extratime.ie League of Ireland Attendance Report 2018

• Gareth Penrose
• Mon, Feb 11 2019




2018 saw Dundalk do the double, Derry City land the League Cup whilst UCD and Finn Harps escaped the clutches of the First Division as they exchanged places with Bray Wanderers and Limerick in the Premier Division. Cork City had to console themselves with a third President’s Cup win in a row as well as retaining the Munster Senior Cup. Shelbourne also retained the Leinster Senior Cup. But how did the clubs fare when it came to league attendances?

441,466 spectators* turned up across 315 matches in 2018 to watch what the SSE Airtricity League had to offer. Compared to our 2017 totals, that is an increase of 10,762, albeit there were five more games played this season. It’s a 97,221 increase on 2016.

It’s easy to celebrate an increase in attendances when you look at these figures in isolation but these totals don’t really tell the whole story of SSE Airtricity League of Ireland attendances so below is a comprehensive breakdown of the facts and figures surrounding the games and their attendances.  

*Source of attendance figures:

287 of the 315 games are official figures with estimates for the remaining 28 matches where extratime.ie were not able to source official figures for these games. 18 of the 20 clubs provided a full set of official attendance figures. The entire set of Derry City home games are estimated with the only other estimates coming from a number of Limerick home matches. Our figures for these games are a combination of estimates from club officials, extratime.ie reporters and other members of the media. Should we get the official figures in the future, we will update this article.

Highlights and Lowlights – The Facts and Figures

The 441,466 people came through the turnstiles across 315 league games in 2018 giving an average gate per game of 1,401 which is an increase of 12 on 2017.

When you break that down across the two divisions, the Premier Division drew 384,520 spectators with an average of 2,136. The First Division had a much smaller piece of the pie with 56,946 turning up – an average of 422.

The Premier Division saw an increase of 7,158 on 2017 with the average per game increasing by 230. The First Division also saw an overall crowd increase of 3,604 on the previous year but there was also an increase in the number of games resulting in the average per game dropping by 54.

It is clear from the figures above of the gulf between the Premier Division and the First but when you look at the breakdown of the percentage of overall attendances per club it paints an even bigger chasm between the top few clubs and the rest.





In 2018, 49.31% of the total league audience came from only four clubs – 217,666 of the 441,466 turned up to only four grounds.

Overall Attendances

Cork City may have lost out to Dundalk on the pitch in 2018 but they continue to lead the way with their attendances. 74,183 people came to Turner’s Cross for their league campaign which represented 16.8% of the league’s total crowds.

Shamrock Rovers overtook Dundalk in 2017 and they remain second with 51,417 making the trip to Tallaght Stadium. The Hoops also slightly increased their percentage of the overall attendances from 11.05% in 2017 to 11.65% in 2018.

Dundalk had the third largest crowds of the season with 50,419 (11.42%) opting for Oriel Park. The newly promoted Waterford took fourth place with 41,647 (9.43%) journeying in the RSC in 2018.

Those four clubs shared almost 50% of the overall league attendance. On the other end of the scale, Athlone Town in toal across the whole season had only 1,735 (0.39%) fans watch their games at home. 2,632 (0.6%) turned up at Ferrycarrig Park to watch Wexford.





 

Percentage of Attendance per club
Team	2018	2017	2016
Cork City	16.80	16.94	12.5
Shamrock Rovers	11.65	11.05	9.5
Dundalk	11.42	10.68	12.7
Waterford	9.43	5.04	1.3
Bohemians	8.71	7.73	7.6
Derry City	8.50	5.92	7.1
Sligo Rovers	7.35	6.38	8.7
St. Patrick's Athletic	6.58	5.88	5.4
Limerick	3.75	6.35	4.6
Bray Wanderers	2.91	3.59	4.7
Finn Harps	2.25	4.72	6
Galway United	2.23	5.37	5.4
Shelbourne	2.07	1.62	2.2
Longford Town	1.45	1.11	2.3
Drogheda United	1.31	3.03	2.4
UCD	1.04	0.71	1.2
Cabinteely	0.84	1.10	1.4
Cobh Ramblers	0.72	1.10	1.6
Wexford	0.60	1.10	2.8
Athlone Town	0.39	0.59	0.6

Average Attendances

Cork City’s average attendance in 2018 was 4,121 which is a drop of 438 from the highs of the 2017 season. Despite the drop, they are still a distance ahead of the rest. Shamrock Rovers averaged 2,857 (up 58) with Dundalk following up on 2,801 (up 96). 

Eight teams averaged over 1,000 in 2018 compared to 11 teams in the previous two seasons. However six teams had an average over 2,000 compared to three in 2017 and 2016.

One of the possible reasons for this is the fact the Premier Division dropped to ten teams which mostly improved the top tier attendances.

Seven of the ten Premier Division teams improved their average from 2017. Cork City, Limerick and Bray Wanderers all suffered drops. The City decrease still left them top of the pile whilst Limerick and Bray had turbulent seasons that impacted their crowd-pulling power.

Seven of the ten First Division teams suffered drops in their averages from 2017. Shelbourne, Longford Town and UCD all improved but largely their gains were just recovering the losses they suffered between 2016 and 2017. There were no stand-out attendance getters in the First this year like we had in the guise of Limerick and Waterford in previous seasons. 

The most improved club average in 2018 was Waterford with an increase of 764. The biggest average fall was Limerick** as they saw their average drop by 691.

