A study has revealed that only one out of the 92 league clubs in England has a lower average attendance than the Saudi Pro League.
Last month, England international Jordan Henderson played in front of just 696 fans when Al Ettifaq came up against Al Riyadh at the Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz stadium in Riyadh.
Henderson, who joined Steven Gerrard's side from Liverpool this summer, also played in front of 976 people during a 3-1 win away to Abha in September.
So how do the SPL attendances compare to those in England? Back in July, we reported that Al Ettifaq have fewer fans than 18 League One clubs.
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And now, a study from AceOdds has revealed that only one club in England’s top four leagues has a lower average attendance than the whole Saudi Pro League so far this season.
League Two side MK Dons is the only club with a lower average attendance than the whole of the Saudi Pro League so far in 2023/24.
Attendances in the Saudi Pro League have been poor despite high spending on transfers in the summer and the league-wide average attendance currently sits at just 36.3%.
So far, MK Dons boast an average attendance of 20.1%, playing in front of only 6,159 fans per game in League Two.
The next-lowest attendance in England’s top four leagues is fellow League Two team Colchester United, who have an average attendance of 36.7% (playing in front of 3,711 on average).
The Saudi Pro League compares even worse when directly up against each of England’s top four leagues as a whole.
Despite the low attendances at Colchester and MK Dons, League Two as a whole has an average attendance of 58.7% in 2023/24.
This percentage naturally rises as you go higher up the leagues. League One has an average attendance of 63.8%, while the Championship boasts an average attendance of 80.7%.
The Premier League, meanwhile, has an average attendance of 97.8% across all the clubs in the league.
In fact, Jordan Henderson would need to play seven full games (630 minutes) of football in order to match the attendance of one match at his old club Liverpool.
Al-Ettifaq average 7,021 fans at home matches while Liverpool average 50,143 at Anfield so far this season.
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Topics: Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Jordan Henderson, England
Jack Kenmare