Yup, those days when football was more about sport than money. Very dreamy now alright. Thanks for the link pal
It says that attendance in the 80s were regulary over 60,000 but I can only remember once an attendence in excess of 50,000 (vs Liverpool, the same day there wer 54,000 at OT for Manu v Newcastle). Such large attendances in the 80s were extremely rare - even United's avaerage were arouynd 43,000 and I remember 1 season where the highest attendance for the whole season was 49,000 at OT for Arsenals visit. Crowds at football, even middling clubs are a lot bigger all the way the league now than they were in the 80s. It's ironic because then you could get in for around £3 , but many were scared off by rampant hooliganism. Noe you get mugged for every penny by the clubs themselves, yet we have waiting lists.
For stats geeks (like me), these make very interesting reading. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/aveeng50.htm - 1950s http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/aveeng60.htm - 1960s Spurs top supported with averages over 50,000 2 years running!! http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/aveeng70.htm - 1970s http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/aveeng80.htm - 1980s
