The A-League’s crowd record in context: Sydney derby versus AFL and NRL

The 61,880-strong crowd for the A-League’s first Sydney derby of the season is even more impressive when placed in context with crowds drawn by rival codes

Saturday’s clash between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC pulled a crowd of 61,880. The record attendance result for the Sydney derby is even more impressive when put into context with other football codes in Australia.

Below are the domestic crowd figures for the most recent seasons of the NRL, AFL, A-League and Super Rugby. The Sydney derby match places in the top ten, even against finals matches from the other codes:

chart: top 10 matches from any code

However, historically, the A League still ranks below the other Australian football codes on average attendance, with the AFL maintaining its dominance:

chart: average attendances by code

The Sydney and Melbourne A-League teams, in particular, generally pulled good crowds in the most recent season, with several matches ranking alongside the highest-ranking NRL matches:

table: top 20 matches by code

Contributor

Nick Evershed

The GuardianTramp

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