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Attendance History


Everton have completed in all competitive seasons in the English Football League and the Premier League, all but four in the top flight; below is their record of average attendances at Goodison Park (and Anfield Road, in the dim and distant past).  

 
 THE EARLY YEARS
 
Everton's first seasons were at Anfield Road, and attracted the biggest crowds, even though attendance records initially were of dubious accuracy.  After The Split in 1892, Goodison Park then becoming the pre-eminent football stadium in the land, with Everton fans setting the pace as the new Football League got well into its stride...
 
1888-89   7,260  (1)                                              
1889-90  10,110  (1)   1899-00  13,875  (4)   1909-10  19,110  (7)
1890-91  11,375  (1)   1900-01  16,855  (3)   1910-11  18,860  (7)
1891-92  10,730  (1)   1901-02  16,030  (3)   1911-12  18,870  (9)
1892-93  13,230  (1)   1902-03  15,430  (5)   1912-13  19,945  (9)
1893-94  13,520  (1)   1903-04  17,845  (3)   1913-14  25,250  (6)
1894-95  17,420  (1)   1904-05  19,155  (3)   1914-15  18,530  (3)
1895-96  16,080  (1)   1905-06  15,920  (7)                       
1896-97  15,840  (1)   1906-07  19,340  (5)   Football League     
1897-98  17,390  (1)   1907-08  17,630  (6)   suspended during    
1898-99  15,190  (3)   1908-09  23,025  (3)   during World War I  

 
 BETWEEN THE WARS
 
A golden era for Everton, despite being relegated for the first time, but average crowds lower than today.  
 
1919-20  29,050  (7)   1929-30  32,989  (3)                       
1920-21  37,215  (3)   1930-31  26,039  (8)                       
1921-22  31,175  (7)   1931-32  35,451  (2)   Football League     
1922-23  30,905  (3)   1932-33  26,412  (6)   suspended during    
1923-24  29,185  (3)   1933-34  27,165  (7)   during World War II 
1924-25  26,030  (8)   1934-35  26,232  (6)                       
1925-26  26,876  (8)   1935-36  29,118  (7)   1946-47  40,854  (7)                    
1926-27  31,416  (2)   1936-37  30,292  (7)   1947-48  44,205  (6)
1927-28  37,461  (2)   1937-38  30,324  (6)   1948-49  45,138  (8)
1928-29  29,513  (4)   1938-39  35,040  (3)   1949-50  43,932  (7)
 
 THE POST-WAR ERA
 
Crowds were big, despite three seasons in the Second Division.  And the glorious 60s saw the return of Everton as one of the biggest clubs in the country.  But the 70s saw the crowds dropping off and the 80s were a bad era for English football.  Progressive reductions in ground capacity at Goodison continued until Everton briefly came good under Howard Kendall but the crowds soon fell away before the Premier League resurgence really got going...
 
1950-51  42,924  (4)   1964-65  42,062  (2)   1978-79  35,456  (5)
1951-52  37,391 (11)   1965-66  38,498  (3)   1979-80  28,711  (7)
1952-53  32,629 (12)   1966-67  42,606  (3)   1980-81  26,105  (9)
1953-54  44,493  (4)   1967-68  46,983  (2)   1981-82  24,674  (8)
1954-55  46,394  (2)   1968-69  45,958  (3)   1982-83  20,277  (9)
1955-56  42,768  (1)   1969-70  49,531  (2)   1983-84  19,343 (11)
1956-57  35,076  (7)   1970-71  41,090  (4)   1984-85  31,984  (3)
1957-58  39,157  (5)   1971-72  37,242  (7)   1985-86  32,227  (3)
1958-59  39,171  (6)   1972-73  34,471  (6)   1986-87  32,935  (3)
1959-60  40,788  (3)   1973-74  35,351  (4)   1987-88  27,771  (4)
1960-61  43,448  (2)   1974-75  40,021  (3)   1988-89  27,765  (4)
1961-62  41,432  (2)   1975-76  27,115 (12)   1989-90  26,820  (7)
1962-63  51,603  (1)   1976-77  30,046 (11)   1990-91  25,028  (9)
1963-64  49,401  (1)   1977-78  39,513  (4)   1991-92  23,148 (10)
                                             
 
 THE PREMIER LEAGUE YEARS
 
In 1992, Sky invented football... Initially with the advent of the Premier League, despite Everton's abysmal league record (until recently) crowds were far better than the late 1970s and 1980s with some of the highest averages coming in the Martinez era:
 
1992-93  19,504 (10)    2003-04  38,943  (5)   2014-15  38,406  (8) 
1993-94  22,876 (11*)   2004-05  36,834  (8)   2015-16  38,124  (8)
1994-95  31,291  (6)    2005-06  36,704  (7)   2016-17  39,310  (8)
1995-96  35,424  (5)    2006-07  36,738  (7)   2017-18  38,797  (9) 
1996-97  36,186  (5)    2007-08  36,955  (9)   2018-19  38,780  (9)
1997-98  35,355  (6)    2008-09  35,667 (10)   2019-20  39,150 §(9)
1998-99  36,203  (5)    2009-10  36,725  (8)   2020-21   BCD
1999-2k  34,828  (8)    2010-11  36,039  (9)    
2000-01  33,945 (10)    2011-12  33,288 (10)   
2001-02  34,004 (10)    2012-13  36,358  (8)  
2002-03  38,820  (7)    2013-14  37,732  (8)   
* Park End Stand being reconstructed; subsequent capacity ~40,200.  § Before the Coronavirus Pandemic.  BCD = Behind Closed Doors 

As the club's historical place among the Top Five in England was finally vacated at the end of the 20th century, Everton's average attendances declined below the oft-quoted 36,000 level.  That was until the dawn of the Moyes Era... and a lad named Wayne Rooney, whom everyone wanted to see.  The average attendance for season 2003-04 was the highest in 25 years, despite accumulation of the lowest points total in the club's history! 

Attendances fell back the following season after Rooney left – despite Everton finishing 4th – but the 36,000 number was exceeded during the generally dismal 2005-06 season, despite the dreadful quality of football on display.  That trend stayed pretty firm through most of the subsequent Moyes years, with crowds generally around or a little above the 36,000 level, consistent with something like 4,000 seats at Goodison Park being classed as having obstructed views. 

The average crowd dropped significantly, however, in 2011-12 to a level not seen in 17 years... ironically the last season when a trophy was won!  Some say it was a delayed reaction to the credit crunch; others, that they had finally had enough of David Moyes's dour defensive anti-football. But optimism was renewed in 2012-13 and, bouyed by a good starts and an excellent home record, crowds topped 36,000 again.

However, it took a new manager and a bright new fresh positive outlook in the form of the mercurial Roberto Martinez to really bring the sell-out crowds back to Goodison Park in his first season, 2013-14, with a remarkable load factor of over 95%, breaking 38,000 in his last two seasons despite it all going pear-shaped.  But that record would be outdone in Ronald Koeman's first season, when the average crowd topped 39,000 for the fist time since 1974-75, with all season tickets sold out.

Sell-outs at Goodison Park would become the norm in the ensuing seasons, despite the obstructed views and a horrible period when Sam Allardyce was made manager for a painful 6-month spell. But numbers would continue to increase undil the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic of 2020 and 2021 forced games to be played behind closed doors (with only 3 home games having strictly controlled attendances of home season-ticket holders awarded by ballot.

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