(** 10 of the 18 home attendances for Limerick are estimates therefore there is a potential degree of error to be associated with this figure)

League Totals and Averages
	Total	2018	2017	2016
Cork City	74,183	4,121	4,559	2,533
Shamrock Rovers	51,417	2,857	2,799	2,041
Dundalk	50,419	2,801	2,705	2,738
Waterford	41,647	2,314	1,550	277
Bohemians	38,446	2,136	1,958	1,627
Derry City	37,530	2,085	1,500	1,519
Sligo Rovers	32,453	1,803	1,717	1,752
St. Patrick's Athletic	29,047	1,614	1,583	957
Limerick	16,540	919	1,610	1,133
Galway United	9,860	758	1,359	1,169
Bray Wanderers	12,838	713	966	933
Finn Harps	9,917	708	1,269	1,210
Shelbourne	9,153	654	500	583
Longford Town	6,389	456	342	488
Drogheda United	5,788	413	815	583
UCD	4,584	353	220	317
Cabinteely	3,723	286	339	352
Cobh Ramblers	3,165	243	339	403
Wexford	2,632	188	340	455
Athlone Town	1,735	133	182	156

Best attended matches

Unsurprisingly Cork City dominate the Top 20 best attended games. Their 1-0 win over Dundalk in April drew the largest SSE Airtricity League crowd of the season with 6,672 coming through the turnstiles in Turner’s Cross. 12 of the Rebel Army’s 18 home games make it into the top 20 list.

Shamrock Rovers were the only other team to make the top ten and first feature in fourth place for the visit of Bohemians to Tallaght. For the Bohs 2-1 win over the home side in April there were 4,512 in attendance.

Dundalk make their first appearance in 11^th for the visit of Cork City (4,117). Waterford and Bohemians are the only other clubs in the top 20 with Waterford in 18^th (3,684 vs Cork City) and Bohs in 19^th (3,640 vs Shamrock Rovers).

Incredibly there was only one fixture in the top 20 that didn’t feature either Cork City or Shamrock Rovers. Sligo Rovers' October visit to Oriel Park on the last day of the season took 15^th spot (3,877).

 

Top 20 Attended games
Date	Home			Away	Att
27/04	Cork City	1	0	Dundalk	6,983
23/02	Cork City	2	0	Waterford	6,746
01/06	Cork City	3	0	Waterford	5,857
13/04	Shamrock R	1	2	Bohemians	5,768
12/03	Cork City	1	0	Shamrock R	5,361
13/04	Cork City	1	0	St Pats	5,275
21/09	Cork City	0	1	Dundalk	5,220
19/03	Cork City	3	0	Bohemians	5,135
17/08	Shamrock R	0	1	Bohemians	4,746
16/03	Shamrock R	1	0	St Pats	4,725
29/06	Dundalk	2	1	Cork City	4,534
18/05	Cork City	4	0	Bray	3,925
23/02	Shamrock R	0	0	Dundalk	3,844
19/08	Cork City	1	1	St Pats	3,837
09/10	Dundalk	5	0	Sligo	3,744
04/06	Cork City	4	2	Derry City	3,643
06/07	Cork City	0	0	Shamrock	3,628
06/04	Waterford	2	1	Cork City	3,622
16/02	Bohemians	3	1	Shamrock R	3,617
31/08	Cork City	1	2	Sligo	3,590

Worst attended matches

The top 10 lowest attendances are dominated by Athlone Town with only one other club, Cobh Ramblers, making an appearance. The lowest crowd of the season came in June as Wexford visited Athlone Town Stadium. Only 59 people were on hand to watch the game that Wexford had won before eventually losing it due to fielding an ineligible player for Athlone’s only “win” of the season.

 

Total number of games played: 315

Total League of Ireland 2018 Attendance: 441,466 (up 10,762 or 2.5% on 2017) 430704

Average gate for the 2018 season: 1,401

Average gate for Premier Division: 2,136 

Average gate for the First Division: 422

Total number of attendees in the Premier Division: 384,520

Total number of attendees in the First Division: 56,946

Largest Attendance: 6,672 – Cork City 1-0 Dundalk

Lowest Attendance: 59 – Athlone Town 0-1 Wexford (Athlone 3-0 win due to ineligible player)

Home wins in 2018: 148             

Away wins in 2018: 109

Draws in 2018: 58

Home Goals in 2018: 518

Away Goals in 2018: 380

 

SSE Airtricity League of Ireland - Danske Bank Premiership Mash-up

So how does the Danske Bank Premiership square up to the League of Ireland regarding attendances? Taking the Premiership 2017/18 season, we have compiled the full list of crowds per club and then done a comparison to the 2018 League of Ireland season. The figures for the Premiership are all official attendances.

Linfield topped the attendance charts up north with 42,855 and an average gate of 2,256 per game. That places them fifth highest when added to League of Ireland teams. Coleraine comes in next in ninth with Glentoran the third Premiership team to make the top ten.  

Crusaders (12^th), Glenavon (13^th), Cliftonville (14^th) and Ballymena United (15^th) all managed average attendances above 1,000. In total the top 15 attendances across both leagues is made up of eight League of Ireland teams and seven Premiership sides.

The lowest average attendance of the Northern Irish club sides, Warrenpoint (266), had a better average gate than Cobh Ramblers, Wexford and Athlone Town.

In total the Danske Bank Premiership drew a total crowd of 248,309 over 228 games with an average gate of 1,089. Their largest crowd of the season was the 26^th December clash of Glentoran and Linfield which saw 6,054 turn up for the Christmas clash.

