League of Ireland 2016 Attendances - The Story So Far

153 games have been played in the 2016 SSE Airtricity League of Ireland campaign so far. Well, 152 games have actually been played but we have 153 results due to Athlone Town’s forfeited game against Waterford United.

 

Each week, Extratime.ie have gathered the official attendances as best we can. From the 152 fixtures played, we have 121 official counts, with 31 having to rely on estimates from our reporters. We’d like to thank the clubs for their assistance in providing figures. The breakdown of clubs we have had to estimate for is as follows:

 

 

The overall league attendance to date is 183,612 which averages out as 1,208 per game. Cork City have had the most pass through the Turner’s Cross turnstile (25,335) whilst struggling Athlone Town ranks lowest (1,233).

 

Cork City also have the highest average attendance (3,167) followed by Dundalk (2,464) and Shamrock Rovers (2,186). Athlone Town (176) sit at the foot of the average attendances with UCD (298) and Cobh Ramblers (333) completing the bottom three.

 



Cork City’s recent home clash against Dundalk holds the record for the highest league attendance (5,453) which takes over the lead from long time holder of that record Finn Harps whose opening game of the season against Derry City drops to second (4,195), with Cork’s home clash against Bohemians sitting in third (4,028).

 

The lowest attendance in 2016 was the home clash between Athlone Town and Shelbourne (128). This was a rescheduled game, played midweek, after the original was postponed due to floodlight failure.

 

The opening Gameweek had both the highest total of people attending (19,123) as well as, more accurately as a measure, the highest average (1,912). Gameweek 4 (1,573) is second followed by Gameweek 2 (1,553), Gameweek 3 (1,529) and then Gameweek 15 (1,461).

 



The Premier Division average has been on a mostly sliding scale since the first week. Opening with 2,598, it dropped dramatically in Gameweek 5 to 760 before recovering to hover between 1,052 and 1,461, with exceptions of Gameweek 11 (844), Gameweek 14 (881) and Gameweek 16 (916).

 

In the First Division, like the Premier, Gameweek 1 was the best (884). Since then there is no real pattern as it fluctuates from a high of 743 on Gameweek 4 to a low of 286 on Gameweek 16. When you include Limerick, who have an average attendance of 1,332, the division’s average is 508. Removing them from the mix drops the average division attendance to 388.

 

The 2016 SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Attendance Figures

Stats at a Glance

Total Attendance:

183,612

Premier Division Total:

155,661

Premier Division Average:

1,605

First Division Total:

27,951

First Division Average:

508

Highest Attendance:

Cork City v Dundalk (5,453)

Lowest Attendance:

Athlone Town v Shelbourne (128)

Highest Club Average:

Cork City (3,167)

Lowest Club Average:

Athlone Town (176)

Best Gameweek Average:

Gameweek 1 (1,912)

Worst Gameweek Average:

Gameweek 5 (760)

 

A breakdown of figures Gameweek by Gameweek

The graphic below shows each Gameweek and the associated figures. Where a game was cancelled, postponed and moved to a later date, they have not been included. The TOTAL column shows how many games were played that Gameweek. The rest should be clear.

 

 

Summed and Average Attendances Club by Club

On the left side of the graphic below you can see the count per club of the number of people who passed the turnstiles for that club’s home games. On the right, we have the average attendances.

 

 

A closer look at each Gameweek figures

A look at how each Gameweek total was reached, game by game, and the overall average, Premier Division average and First Division average for that Gameweek. The figures in red are estimates.