European Attendances : 1995-1999

In the UK the game appears to have needed a lift in the early 1990's. Public interest was obviously down as the attendance figures testify. What was needed? Fortuitously an idea was raised from a media source called Super League, a concept to take the game to the world. The UK was happy to get on board but the other professional competition in Australia was fiercely divided over it. That led to a split in the game down under which was only placated with a compromise solution. That meant SL never achieved fully what it set out to do.

However, the UK proceeded with it and the television deal that was included. It didn't take the game global, but SL certainly put money into it and captured the public interest again. That can be seen by the change in attendance figures in the 1995-6 season (the last before SL) and the subsequent years.

In the 1995-6 season, a paltry average of 5,516 was achieved per match. That amounted to 606,727 in total for regular season games, excluding any finals matches. For the first year of SL, that jumped to 6,578 or 868,255 in total. That represented a 43.1% increase. Thereafter the average was consistent for the remainder of the decade*.

Would SL continue to impact on the game in the UK? The next in the series will address that question. You can see that by clicking here. The previous period in the series can be seen by clicking here.

SL Attendances 1995-99
		Average	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995-6
1	Bradford	11,260	13,216	12,512	15,122	10,346	5,104
2	Leeds	11,232	13,482	11,494	11,007	8,581	11,595
3	Wigan	10,160	9,206	10,610	8,867	10,168	11,947
4	St Helens	8,320	8,201	7,206	8,826	10,221	7,144
5	Paris St G	6,768	-	-	5,510	8,026	-
6	Castleford	5,472	6,877	6,395	5,004	5,012	4,073
7	Warrington	5,098	5,110	4,897	5,404	5,157	4,922
8	Halifax	5,017	4,483	5,455	5,408	5,083	4,657
9	Hull FC	4,999	4,376	5,621	-	-	-
10	Salford	4,800	4,505	4,692	5,202	-	-
11	Huddersfield	4,436	3,729	5,142	-	-	-
12	Wakefield	4,181	4,181	-	-	-	-
13	Sheffield	4,081	3,540	4,641	4,413	4,704	3,106
14	London	3,996	2,928	3,842	5,125	5,699	2,387
15	Gateshead	3,888	3,888	-	-	-	-
16	Oldham	3,550	-	-	3,832	3,629	3,188
17	Workington	2,684	-	-	-	2,305	3,062
	TOT AVG	6,443	6,266	6,876	6,977	6,578	5,516
	TOTAL	932,113	1,315,836	948,831	920,915	868,255	606,728

* In 1996, the number of teams went from 11 to 12. Then again an increase in competing sides from 12 to 14 in 1999, which reduced the average but bumped up the total figure.

On the 21/03/2019, slight corrections were made to the the 1995-96 figures. This affected the average figures too.