 

Danske  / SSE Airtricity Combined
	No of Games	Total	Average
Cork City	18	74,183	4,121
Shamrock Rovers	18	51,417	2,857
Dundalk	18	50,419	2,801
Waterford	18	41,647	2,314
Linfield	19	42,855	2,256
Bohemians	18	38,446	2,136
Derry City	18	37,530	2,085
Sligo Rovers	18	32,453	1,803
Coleraine	18	30,638	1,702
Glentoran	19	30,683	1,615
St Pats	18	29,047	1,614
Crusaders	20	29,886	1,494
Glenavon	18	24,424	1,357
Cliftonville	18	24,101	1,339
Ballymena Utd	19	24,323	1,280
Limerick	18	16,540	919
Galway United	13	9,860	758
Bray Wanderers	18	12,838	713
Finn Harps	14	9,917	708
Shelbourne	14	9,153	654
Ards	21	10.473	499
Dungannon Swifts	19	9,153	482
Ballinamallard Utd	20	9,368	463
Longford Town	14	6,389	456
Drogheda Utd	14	5,788	413
Carrck Rangers	18	7,350	408
UCD	14	4,584	353
Cabinteely	13	3,723	286
Warrenpoint Town	19	5,055	266
Cobh Ramblers	13	3,165	243
Wexford	14	2,632	188
Athlone Town	13	1,735	133

 

Gameweek by Gameweek

For the purposes of this article we have created gameweeks based on date ranges. The ranges are included below.

 

Gameweek by Gameweek
W	Date Range	G	Total	Av	Prem Av	First Av
1	16 - 17 Feb	5	14,460	2,892	2,892	0
2	23 - 24 Feb	9	18,823	2,091	3,235	662
3	26 - 27 Feb	5	8,252	1,650	1,650	0
4	9 - 11 Mar	10	13,984	1,398	2,327	470
5	12 Mar	5	11,220	2,244	2,244	0
6	16 - 17 Mar	10	13,793	1,379	2,354	404
7	19 Mar	3	5,740	1,913	2,807	127
8	23 - 26 Mar	10	11,583	1,158	2,157	493
9	30 Mar	10	12,455	1,246	2,083	408
10	6 - 7 Apr	9	13,255	1,473	2,308	429
11	13 - 14 Apr	10	13,378	1,538	2,617	459
12	16 - 17 Apr	5	8,570	1,714	1,714	0
13	20 - 21 Apr	10	13,272	1,327	2,187	468
14	27 - 28 Apr	9	16,837	1,871	2,969	498
15	30 Apr	5	7,587	1,517	1,517	0
16	4 - 6 May	10	14,355	1,436	2,459	412
17	7 May	2	860	430	0	430
18	11 - 12 May	10	11,519	1,152	1,885	419
19	14 - 15 May	3	4,031	1,344	1,344	0
20	18 - 20 May	10	13,550	1,355	2,320	390
21	21 - 22 May	4	7,765	1,909	1,909	0
22	25 May	10	11,786	1,179	2,011	346
23	1 June	10	13,020	1,302	2,204	400
24	4 Jume	5	5,740	1,148	3,865	469
25	8 - 9 June	10	10,837	1,084	1,848	319
26	15 June	10	9,566	957	1,593	320
27	29 - 30 June	10	13,014	1,301	2,296	307
28	6 - 8 July	10	9,984	998	1,648	349
29	13 - 14 July	6	3,712	619	1,750	392
30	20 - 23 July	9	10,505	1,167	2,147	384
31	27 - 29 July	10	11,883	1,188	2,009	367
32	3 - 4 Aug	9	10,689	1,188	1,974	557
33	17 - 19 Aug	10	12,709	1,271	2,275	267
34	20 - 28 Aug	3	4,388	1,463	2,153	82
35	31 Aug - 1 Sep	10	11,509	1,151	1,761	541
36	14 - 15 Sep	8	10,431	1,304	1,920	688
37	21 - 22 Sep	10	12,158	1,216	2,024	408
38	25 Sep	1	3,176	3,176	3,176	0
39	5 - 6 Oct	5	11,363	2,273	2,273	0
40	12 Oct	3	7.037	2,346	2,346	0
41	19 Oct	5	9.474	1,895	1,895	0
42	22 Oct	2	1,221	611	611	0
43	26 Oct	5	10,105	2,021	2,021	0

 

Club by Club

Attendances in red are estimated.  

ATHLONE TOWN

It’s been quite a turbulent number of seasons for Athlone Town. The last three seasons has seen the midlands club finish last in the SSE Airtricity First Division. In 2016, they averaged 156 spectators per game. In 2017, they increased it marginally to an average of 182. 2018 has seen that drop to 133 per game with a total of 1,735 people turning up for Athlone’s 13 home games. To put that into perspective, 108 league games got more for a single game than Athlone’s full season tally. As per most seasons, the midlands derby against Longford Town drew the biggest attendance (220) with the first game after the mid-season break against Wexford their lowest (59).

 

ATHLONE TOWN
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/03	Athlone Town	1	3	UCD	125
19/03	Athlone Town	1	2	Cabinteely	127
30/03	Athlone Town	1	1	Finn Harps	119
13/04	Athlone Town	1	4	Cobh	125
04/05	Athlone Town	0	3	Galway Utd	291
11/05	Athlone Town	0	1	Drogheda	107
25/05	Athlone Town	1	1	Longford	220
08/06	Athlone Town	0	5	Shelbourne	114
29/06	Athlone Town	3	0	Wexford	59
13/07	Athlone Town	1	3	Cabinteely	135
27/07	Athlone Town	0	1	UCD	117
17/08	Athlone Town	1	3	Finn Harps	114
24/08	Athlone Town	1	3	Cobh	82
				TOTAL	1,735
				Average	133

BOHEMIANS

Bohemians have been steadily growing their average attendance over the last three years. In 2016, the club were averaging 1,627 per game. 2017 saw that increase to 1,958. This year the Dalymount club got an average gate of 2,136. Bohs have managed to join six other clubs in having an average gate over 2,000 this season. Unsurprisingly their best attended games were the two derby clashes with Shamrock Rovers. The opening day of the season 3-1 win over the Hoops saw 3,640 turn up at Dalymount. The 1-1 draw in May registered 3,466 spectators. The second game of the season against Derry City, which fell on a Tuesday, drew Bohs’ smallest crowd (1,183).

