By Paul Nicholson
December 27 – Proof that the English love their Christmas football was shown on Boxing Day in the Premier League with eight out of 10 clubs filling their stadiums to more than 97% of capacity, two stadiums being more than 99% full and only one stadium being below 90% in occupancy.
In total more than 366,000 spectators filled an available 377,573 seats at the 10 games played. Of the 11,000 seats unfilled, over 5,000 of them were at Villa Park for the match between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace (see table).
While the rest of Europe’s major leagues are on their winter break, the English and the Scots are packing fixtures into their league schedules. The English Premier League clubs will play four times in the December 21 to January 1 period with fans happily packing themselves into stadiums for Christmas cheer and New Year hope.
Top of the occupancy league were Cardiff City who had just 71 seats unfilled in their 28,000 seater stadium for their Boxing Day 3-0 loss against Southampton.
Aston Villa were bottom of the occupancy stats, perhaps reflecting a disaffection for the team’s current loss of form (they have lost their last four matches) and their general failure to sparkle on the pitch despite hanging on to a mid-table position.
The unfilled seats at many stadiums were a consequence of season ticket holders unable to take up their seats. The seats would have been sold, just not filled on the day.
The other factor that can affect the stadium capacity is the sale of away supporter tickets. Generally holiday fixtures are scheduled to keep distances for travelling fans manageable.
Premier League Attendances
Source: Insideworldfootball.com
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