- Gareth Penrose
- Sun, Mar 05 2023
28,793 people have attended League of Ireland fixtures over the weekend resulting in another successfully attended Gameweek. In total after 30 fixtures, the League of Ireland has seen 82,981 spectators come through the gates or an average attendance of 2,766.
Taking the first 15 Premier Division fixtures of 2022 and the first 15 First Division fixtures the total comes in at 73,616. Whilst not an exact like-for-like it does point to an increase so far this season compared to the last.
Shamrock Rovers may have lost on the pitch but they absolutely dominate when it comes to attendances. Friday’s game against Derry City saw 7,626 turn up which is just short of the top crowd of 2022 (7,726). It’s just a brilliant attendance. Plan and simple.
Shelbourne recorded a victory over Bohemians ending the only 100% record in the Premier Division and did so in front of 4,250 spectators. That’s an increase of 826 from their opening weekend attendance and would rank as their 2nd highest when compared to 2022.
Dundalk recorded an impressive win over St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday and equally impressive is the fact they increased their opening day attendance by 345 resulting in 3,487 in Oriel Park. Now that opening day game was against UCD so the travelling support for Pats is more than likely the difference but they still record a crowd that is just shy of their best of 2022.
Drogheda United’s victory over Sligo Rovers was watched by 1,544 which is down from the 2,182 opening day gate when Shamrock Rovers visited. This is mainly a case of travelling support differences with the home side selling out their home ticket allocation. So still good work from a Drogheda point of view.
Finn Harps welcomed Bray Wanderers to Finn Park and picked up their first point of the campaign. They did so in front of 1,582. It is down on the 2,517 of opening day but it is still an excellent attendance when you look back at the last time Harps were in the First Division. In 2018, they never surpassed 1,000 all season long.
Wexford recorded an attendance of 678 which would rank as their third highest attendance when compared with 2022 figures. When you look a little closer, the two visits of Athlone Town to Ferrycarrig Park last season resulted in crowds of 332 and 361 so Friday’s attendance is almost double the average attendance for an Athlone Town visit in 2022.
Cork City saw 4,857 turn up for their match with UCD. That’s a 1,630 drop from their first attendance of the season but that was against Bohemians who would have brought a bigger travelling support than UCD. Looking at 2022, it would rank as the Rebel Army’s 5th largest crowd.
Waterford may have 166 less than their opening attendance but with 2,725 turning up it is still a great crowd for the Blues. Like their previous attendance, it would rank 2nd in 2022. More importantly they have managed to maintain their opening day attendance which is always a tough ask.
Kerry once again sold out Mounthawk Park meaning for a second home game in a row the new League of Ireland side has sold out their venue.
Longford Town opened their campaign with a crowd of 1,514 for their midlands derby. The visit of Cobh Ramblers saw that drop to 844. While it is a big drop, it still would be the sides highest attendance when compared with 2022 (with the exception of the play-off which resulted in 942).
In summary, the overall gameweek saw 28,793 people attend games, an average attendance of 2,879. The Premier average was 4,353 with the First Division coming in at 1,406. When compared to 2022, the First Division average excluding play-offs for the season was 1,091. The 2022 Premier Division average was 2,672.
The full list of attendances for this Gameweek so far is as follows:
Gameweek 3 Attendances
| Home Team | Away Team | Attendance |
|
Shamrock R |
Derry C |
7,626 |
|
Cork City |
UCD |
4,857 |
|
Shels |
Bohs |
4,250 |
|
Dundalk |
Pats |
3,487 |
|
Waterford |
Galway |
2,725 |
|
Harps |
Bray W |
1,582 |
|
Drogheda |
Sligo R |
1,544 |
|
Kerry |
Treaty |
1,200 |
|
Longford |
Cobh |
844 |
|
Wexford |
Athlone |
678 |
|
| TOTAL ATTENDANCE | 28,793 |
|
| Average Overall |
2,879 |
|
| Average Premier |
4,353 |
|
| Average First |
1,406 |