 

BOHEMIANS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/02	Bohemians	3	1	Shamrock R	3,640
27/02	Bohemians	0	1	Derry City	1,183
09/03	Bohemians	0	1	St Pats	2,814
16/03	Bohemians	2	2	Sligo Rovers	1,623
23/03	Bohemians	2	1	Bray	1,853
06/04	Bohemians	0	0	Limerick	1,674
20/04	Bohemians	0	2	Cork City	2,281
30/04	Bohemians	0	1	Waterford	1,540
18/05	Bohemians	0	2	Dundalk	2,241
25/05	Bohemians	1	1	Shamrock R	3,466
08/06	Bohemians	1	2	Derry City	1,722
29/06	Bohemians	1	0	St Pats	2,255
13/07	Bohemians	0	3	Sligo Rovers	1,750
20/07	Bohemians	6	0	Bray	1,631
03/08	Bohemians	5	0	Limerick	1,721
14/09	Bohemians	4	2	Cork City	2,279
05/10	Bohemians	1	3	Waterford	1,959
26/10	Bohemians	1	1	Dundalk	2,634
				TOTAL	38,446
				Average	2,136

BRAY WANDERERS

Bray Wanderers have had a couple of difficult seasons and this year they finally succumbed to relegation. Despite dropping to the first division, Bray fans may have a renewed sense of hope for their club with the arrival of new owners Tim and Niall O’Driscoll. They will be hoping to get the local community back behind the club and increase the numbers coming through the turnstiles in the Carlisle Grounds. Bray’s average crowd in 2018 dropped from the previous two seasons (2017 – 966, 2016 – 933) to 713, the lowest average attendance in the Premier Division. Their best attended game far outstrips the rest of their games. 1,850 was the official attendance for Shamrock Rovers visit in August. The early July visit of Sligo Rovers, which fell on a Sunday, drew their lowest crowd of the season (271).

 

BRAY WANDERERS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	Bray	1	2	St Pats	1,124
12/03	Bray	1	2	Sligo Rovers	384
30/03	Bray	0	4	Cork City	669
13/04	Bray	0	2	Dundalk	820
16/04	Bray	1	0	Shamrock R	645
27/04	Bray	0	1	Limerick	470
04/05	Bray	2	1	Derry City	319
11/05	Bray	1	3	Bohemians	911
14/05	Bray	2	2	Waterford	392
01/06	Bray	3	1	St Pats	685
15/06	Bray	0	0	Waterford	359
08/07	Bray	2	1	Sligo Rovers	271
27/07	Bray	1	3	Cork City	843
17/08	Bray	1	3	Dundalk	1,050
31/08	Bray	0	3	Shamrock R	1,850
21/09	Bray	0	2	Limerick	852
19/10	Bray	0	5	Bohemians	852
26/10	Bray	2	1	Derry City	342
				TOTAL	12,838
				Average	713

CABINTEELY

Cabinteely have settled into 6^th / 7^th position in the First Division over the last three seasons. In their first season they managed four wins from 28 games but last season saw the south Dublin side register ten victories in 2017 and nine wins in 2018. Despite their increased number of victories, their visitor count to Stradbrook has slightly decreased each season. In 2016, their average was 352 which dropped to 339 in 2017. In 2018, they averaged 286. The visits of Shelbourne to their ground was a crowd booster with both games drawing well over the season average - 608 and 577.

 

CABINTEELY
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	Cabinteely	0	1	Wexford	324
09/03	Cabinteely	0	1	Cobh	324
30/03	Cabinteely	3	2	Finn Harps	334
13/04	Cabinteely	2	0	Shelbourne	608
20/05	Cabinteely	1	2	Galway Utd	245
25/05	Cabinteely	2	0	UCD	201
04/06	Cabinteely	4	0	Athlone Town	168
08/06	Cabinteely	1	0	Longford Town	301
29/06	Cabinteely	0	1	Finn Harps	204
06/07	Cabinteely	1	2	Wexford	141
20/07	Cabinteely	2	0	Cobh	139
17/08	Cabinteely	2	2	Drogheda	157
14/09	Cabinteely	1	1	Shelbourne	577
				TOTAL	3,723
				Average	286

COBH RAMBLERS

Just like Athlone Town and Cabinteely, fellow First Division member Cobh Ramblers saw a downward trend regarding their average crowds in 2018. 243 was their average attendance to St Colman’s Park in 2018 which is a drop from 2017’s 339 and 2016’s 403. Visits by Galway United (375), Shelbourne (320) and Drogheda United (310) ranked highest. The 2-1 win over Wexford in July was their lowest recorded crowd (110).

 

COBH RAMBLERS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
17/03	Cobh	0	2	Finn Harps	279
30/03	Cobh	0	2	UCD	278
21/04	Cobh	1	5	Drogheda	310
05/05	Cobh	0	1	Longford Town	233
12/05	Cobh	1	0	Cabinteely	246
25/05	Cobh	0	3	Shelbourne	320
04/06	Cobh	0	0	Galway Utd	375
09/06	Cobh	2	1	Wexford	110
15/06	Cobh	1	0	Athlone Town	120
14/07	Cobh	1	2	Galway Utd	277
28/07	Cobh	0	1	Finn Harps	211
18/08	Cobh	2	2	UCD	234
22/09	Cobh	0	2	Drogheda	172
				TOTAL	3,165
				Average	243

CORK CITY

Cork City may have been beaten to the League and Cup this season but they are still by far the best supported team in the land. With an average gate of 4,121, they may be down on their 2017 numbers but they remain the only club with an average over 3,000. They also command 16.8% of the overall League of Ireland audience. Seven of their games were also in the Top 10 best attended games of 2018. The rest of the league has work to do if they want to rival the Rebel Army when it comes to attendances.

