Sunderland have drawn huge crowds at the Stadium of Light this season, but how do they compare to Europe's elite clubs?
Sunderland have enjoyed an excellent first campaign back in the Premier League so far, and that has been reflected in their attendance figures.
The Black Cats have taken 40 points from 29 games following their 1-0 win at Leeds United last time out, sitting just four points adrift of the top seven and 12 clear of the relegation zone. And although they’ve lost their last two home matches, their form at the Stadium of Light previously was impeccable, going unbeaten in their first 12 on their own turf.
With all that in mind, it’s no surprise to see them pulling an average crowd of 46,382 this season, compared to 42,454 and 41,028 over the last two campaigns, respectively. In fact, that’s the club’s fourth-highest average attendance on record, and their best effort since the 2001/02 campaign, which saw 46,745 per week come through the turnstiles. But while that’s enough to see Sunderland ninth in the Premier League attendance table, how does it compare to the rest of Europe’s top five leagues?
Sunderland average attendance compared to Europe’s biggest clubs
Dortmund - 81,365
Bayern Munich - 75,000
Manchester Utd - 73,960
Milan - 72,844
Real Madrid - 72,684
Inter - 72,437
Marseille - 63,558
Roma - 62,763
West Ham United - 62,454
Atlético Madrid - 61,171
Tottenham Hotspur - 60,950
Liverpool - 60,376
Arsenal - 60,219
Stuttgart - 59,417
Real Betis - 59,208
Eintracht Frankfurt - 59,067
Hamburger SV - 56,925
Manchester City - 52,215
Everton - 52,110
Newcastle United - 52,093
Gladbach - 50,892
Köln - 49,883
Lyon - 49,504
Athletic Club - 48,000
Napoli - 46,834
Sunderland - 46,382
Valencia - 44,725
Paris Saint-Germain - 43,916
RB Leipzig - 43,738
Lille - 42,529
Sunderland’s average crowd sits just as impressively in the European table, 26th among clubs from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France’s top flights (FBref). It sees them just above some serious heavyweights such as European champions Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Lille and Valencia - as well as the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea, Juventus, Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen, who miss out on the top 30 due to capacity constraints.
Just above the Black Cats are Serie A champions Napoli, while arch-rivals Newcastle United are up in 20th on 52,093 per week. Manchester United are the highest-performing English side on 73,960, but even that cannot compare to the German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the latter drawing a staggering 81,365 per week at Signal Iduna Park. Sunderland will look to draw another big crowd when they host Brighton next week, off the back of their FA Cup trip to League One strugglers Port Vale.
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