Which Premier League Club Fills The Most Seats In Their Stadium?

We’re at the halfway point of the 2012-13 Premier League season, so I thought I’d share some research in regards to which clubs are doing the best off the pitch in terms of filling up the most seats available in their stadium.

Sure, Manchester United continues to have the largest average attendance by virtue of having the largest club soccer stadium in England. But you may be surprised to find out that the Premier League club who fills most of their seats in their stadium so far this season is not a top four club. In fact, it’s one of the teams in the relegation zone.

The numbers were calculated based on the capacity of the stadium and the percentage of how filled the stadium was based on their average home attendance through December 26, 2012.

First, here are the top 20 teams based on the percentage of their stadium that is filled to full capacity:

1. Reading, Madejski Stadium, 99.72% filled
2. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 99.64%
3. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 99.55%
4. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 99.45%
5. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 99.38%
6. Tottenham, White Hart Lane, 99.18%
7. Liverpool, Anfield Stadium, 98.71%
8. West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, 98.69%
9. Swansea City, Liberty Stadium, 98.18%
10. Manchester City, Etihad Stadium, 98.05%
11. Stoke City, Britannia Stadium, 97.82%
12. Norwich City, Carrow Road, 97.73%
13. QPR, Loftus Road, 96.11%
14. West Bromwich Albion, The Hawthorns, 95.56%
15. Newcastle United, St. James’ Park, 94.80%
16. Southampton, St. Mary’s, 92.90%
17. Everton, Goodison Park, 91.68%
18. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 81.81%
19. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 80.25%
20. Wigan, DW Stadium, 73.56%

While Reading supporters get picked on by some supporters of larger clubs, here’s proof that they’ve been supporting their team and filling their Madejski Stadium each home game. They’ve also increased their average attendance compared to the 2007-08 season.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, by reviewing the numbers above, you could say that Aston Villa, Sunderland, Everton and Wigan are playing at stadiums that are either too large for their fanbase (or, in the case of Villa, the fans have been voting with their feet by not filling up their stadium).

Second, here are the top teams in the Premier League based on their average attendances so far this season:

1. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 75,498
2. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 60,095
3. Newcastle United, St James Park, 52,404
4. Manchester City, Etihad Stadium, 47,805
5. Liverpool, Anfield, 45,276
6. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 41,608
7. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 40,088
8. Everton, Goodison Park, 36,816
9. Tottenham, White Hart Lane, 35,944
10. West Ham, Boleyn Ground, 34,560
11. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 34,339
12. Southampton, St. Mary’s, 30,371
13. Stoke, Britannia Stadium, 27,138
14. Norwich, Carrow Road, 26,603
15. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 25,542
16. WBA, The Hawthorns, 25,107
17. Reading, Madesjki Stadium, 24,095
18. Swansea, Liberty Stadium, 20,373
19. Wigan, DW Stadium, 18,490
20. QPR, Loftus Road, 17,782

Teams such as QPR, Swansea, Reading and Fulham are lower in the table because they play in some of the smallest stadiums in the Premier League even though their fans come close to filling their grounds every home match.

What are some of the interesting observations you can point out from the above data? Share them in the comments section below.