 

CORK CITY
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	Cork City	2	0	Waterford	6,443
12/03	Cork City	1	0	Shamrock R	4,483
19/03	Cork City	3	0	Bohemians	4,265
13/04	Cork City	1	0	St Pats	4,402
17/04	Cork City	1	0	Sligo Rovers	3,217
27/04	Cork City	1	0	Dundalk	6,672
05/05	Cork City	2	1	Limerick	3,516
18/05	Cork City	4	0	Bray	4,070
01/06	Cork City	3	0	Waterford	4,834
04/06	Cork City	4	2	Derry City	3,865
15/06	Cork City	1	0	Bohemians	3,604
06/07	Cork City	0	0	Shamrock R	3,749
23/07	Cork City	5	0	Derry City	3,572
19/08	Cork City	1	1	St Pats	3,926
31/08	Cork City	1	2	Sligo Rovers	3,626
21/09	Cork City	0	1	Dundalk	4,310
12/10	Cork City	3	0	Limerick	2,486
26/10	Cork City	5	1	Bray	3,142
				TOTAL	74,183
				Average	4,121

DERRY CITY

Unfortunately Derry City do not provide official figures but we have done our best to get a close-as-possible estimate on their crowd numbers as they moved back into the newly renovated Brandywell Stadium. Should we ever get official tallies, we will update this accordingly.

 

DERRY CITY
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
12/03	Derry City	5	0	Limerick	2,460
16/03	Derry City	5	1	Bray	2,460
30/03	Derry City	2	1	St Pats	2,460
13/04	Derry City	1	0	Waterford	2,650
16/04	Derry City	3	1	Bohemians	3,100
27/04	Derry City	0	0	Shamrock R	3,100
11/05	Derry City	0	0	Cork City	3,200
14/05	Derry City	1	4	Dundalk	2,500
21/05	Derry City	2	0	Bray	1,600
01/06	Derry City	0	2	Sligo Rovers	1,600
15/06	Derry City	0	4	Dundalk	2,300
06/07	Derry City	2	1	Limerick	1,100
27/07	Derry City	2	1	St Pats	2,200
03/08	Derry City	1	2	Sligo Rovers	1,750
17/08	Derry City	1	2	Waterford	1,600
31/08	Derry City	0	2	Bohemians	1,200
22/09	Derry City	0	1	Shamrock R	1,250
19/10	Derry City	0	3	Cork City	1,450
				TOTAL	37,530
				Average	2,085

DROGHEDA UNITED

Drogheda United made the play-offs this season but failed to overcome Finn Harps and will now spend another season in the First Division. Just like all the previously mentioned sides in this division, the Louth club saw their average crowds drop in 2018. Drogheda spent 2017 in the Premier Division with an average attendance of 815 so it is expected that their drop to the First would also result in a dip in crowd numbers. 2018’s average was 413 with the visit of Longford Town on the first day of the season registering as their best gate (627). Their lowest came with the visit of Finn Harps in July (222).

 

DROGHEDA UNITED
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
11/03	Drogheda	6	0	Athlone Town	374
23/03	Drogheda	2	2	Galway Utd	494
26/03	Drogheda	2	1	Finn Harps	382
06/04	Drogheda	2	0	UCD	471
13/04	Drogheda	1	1	Longford	478
27/04	Drogheda	1	1	Shelbourne	580
18/05	Drogheda	2	0	Wexford	351
01/06	Drogheda	2	0	Cabinteely	376
29/06	Drogheda	2	1	Cobh	258
06/07	Drogheda	0	1	Finn Harps	222
20/07	Drogheda	2	1	Athlone Town	359
03/08	Drogheda	2	2	Galway Utd	364
31/08	Drogheda	0	3	UCD	452
14/09	Drogheda	2	1	Longford	627
				TOTAL	5,788
				Average	413

DUNDALK

2018 was Dundalk’s year on the pitch having secured a League and Cup double. They finished third in the attendance charts though behind Cork City and Shamrock Rovers. For the past three seasons these clubs have been the heavy hitters when it comes to crowds however Dundalk seem to have plateaued a little. In 2016 they had an average of 2,738. In 2017 they had an average of 2,705 and this season they recorded 2,801. It will be interesting to see if the double will result in a boost to the attendances to push them over the 3,000 mark next season. Cork City’s visit in June drew their largest crowd (4,117) with the 8-0 hammering of Limerick recorded as their lowest (1,843).

 

DUNDALK
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/02	Dundalk	0	0	Bray	2,491
27/02	Dundalk	8	0	Limerick	1,843
09/03	Dundalk	1	0	Cork City	3,563
16/03	Dundalk	1	0	Waterford	2,215
30/03	Dundalk	3	0	Bohemians	3,263
06/04	Dundalk	2	1	Shamrock R	3,056
20/04	Dundalk	2	2	Derry City	3,191
30/04	Dundalk	5	0	St Pats	2,086
11/05	Dundalk	2	1	Sligo Rovers	2,134
21/05	Dundalk	2	0	Waterford	2.041
25/05	Dundalk	5	0	Bray	1,877
08/06	Dundalk	4	0	Limerick	2.276
29/06	Dundalk	2	1	Cork City	4,117
29/07	Dundalk	2	0	Bohemians	3,139
28/08	Dundalk	1	2	Shamrock R	2,657
25/09	Dundalk	3	2	Derry City	3,176
05/10	Dundalk	1	1	St Pats	3,417
19/10	Dundalk	5	0	Sligo Rovers	3,877
				TOTAL	50,419
				Average	2,801

FINN HARPS

One season in the First Division and the Harps have managed to escape its clutches at the first attempt. They will play Premier Division football in 2019 and should expect the crowd bounce associated with it. Harps had averaged 1,210 and 1,269 in the previous seasons but dropped to 708 in 2018 which is usually the pattern for relegated clubs. They never managed to break 1,000 this season but came close with their highest crowd of the season - 966 versus Galway United in August.

