By Jeff Brazier
Notts County broke a long-standing 5th tier record at the weekend with a bumper attendance of 12,843 witnessing their 2-0 win over Solihull. The previous record was held by Bristol Rovers vs. Alfreton Town in 2015 - 11,085. The Pies previous best this season was 7,418 vs. Stockport County so to find another 5,000 plus for Neil Ardley’s return to the club he previously managed was very impressive.
Just for contrast, only Bradford City have bettered that figure in the whole of League 2 this season, a stat that will only add fuel to the continued murmurs that there needs to be reform so that more National League clubs can gain promotion. Evidently, the difference in standard between the 4th and 5th tier is constantly reducing.
To think my first 5 visits to Meadow Lane were behind closed doors. My first experience of a crowd there was pretty special. It was the first time fans were allowed back in and 4,569 watched a Notts County 3-2 victory over James Rowe’s Chesterfield in the promotion playoff. They made a lot of noise that day. So to imagine they could treble the size of that attendance for Solihull at home is an immense feat an should be applauded – even if the tickets were reduced to a family-friendly £5 a pop.
Will The Record Be Broken Again?
But, It got me thinking about who are the best supported teams in the National League. Is there a team in The Vanarama capable of beating Notts County’s record? Looking at average attendances so far this season Wrexham are out in front with 8,138. Surely if there was a big appeal, they could raise the bar even higher?
Wrexham are understandably well supported given their Hollywood ownership and loyal fan base, but their highest attendance bid is limited slightly in that The Racecourse’s capacity is currently 10,771 due to the Kop terrace being out of action and covered in sponsorship banners. When that eventually gets redeveloped it could increase capacity to around 20,000 or more but until that happens, they won’t be contesting Notts County’s achievement.
What about Grimsby? Their gate has fluctuated steadily between 5,000 and 7,000 so far this season but again the current capacity at Blundell Park is 9,052 so no records there. Edgeley Park’s current capacity is 10,841 so last night’s FA Cup heroes Stockport can’t contest it either.
This didn’t jump out at me at first but there is one club that can rival the Magpies achievement - Pete Wild’s FC Halifax Town. The Shay is big enough to currently hold 14,061 but is this realistic? Possibly not if you consider their average so far this year is 2,019. But there’s some vague hope yet as just under 37,000 watched them play Spurs there in 1953!
Attendances fascinate me in non-league football. Whilst I’ve almost confirmed there isn’t a club in the 6th tier or lower that could give Notts County a run for their money, I was surprised to learn that Macclesfield have the 7th biggest average gate this season outside of the Football League followed closely by York City. Did you know that the smallest capacity of all the National League grounds is The Silverlake Stadium, home of Eastleigh with 3,000?
