draw any firm conclusions- they look like this:

Average Attendances in the Pitching In Isthmian Premier, Aug/Sept 21-22

Worthing 1,269
Folkestone Invicta 807
Lewes 750
Bognor Regis Town 711
Horsham 600
Enfield Town 530
Margate 463
Leatherhead. 428
Hornchurch 392
Carshalton Athletic 373

Now comes the interesting bit, if you like statistics. Again, this isn't really a scientific comparison, as we're comparing a full season average with four or five home matches, but this is how those stats compare with the last full season we had, 2018-19.

Average Attendances Pitching In Isthmian Premier, 2018-19

Worthing 908
Folkestone Invicta 460
Lewes 623
Bognor Regis Town 552
Horsham 180*
Enfield Town 407
Margate 500
Leatherhead 374
Hornchurch 229
Carshalton Athletic 389

* note- Horsham were in the South East Division and playing at Culver Road, Lancing- many miles from home.

If we look at the percentage increase/decrease between 2018/19 and the first two months of 2021/22, this is what we get, with the table changing a little in order:

Increase/decrease in attendances 2018-19 to 2021-22, Pitching In Isthmian Premier

Horsham- 233% increase
Folkestone Invicta- 75.43% increase
Hornchurch- 71.18% increase
Worthing- 39.76% increase
Enfield Town- 30.22% increase
Bognor Regis Town- 28.8% increase
Lewes- 20.39% increase
Leatherhead- 14.44% increase
Margate- 7.4% decrease
Carshalton Athletic- 4.11% decrease

It would be wrong to draw any firm conclusions from this table- and remember, not only have our clubs played a small number of home matches, but their average will also be skewed by whether the clubs visiting them have been those who traditionally bring large numbers of travelling fans- but it is worth patting Horsham, Folkestone Invicta and Hornchurch on the back for a moment!

Finally, and we'll include this table as we look at every division, here are the top twenty attended fixtures across the Pitching In Isthmian League for August and September 2021:

2,101 Worthing vs Bognor Regis Town (1)
1,214 Hastings United vs Whitehawk (2)
1,148 Worthing vs Bowers & Pitsea (3)
1,051 Lewes vs Horsham (4)
1,028 Worthing vs Corinthian-Casuals (5)
949 Hastings United vs Herne Bay (6)
852 Whitstable Town vs Herne Bay (7)
839 Folkestone Invicta vs Enfield Town (8)
836 Folkestone Invicta vs Worthing (9)
802 Bognor Regis Town vs Carshalton Athletic (10)
798 Worthing vs East Thurrock United (11)
797 Stowmarket Town vs Bury Town (12)
782 Folkestone Invicta vs Potters Bar Town (13)
772 Folkestone Invicta vs Horsham (14)
745 Bognor Regis Town vs Wingate & Finchley (15)
723 Lewes vs Cheshunt (16)
703 Lewes vs Hornchurch (17)
686 Enfield Town vs Cheshunt (18)
671 Binfield vs Bracknell Town (19)
658 Haywards Heath Town vs Burgess Hill Town (20)

Most of the stats courtesy of Neil Pilcher. Image from Marcus Hoare

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