 

FINN HARPS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
09/03	Finn Harps	1	1	Shelbourne	935
23/03	Finn Harps	1	0	Wexford	734
20/04	Finn Harps	1	0	Cabinteely	594
04/05	Finn Harps	2	1	Drogheda	631
07/05	Finn Harps	1	0	Galway Utd	655
18/05	Finn Harps	0	1	Cobh	660
01/06	Finn Harps	4	0	Athlone Town	573
04/06	Finn Harps	2	4	Longford	545
15/06	Finn Harps	1	3	UCD	536
13/07	Finn Harps	3	0	Longford	637
20/07	Finn Harps	0	0	Shelbourne	842
03/08	Finn Harps	3	0	Wexford	957
31/08	Finn Harps	2	0	Galway Utd	966
22/09	Finn Harps	7	1	Cabinteely	652
				TOTAL	9,917
				Average	708

 

GALWAY UNITED

Just like Harps, the Tribesmen suffered relegation in 2017 but unlike the Donegal side, they will be condemned to another season in the lower tier. Galway had been making progress on their crowds over the last few seasons with averages of 1,169 and 1,359 in 2016 and 2017 respectively. This season it has dropped to 758. The campaign started strongly with 1,198 watching the 4-1 win over Athlone Town. It proved to be their best crowd and since then the trend was mostly downward and the next time Athlone came to visit in July, it turned out to be their lowest attendance of the season (435). 

 

GALWAY UNITED
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	Galway Utd	4	1	Athlone Town	1,198
16/03	Galway Utd	3	1	Cabinteely	725
30/03	Galway Utd	0	0	Longford	1,029
13/04	Galway Utd	4	1	Wexford	847
27/04	Galway Utd	3	0	Cobh	753
11/05	Galway Utd	2	0	UCD	845
25/05	Galway Utd	0	1	Drogheda Utd	838
08/06	Galway Utd	1	2	Finn Harps	734
29/06	Galway Utd	1	2	Shelbourne	708
06/07	Galway Utd	4	1	Athlone Town	435
27/07	Galway Utd	3	2	Cabinteely	581
17/08	Galway Utd	1	4	Longford	576
14/09	Galway Utd	1	1	Wexford	591
				TOTAL	9,860
				Average	758

 

LIMERICK

Unfortunately whilst Limerick started the season providing some attendance figures, from March the majority of the figures are estimated. We have tried to make contact with the club and should we get any updated official figures we will update this article.

 

LIMERICK
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
24/02	Limerick	1	1	Bohemians	2,225
09/03	Limerick	1	0	Bray	948
16/03	Limerick	1	1	Cork City	1,341
19/03	Limerick	0	1	Shamrock R	1,348
30/03	Limerick	0	2	Waterford	1,122
14/04	Limerick	1	2	Sligo Rovers	700
17/04	Limerick	0	3	Dundalk	700
30/04	Limerick	0	3	Derry City	703
11/05	Limerick	0	1	St Pats	800
21/05	Limerick	0	2	Cork City	978
01/06	Limerick	1	1	Bohemians	1,100
15/06	Limerick	0	2	Shamrock R	700
29/06	Limerick	2	1	Bray	500
27/07	Limerick	2	1	Waterford	1,040
17/08	Limerick	1	3	Sligo Rovers	650
31/08	Limerick	0	1	Dundalk	700
05/10	Limerick	0	1	Derry City	535
19/10	Limerick	0	4	St Pats	450
				TOTAL	16.540
				Average	919

 

LONGFORD TOWN

Longford are one of the few First Division sides to buck the trend and increase their average crowd this season. Having averaged 342 in 2017 they have moved up to 456 in 2018. The midlands club never bettered their opening day attendance of 575 in the 2-2 clash against Cobh Ramblers. Their lowest crowd came with the visit of Wexford in July as 333 turned up to watch the 3-0 win over the South-East club.   

 

LONGFORD TOWN
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
24/02	Longford Town	2	2	Cobh	575
10/03	Longford Town	3	0	Wexford	421
24/03	Longford Town	5	1	Athlone Town	521
07/04	Longford Town	3	0	Cabinteely	425
21/04	Longford Town	0	2	UCD	472
28/04	Longford Town	1	2	Finn Harps	458
19/05	Longford Town	1	1	Shelbourne	531
01/06	Longford Town	3	2	Galway Utd	410
15/06	Longford Town	1	0	Drogheda	335
07/07	Longford  Town	1	2	Cobh	420
21/07	Longford Town	3	0	Wexford	333
04/08	Longford Town	3	0	Athlone Town	492
01/09	Longford Town	4	1	Cabinteely	501
22/09	Longford Town	2	2	UCD	495
				TOTAL	6,389
				Average	456

 

SHAMROCK ROVERS

The Tallaght-based club have once more improved on their average gate this season and kept their hold on second place in the attendance charts. With an average crowd of 2,857, they remain ahead of Dundalk. They have also increased their share of the overall League of Ireland audience from 9.5% in 2016 to 11.05% in 2017 to 11.65% in 2018. They are also the only club to feature in the Top 10 best attended games outside of Cork City. Their best gates this season were unsurprisingly the Bohemians Dublin derby clashes - 4,512 in April and 4,150 in August. 

