January 5 – The first Premier League fixtures of the New Year, round 22 of the season, saw nine clubs report stadiums over 94% full. Only on the South coast where Southampton were having a generally miserable holiday period, did crowds dip below 90%.
West Ham again topped the table with only 112 seats left unfilled at the London Stadium. A rejuvenated Leicester City under former Saints manager Claude Puel, came second in the weekly ranking.
Even Burnley, who generally struggle to reach stadium capacity, reported a New Year attendance of 96.5% of their stadium capacity, for the visit of Liverpool.
The drop in the Saints crowd reflects the plummeting of their league position from mid-table safety to the edge of the relegation zone.
Saints fans shunning the visit of Crystal Palace missed two rare events. A goal to put them in the lead, and even more unusually scored by their profligate striker Shane Long. His first in 27 games, though it seems unlikely it will unlock a scoring streak going by this season’s performances.
Premier League clubs take a break from league action this week to focus in FA Cup ties, a time when lower league clubs can pick up the windfall of increased revenues from being drawn against the top tier powerhouses. Match day attendance revenues are shared for these games.
Saints will be swapping the banks of the River Itchen for the banks of the Thames with their visit to Fulham. They will be hoping their fortunes do not sink any further.
The Insideworldfootball attendance figures are taken from the official stadium capacities and the official reported match day attendances. No allowances are taken for seat restrictions due to safety reasons of media requirements.
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