The latest edition of our Gates Committee Report sees a slightly shorter version due to postponements meaning we have had just three matches since the last update.
The rearranged Forest Green Rovers match unsurprisingly generated the lowest official league attendance so far this campaign, with a Wednesday turnout of 3,382 (3,241 home and 141 away), down 804 (592 / 212) on the forecast.
The original abandoned fixture had, despite the torrential rain, generated a crowd of 4,109 (3,879 home and 230 away), not too much below the forecast of 4,186 with 46 more home fans but 123 fewer away ones than the prediction – unsurprising in the circumstances.
We played Wycombe Wanderers 10 days later, and their strong league position helped generate a total attendance of 3,956, with 3,620 home fans and 336 travelling supporters. This was 623 better than our forecast, made up of 470 home fans and 153 away additional attendees.
A week later Mansfield were the visitors, with a somewhat lower crowd of 3,680 (3,456 home and 224 away fans) but pretty much in line with expectations – 323 home and 74 away better than the pre-season estimate, overall 397 better than forecast.
Cumulatively, after 16 completed League Two matches, the total official attendance at St James Park has been 63,528 for an average of 3,971 (3,740 home and 231 away).
These averages are 498 (495 home and 3 away) better than the projection. As always, this covers a wide range - from 4,760 for the Notts County game with its large student component to 3,382 for the Forest Green game. Nationally, we are roughly in the middle of the League Two attendance chart (13th of 24), with Coventry, Lincoln and Luton at the top on roughly 8,500 each and Morecambe and Accrington lowest with 1,450 and 1,600 respectively.