Boom time in England as footie fans flock to the games

The emergence of "a new generation" of football fans has put English soccer on its way to a record-breaking season.

Across all four divisions - Premier League, Championship and Leagues One and Two - the average crowd is on course to exceed 15,000 for the first time in more than 50 years.

The biggest rise is in the second tier, the Championship, where crowds are at their highest level since 1954, partly because so many "big" clubs are in the division this season.

Another factor, say club officials, is the number of children being attracted to their local clubs rather than supporting a glamorous Premier League team.

Of the 24 Championship clubs, 15 have competed in European football, and the best supported of them, Newcastle United, are attracting more than 51,000 to home games.

story_article_left1

Football League crowds have never been so high since the Premier League started in 1992. Even without Newcastle's remarkable support, Championship crowds are significantly higher than last season. The latest figure from the League is 19876 in the Championship, up 13% on last season.

Leagues One and Two are also heading for increases on last season.

"We have created a new generation of football supporters," said Paul Barber, a director of the English Football League (EFL) and chief executive of Brighton & Hove Albion, one of the favourites for promotion to the Premier League - in which they have never played.

The average attendance at their stadium, opened in 2011, is more than 27,000.

Barber, who had senior roles at the Football Association, Tottenham Hotspur and Vancouver Whitecaps before taking charge at Brighton, said: "The way fans are treated now is better than ever - the way clubs respond to them, engage with them. The number of under-18s watching is rapidly growing.

"I sometimes get upset when fans dismiss modern football. The past was a hell of a lot worse. It's the depth of English football that really impresses people. Things combine over a generation and we have created something people admire the world over." It is a far cry from the low point in the 1980s. Hooliganism and racism blighted football, and record low attendances were registered across all four divisions between 1984 and 1986.

The many factors that have contributed to the Championship crowds, said Barber, included high quality football, entertaining players from abroad, better coaching, improved development of local talent, new stadiums, a safe family-friendly environment, good pitches, and engagement with communities.

Most of those improvements have been funded by television rights deals and payments to the lower divisions from the Premier League, the biggest commercial success in world football.