It’s a long time since football fans could walk or take a short tram or bus ride to the ground. Rightmove have surveyed over 13,000 football fans to find out what proportion of each clubs’ fans are local to their stadium.
The Premier League’s most local fans are Wigan Athletic with 65 per cent of their support living in the same postcode district as the DW Stadium. Not surprisingly, the least local were Manchester United fans with only 9 per cent living in the same postcode area as Old Trafford.
It’s a long time since football fans could walk or take a short tram or bus ride to the ground. Rightmove have surveyed over 13,000 football fans to find out what proportion of each clubs’ fans are local to their stadium.
The Premier League’s most local fans are Wigan Athletic with 65 per cent of their support living in the same postcode district as the DW Stadium. Not surprisingly, the least local were Manchester United fans with only 9 per cent living in the same postcode area as Old Trafford.
Interestingly, Manchester United and Liverpool both appear in the top five most supported London clubs ahead of Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United. Arsenal top the London table with 21 per cent of fans followed by Spurs and Manchester United both on 13 per cent. Chelsea are just behind on 12 per cent followed by Liverpool on 9 per cent.
In Liverpool, around two thirds of fans were found to support Liverpool with one in four backing Everton. Despite the football rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United, there were quite a few fans living ‘behind enemy lines’. 5 per cent of football fans in Manchester support Liverpool and 4 per cent of fans in Liverpool support either Manchester United or Manchester City.
Liverpool fans actually live the longest average distance from the stadium (100 miles), followed by Newcastle United (97 miles) and Manchester United (95 miles). The average distance for Manchester City fans is 55 miles. London clubs range from 45 miles (Fulham) to 64 miles (Chelsea).
Generally, the more historically successful a club is the more likely it will be to have a lower proportion of locally based fans, as success over time creates more of a national fan base. Wigan, Norwich and Southampton occupy the top three positions in Rightmove’s local fans league table, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the relegation places.
The more general question the study raises is can success be achieved and sustained in the modern era without a large proportion of non-local support? Indeed, for top clubs, that support is increasingly outside the UK altogether.