By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Premier League clubs may have dominated their lower league opponents in the FA Cup knockout this weekend, but their presence in the fourth round did deliver some much needed cash through the gates for their challengers.
With FA Cup gate money split between the two competing clubs (the winner takes all the prize money – £90,000 this round), Burnley came out the weekend’s biggest financial winners, sharing a 59,932 gate at the Emirates – a gate on a par with Arsenal’s average league home attendance. Burnley’s last home gate in the Championship was 15,214. The FA Cup contributed a potential windfall of £600,000.
MK Dons, Carlisle, Nottingham Forest and Colchester all had their usual home gates boosted, in some cases doubled, by the visit of Premier League visits of Chelsea, Everton, Watford and Spurs (see table).
But when it came to all Premier League fixtures, it seems fans’ appetite for the FA Cup was greatly diminished. Only Liverpool at home to West Ham managed to match their usual home league attendance.
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace fans were noticeable by their absence. Villa, who generally have been struggling to pull in fans in the league, hit a new low filling less than 50% of their stadium and recording more than 9,000 fewer fans than for their last home game.
Palace attendance similarly slumped to less than 70% of their stadium capacity, though unlike Villa who lost to Man City, Palace overcame Stoke to take their place in the last 16 where prize money doubles to £180,000.
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