 

SHAMROCK ROVERS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	Shamrock R	0	0	Dundalk	4.065
26/02	Shamrock R	6	0	Bray	1,525
09/03	Shamrock R	6	1	Derry City	2,720
16/03	Shamrock R	1	0	St Pats	4,133
30/03	Shamrock R	1	0	Sligo Rovers	2,900
13/04	Shamrock R	1	2	Bohemians	4,512
20/04	Shamrock R	1	1	Limerick	1,964
30/04	Shamrock R	3	0	Cork City	1,931
11/05	Shamrock R	1	1	Waterford	2,379
22/05	Shamrock R	3	0	St Pats	3,016
01/06	Shamrock R	2	5	Dundalk	2,799
09/06	Shamrock R	5	0	Bray	1,588
29/06	Shamrock R	2	0	Derry City	2,845
27/07	Shamrock R	2	0	Sligo Rovers	2,825
17/08	Shamrock R	0	1	Bohemians	4,150
14/09	Shamrock R	5	0	Limerick	2,115
05/10	Shamrock R	0	0	Cork City	3,105
19/10	Shamrock R	3	1	Waterford	2,845
				TOTAL	51,417
				Average	2,857

 

SHELBOURNE

In 2017, Shelbourne averaged 500 spectators per game. The Tolka Park based club, who made the play-offs this year, will be pleased to have increased their average gate to 654 in 2018. Drogheda United’s July visit drew their biggest attendance of the season (787) whilst Cabinteely’s 0-0 draw a month earlier was their lowest (464) and the only time a Shelbourne home game dropped below 500.

 

SHELBOURNE
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/03	Shelbourne	3	2	Longford	682
23/03	Shelbourne	1	0	Cobh	602
06/04	Shelbourne	7	0	Athlone Town	667
20/04	Shelbourne	2	0	Galway Utd	761
04/05	Shelbourne	1	1	UCD	738
11/05	Shelbourne	0	0	Finn Harps	724
01/06	Shelbourne	4	1	Wexford	512
04/06	Shelbourne	1	1	Drogheda	787
15/06	Shelbourne	0	0	Cabinteely	464
13/07	Shelbourne	0	1	Drogheda	726
27/07	Shelbourne	6	1	Longford	764
03/08	Shelbourne	3	1	Cobh	561
31/08	Shelbourne	2	2	Athlone Town	631
22/09	Shelbourne	3	0	Galway Utd	534
				TOTAL	9.153
				Average	654

 

SLIGO ROVERS

Sligo Rovers registered a slight increase on their average attendance in 2018 compared to the last two seasons. Having recorded 1,752 and 1,717 averages in 2016 and 2017 respectively, they moved to 1,803 in 2018. After a drive to get people into the Showgrounds for the first game, they recorded 3,056 for their opener against Limerick. It was the last time they broke the 3,000 mark. Their lowest crowd of the season came in October and was the only time they dipped below 1,000. Bohemians Monday night visit to Sligo ended in a  1-1 draw that was witnessed by 879.

 

SLIGO ROVERS
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
17/02	Sligo Rovers	0	1	Limerick	3.056
23/02	Sligo Rovers	2	1	Derry City	2,319
26/02	Sligo Rovers	1	4	Cork City	1,842
09/03	Sligo Rovers	1	2	Waterford	1,589
24/03	Sligo Rovers	0	2	Dundalk	2,586
07/04	Sligo Rovers	0	2	Derry City	1,873
21/04	Sligo Rovers	0	0	St Pats	1,473
30/04	Sligo Rovers	2	1	Bray	1,327
05/05	Sligo Rovers	0	2	Bohemians	2,033
19/05	Sligo Rovers	0	0	Shamrock R	1,572
25/05	Sligo Rovers	0	0	Limerick	1,438
09/06	Sligo Rovers	0	2	Cork City	1,793
30/06	Sligo Rovers	2	3	Waterford	1,762
20/08	Sligo Rovers	0	2	Dundalk	1,649
15/09	Sligo Rovers	1	2	St Pats	1,536
06/10	Sligo Rovers	2	1	Bray	2,347
22/10	Sligo Rovers	1	1	Bohemians	879
26/10	Sligo Rovers	2	0	Shamrock R	1379
				TOTAL	32,453
				Average	1,803

 

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

In 2016, the Pats average gate was below the 1,000 mark (957) but the last two seasons has seen that jump up. In 2017, they averaged 1,583 before mildly improving on that total in 2018 with 1,614. The 2-0 win over Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers in May drew their largest gate (2,918) whilst Sligo Rovers' 3-0 win in June was their lowest (1,003).

 

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/02	St Pats	2	3	Cork City	2,771
12/03	St Pats	0	0	Dundalk	1,609
23/03	St Pats	1	0	Limerick	1,178
06/04	St Pats	5	0	Bray	1,252
16/04	St Pats	1	0	Waterford	1,358
27/04	St Pats	2	2	Bohemians	2,429
04/05	St Pats	2	0	Shamrock R	2,918
15/05	St Pats	2	0	Sligo Rovers	1,139
18/05	St Pats	5	2	Derry City	1,762
25/05	St Pats	1	3	Cork City	1,530
15/06	St Pats	0	3	Sligo Rovers	1,003
06/07	St Pats	1	3	Dundalk	1,290
20/07	St Pats	2	1	Limerick	1,005
03/08	St Pats	3	0	Bray	1,146
31/08	St Pats	3	0	Waterford	1,428
22/09	St Pats	1	3	Bohemians	2,105
12/10	St Pats	0	1	Shamrock R	2,064
26/10	St Pats	5	0	Derry City	1,060
				TOTAL	29,047
				Average	1,614

 

UCD

UCD gained promotion to the Premier Division this season and also managed to increase their average gate. Last season’s match attendance was the second lowest of all clubs with 220, but this season it increased to 353 and moved them to fifth lowest in the league. The end of the season 1-1 draw with Finn Harps drew their largest crowd of the season (958) whilst their lowest attendance was the June visit of Cobh Ramblers (131).

