You're never walk alone; but not as many as last year, except in League Two!
The Shrimpers average attendances were unsurprisingly down last season after relegation to the fourth tier of League footy, but maybe the figure showing a loss of a third of the Roots Hall faithful may come as a touch of a shock.
Still, it's nothing like the 3k-odd of old, yet!
The last campaign's average of 5,250 was 32% below 2009/10's average of 7718, however we were still the 6th best supported club in League Two.
The highest gate was for the visit of promotion challengers Stevenage on Good Friday, Aprill 22nd, with 6,622; the lowest, no prizes for guessing Macclesfield at 3,500 on a cold Tuesday evening on January 22nd.
Congrats to the Bantams of Bradford City whose fans had to put up with a miserable season but still turned out to an average of 11,127, incredible!
In the third tier we beat both Leyton Orient and fifth from bottom Colchester with averages of 4,581 and 4,246 respectively.
Southampton won that league with, phew, 22,160, (beating Sheffield Wenesday's 17,817 which should go up with a Steel City derby next time around), while relegated Dagenham reached just 2,769.
In the Championship, we might all hate Leeds but they love them in that part of West Yorkshire wwere 27,299 turned up on average, and they still didn't make the play-offs, while poor old relegated Scunthorpe, Hooper sold to Celtic and all, propped up the rest with 5,547.
Although Championship and League One crowds were down on last season, League Two saw a surprising increase in fan attendance, up 8% with an average of 4,162 a game in 2010/11.
Football League chairman Greg Clarke was quick of the mark though to pay tribute to the loyal fans outside the Premiershgip who have stuck watching live football in these tough economic times.
Clarke told www.football-league.co.uk: "Given the difficult economic climate, it is heartening to see League crowds reaching the sixteen million mark, once again. Our competitions are in good shape and the enduring loyalty shown by fans is a constant encouragement. However, we have to be realistic about the challenges we face as it is unlikely that the state of economy will improve in the near future. The League and its clubs will continue to focus on getting new fans into grounds and ensuring that the clubs they support are sustainable in the long term."
League Two Attendence Table (Average)
1: Bradford City - 11,127
2: Oxford United - 7,281
3: Chesterfield - 6,972
4: Shrewsbury - 5,975
5: Port Vale - 5,532
6: Southend United - 5,532
7: Gillingham - 5,232
8: Northampton - 4,604
9: Wycombe - 4,495
10: Stockport - 4,163
11: Crewe - 4,119
12: Rotherham - 3,667
13: Lincoln City - 3,508
14: Bury - 3,313
15: Cheltenham - 2,980
16: Burton - 2,947
17: Stevenage - 2,898
18: Torquay - 2,630
19: Hereford - 3,942
20: Aldershot - 2,487
21: Morecambe - 2,256
22; Barnet - 2,249
23: Accrington - 1,867
24: Macclesfield - 1,807
For the article in full:
www.football-league.co.uk/footballleaguenews/20110518/league-crowds-top-16-million-again_2293334_2362322