The old cliche says that the table never lies. Well, it does when you consider the average attendances in the Premier League. While the Big Four rules based on points, Liverpool had a smaller average attendance in the 2007/2008 season than Newcastle. Now you know why Hicks and Gillett are so adamant about a new stadium being built. Chelsea, meanwhile, had a smaller average attendance than teams such as Sunderland and Manchester City. Again, it’s all about capacity. Stamford Bridge is much smaller than the Stadium of Light and City of Manchester Stadium.

Here’s the top 20 clubs based on average attendances in the 07/08 season (the numbers displayed are the total number of fans that watched EPL matches at the stadium followed by average attendance followed by capacity and then followed by the attendance as a percentage of the capacity).

  1. Manchester United – Old Trafford, 1,438,136, 75,691, 76,212, 99.32%
  2. Arsenal – Emirates Stadium, 1,141,335, 60,070, 60,432, 99.40%
  3. Newcastle United – St James’ Park, 974,743, 51,302, 52,387, 97.93%
  4. Liverpool – Anfield, 827,111, 43,532, 45,362, 95.97%
  5. Sunderland – Stadium Of Light, 823,540, 43,344, 49,000, 88.46%
  6. Manchester City – City Of Manchester Stadium, 800,400, 42,126, 47,300, 89.06%
  7. Chelsea – Stamford Bridge, 786,549, 41,397, 42,449, 97.52%
  8. Aston Villa – Villa Park, 760,560, 40,030, 42,719, 93.71%
  9. Everton – Goodison Park, 702,142, 36,955, 40,170, 92.00%
  10. Tottenham Hotspur – White Hart Lane, 683,370, 35,967, 36,247, 99.23%
  11. West Ham United – Upton Park, 657,423, 34,601, 35,089, 98.61%
  12. Derby County – Pride Park, 616,216, 32,432, 33,597, 96.53%
  13. Middlesbrough – Riverside Stadium, 507,450, 26,708, 35,049, 76.20%
  14. Birmingham City – St. Andrews, 497,438, 26,181, 30,009, 87.24%
  15. Blackburn Rovers – Ewood Park, 454,928, 23,944, 31,367, 76.34%
  16. Fulham – Craven Cottage, 451,714, 23,774, 25,600, 92.87%
  17. Reading – Madejski Stadium, 448,115, 23,585, 24,200, 97.46%
  18. Bolton Wanderers – Reebok Stadium, 397,122, 20,901, 27,879, 74.97%
  19. Portsmouth – Fratton Park, 378,367, 19,914, 20,688, 96.26%
  20. Wigan Athletic – JJB Stadium, 361,876, 19,046, 25,023, 76.11%