 

UCD
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
23/02	UCD	2	1	Shelbourne	550
09/03	UCD	1	1	Galway United	296
23/03	UCD	3	1	Cabinteely	223
13/04	UCD	3	2	Finn Harps	236
27/04	UCD	3	2	Wexford	202
18/05	UCD	3	0	Athlone Town	164
01/06	UCD	3	1	Cobh	131
08/06	UCD	2	0	Drogheda	337
29/06	UCD	1	5	Longford	306
06/07	UCD	1	1	Shelbourne	525
20/07	UCD	2	0	Galway Utd	245
03/08	UCD	4	1	Cabinteely	411
14/09	UCD	1	1	Finn Harps	958
				TOTAL	4,584
				Average	3

 

WATERFORD

Last season Waterford transformed their average gate from 277 to 1,550 and also booked passage to the Premier Division for 2018. Once again they have pushed on and increased their average crowd considerably. In 2018, the club averaged 2,314 in the RSC. On three occasions they managed to break through the 3,000 mark, twice against Cork City (3,684 and 3,287) and once against Dundalk (3,508). The Blues also managed an impressive fourth place finish in the league, nine points ahead of fifth and only three points off third. Can Waterford push on once more and challenge the top three both on the pitch and in the stands?

 

WATERFORD
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/02	Waterford	2	1	Derry City	2,502
26/02	Waterford	2	0	St Pats	1,859
12/03	Waterford	1	0	Bohemians	2,284
23/03	Waterford	2	1	Shamrock R	3,010
06/04	Waterford	2	1	Cork City	3,684
20/04	Waterford	3	0	Bray	2,024
27/04	Waterford	1	1	Sligo Rovers	2,173
04/05	Waterford	2	1	Dundalk	3,508
18/05	Waterford	3	6	Limerick	1,774
25/05	Waterford	4	0	Derry City	1,743
08/06	Waterford	2	0	St Pats	1,862
06/07	Waterford	1	1	Bohemians	1,831
22/07	Waterford	0	1	Shamrock R	2,378
03/08	Waterford	1	2	Cork City	3,287
14/09	Waterford	2	0	Bray	1,748
21/09	Waterford	1	0	Sligo Rovers	1,603
12/10	Waterford	1	2	Dundalk	2,487
26/10	Waterford	4	1	Limerick	1,890
				TOTAL	41,647
				Average	2,314

 

WEXFORD

Since Wexford’s relegation back to the First Division, the South-East club has seen a steady decrease in crowd numbers. In 2016, they competed in the Premier Division but only averaged 455. In 2017 that dropped to 340 and in 2018 it slipped further to 188. The club’s attendance all season remained between 145 (versus Galway United) and 281 (versus Shelbourne). It means Wexford never managed to hit 2017’s average crowd once this season.

 

WEXFORD
Date	Home	H	A	Away	Att
16/03	Wexford	1	8	Drogheda	210
30/03	Wexford	0	1	Shelbourne	281
06/04	Wexford	1	1	Cobh	153
20/04	Wexford	7	0	Athlone Town	202
04/05	Wexford	0	1	Cabinteely	168
07/05	Wexford	0	8	UCD	205
11/05	Wexford	0	2	Longford	173
25/05	Wexford	1	1	Finn Harps	153
15/06	Wexford	0	0	Galway Utd	145
13/07	Wexford	0	3	UCD	187
27/07	Wexford	0	0	Drogheda	163
17/08	Wexford	1	2	Shelbourne	252
31/08	Wexford	1	2	Cobh	155
21/09	Wexford	2	0	Athlone Town	185
				TOTAL	2,632
				Average	188

 

In Summary

Whilst the number of people going to League of Ireland is up on the previous season, the gap between the top teams and the rest is increasing. The entire sum of the attendances of the First Division teams is aproximately 17,000 less than Cork City’s total gate for the year. Cork City’s lowest match attendance of the season is 751 more than the entire of Athlone Town’s gate for the season. 

What is needed to address the First Division's sliding attendances and to improve the Premier Division figures? Investment in infrastructure is required across many of the League of Ireland grounds to make them an attractive option for the average punters to spend their hard earned cash. Many clubs have floated plans to improve or build new grounds but any League of Ireland fan will tell you that plans becoming a reality in the league is more miss than hit.

In the shorter term, a joined up and sustained marketing effort is required to promote all 20 clubs and their games and players. Whilst some clubs have great initiatives, the need for an overall season-long campaign has been lacking in the league. There has been strides made by clubs and the FAI, yes, but not nearly enough to suitably market a national league.   

The issue with both options is the need for investment and with many clubs living week-to-week to maintain their existences, it is unlikely they would have the luxury of re-directing funds for that purpose.

These problems and their solutions, however, are for another day and a different article. In the meantime we will continue to record the league attendances and would like to thank all the clubs and volunteers for their assistance in compiling these figures.  

If you have any comments or issues with facts and figures, you can reach this article’s author on @garethpenrose. If you spot any errors, please let us know.

Please note that if you do use the figures found here further afield in print or online, on radio or on television, please credit extratime.ie as the source as it has taken a lot of effort to gather and compile this information.