Schalke and Hamburg lead English giants - top 50 highest average attendances

Thirteen British clubs feature in the top 50 highest attendances in the world during the 2023/24 season, with Manchester United remaining the best supported club in the United Kingdom. West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur join the Manchester club in the top ten with two German clubs leading the way this season. Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena and Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park have both been at full capacity, with Dortmund claiming top spot with 81,365 fans.

Barcelona normally have the highest attendance in the world but they are currently playing at the 49,472 capacity Olympic Stadium while the Nou Camp undergoes redevelopment. Real Madrid’s Bernabéu stadium is also undergoing renovation work with the Spanish giants receiving an average attendance of 69,236. Despite widespread criticism of the condition of Old Trafford, Manchester United still comfortably receives the biggest attendance in England with an average of 73,504 fans, which represents 98.2% of capacity.

English Premier League clubs have the highest occupancy of any of the traditional top five leagues in Europe with grounds at 77.8% of their capacity, with an average of 38,618 fans per game. The Bundesliga comes in second with stadium occupancy rising from 92.7% to 97.1% this season. Ligue 1 ( 80.4%), La Liga (82.9%) and Serie A (77.3%) have significantly lower occupancy than the Premier League and Bundesliga. Average attendances, however, have dropped in the Premier League due to the promotions of Burnley and Luton Town with the latter having the smallest ground in the division, capable of holding just 11,050 supporters.

Sunderland ahead of Chelsea and Everton 

Sunderland are one of only five clubs among the 50 most visited football stadiums in the world to play outside their nation’s top-flight. The Mackems average attendance is 41,394 with Schalke (61,591), Hamburg (56,617), Hertha Berlin (46,411) and FC Kaiserslautern (43,353) the other four second division clubs in the top 50. Remarkably, second division German sides Schalke and Hamburg boast higher average attendances that Champions League holders Manchester City. Sunderland have a higher average attendance than Everton (39,130) and Chelsea (39,763) despite being a league below them in the English Championship. The other four English clubs, not already named, that feature in the top 50 are Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle United, and Arsenal.

Celtic and Rangers in top 30 attendances worldwide

Anfield is another stadium in the list being renovated with the capacity limited at 54,704 but the new upper tier at the Anfield Road end will increase the capacity to 61,000 while their Merseyside rivals Everton will be leaving Goodison Park for their new stadium in the next few seasons. The 11 English clubs in the top 50 are also joined by the two Scottish giants, Celtic and Rangers. Both Glasgow clubs feature in the top 30 with Rangers ranked 27th with an average attendance of 50,987 and Celtic’s in 15th with 58,533 fans.

The Old Firm are two of 13 clubs from outside Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy - the traditional top 5 leagues in Europe - within the top fifty. Benfica has the biggest average attendance outside those five leagues with the Portuguese side averaging 60,108 fans at the impressive Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. Outside of Europe, Beijing Guoan lead the way in Asia with an average attendance of 43,769 at the Workers Stadium and Atlanta United’s stunning Mercedes-Benz Stadium ranks highest in the USA with 47,526 fans.