April 4 – Round 32 of Premier League fixtures after the international break delivered near capacity crowds in eight of ten home fixtures but at Aston Villa despair found a new level on Saturday.
Six clubs recorded more than 99% of their stadiums capacity full with all clubs bar Villa over 90%.
Villa managed to fill only 72% of their stadium for the visit of Chelsea, normally a club who are a big draw wherever they play. Villa, who keep telling everyone they are a ‘big’ club and who commentators are already saying will return straight back to the Premier League the season after next, may have to reassess that ‘big’ tag.
Of 18,884 empty seats out of a total 407,438 available, 11,688 of them were at Villa Park. Contrast this to just 94 unfilled seats at Stoke City.
Manchester United – who are rumoured to have plans to extend their stadium capacity to over 80,000 – and Arsenal continue to impress in terms of efficiency in using all available seats in much larger stadia than other Premier League teams. They had just 390 and 451 empty seats respectively.
Sunderland are creeping up the capacity percentages again as the side battles to stay in the Premier League. They have a chance of staying up and the fans have not completely lost the faith. Unlike Villa where there is no chance and no hope anywhere to be seen.
Round 32 premier League attendance stats
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