Hi everyone. Some of you might know me from Bluesky but this is my first post on here so please be kind 🙂

Having seen a Notts fan elsewhere recently claim that the club’s rise in attendances over recent years was just reflecting the current trend that all clubs have seen post-Covid, I thought I’d investigate this a little further.

I looked at the clubs who were in League 1 & League 2 in 2025/26 & compared their average attendances with the averages those same clubs got in 2019/20 - the season that was interrupted near the end by Covid.

The average attendances for L1 & L2 crowds from 2019/20 - 2025/26 increased by 20.75% (13 clubs have actually seen a drop in average attendances in that time). During that period, Notts’ average increased by a massive 100.23%, which was not only almost 5 times the overall average but the 6th biggest % increase out of the 48 clubs.

We also had the 4th biggest increase in terms of the number of people through the turnstiles which went up by 5222 and was only bettered by Bolton, Bradford & Plymouth. The average increase in attendances for the 48 clubs was 1379. Proof, if it were ever needed, that our growth far exceeds any general trends and it is likely to increase significantly next year. These really are great times to be a Notts fan.

@Matt

That's a really interesting bit of research and it completely undermines the idea that Notts' growth is simply following a wider post-Covid trend.

If the average attendance increase across League One and League Two clubs was 20.75%, then a 100.23% increase at Notts is clearly something exceptional rather than normal. Being almost five times the average and ranking sixth out of 48 clubs shows that what has happened at Meadow Lane is driven by factors specific to the club, not just a general rise in football attendances.

The data suggests that the club has successfully re-engaged supporters, attracted new fans and built momentum both on and off the pitch. If performances continue and the club keeps progressing, there's every reason to believe attendances can rise further. For a club that was in the National League not long ago, it's a remarkable story and a great time to be a Notts fan.

I think the increased attendance at games is more than just following the general trend in football. Since the brothers took over there has been a gradual momentum building at the club. Although some fans may criticise the off-field investments saying we need to spend more on recruitment, The Nest, Padel Courts and the collaboration with Nottingham University have all been significant contributions to the overall momentum. The general style of play that is being tweaked as we climb the pyramid has also play a role. It's seems that our progress is not just some random approach, but a clear structure for continued success. The owners are intelligent businessman who know what they are doing. They would not be investing money into the club if didn't have a clear objective. Hold on tight, yes there will some bumps in the road, but lets enjoy the ride! COYP!

16 hours ago, Michael D Pie. said:

For a club that was in the National League not long ago, it's a remarkable story and a great time to be a Notts fan.

That's what makes it even more impressive really, because the growth started in the 5th tier. I think the brothers were brave in wanting a possession style of play at the level but it definitely worked. We didn't have, bar one or two, the big name opposition to attract the fans but the excitement in the way we played basically became the pulling factor. I think we broke the NL attendance record twice, I remember the Yeovil one because that was 16,000 and that is probably going to stand for a long time.

I think the increase in attendance for Notts is also down to Notts attracting, families, & the casual supporter due to Notts competitive tickets prices.

The people of Nottingham & surrounding areas are being attracted by good attacking football, that is leading to success at an affordable price.

Aside from the data it's noticeable that fans of other clubs, managers and commentators, new signings etc. quite often describe Notts as a "massive club". Granted they may sometimes mean "by lower league standards" but this would NEVER have been said of Notts 10, 20 or 30 years ago. So the perception has definitely changed, which is actually quite important.

Alan Hardy did well to lift gates, but he would hand tickets to his various company employees to help with this. The Reedtz have managed to do it solely based on pure footballing reasons, and whilst there is an element of 'football' at our levels being affordable and trendy to go watch. Nobody would come to a team that doesn't have ambition or feel like we are on the up.

There's a lot of non-Notts vloggers who bring attention, some of these I really dislike for using the club's popularity to increase their own channel. I find it bemusing that someone who supports a different team will attend our games to get views, rather than to view their own team.

It does have a knock on effect by promoting the club, and it does help to bring in younger fans and people unassociated. I just think the biggest increase is how Notts is focused on making match days a celebration and getting the atmosphere better. The preparation leading to games, the various points where fans can mingle all play a big role but it's the team on the pitch that brings the most eye balls.

I think a lot of the reasons for the growth in attendances have already been identified in this thread such as the style of play. Coupled with that, we have won just over 50% of all our league games since the Reedtz brothers took over and scored lots of goals along the way and that makes for happy customers.

For me, another important factor is how the ground feels when we have 9-10,000 in the home stands. In the days when we used to get 5-6000 we really rattled around in there and there was no real big match feel. Nowadays, there’s so much more of a buzz both outside and inside the ground I believe that is something that contributes to occasional visitors wanting to come back for more.

Good post! The growth is even more impressive when you look a bit further back. Attendances in general have boomed since 1990, but this development completely passed us by - in the early 90s we often got crowds of 5000 or 6000 (when those were still normal figures in the Championship). Thirty years later, little had changed for us, despite the rest of football overtaking us. In the Munto season, with nationwide publicity, we averaged a little over 7000. In our promotion season under Sam Allardyce it was about 5500. Even our last season in the top flight and the bounce under Alan Hardy were brief aberrations. We haven't been well supported since Showaddywaddy were cool.

So our sustained growth in the last few seasons is hugely impressive. It's down to us playing good, successful football, but the brothers have put everything in place to make that possible and completely changed the culture and vibe of the club. It never fails to baffle me when some fans would prefer to go back to the old ways when we lose a couple of matches.

On 15/06/2026 at 10:02, Sheffield Pie said:

Aside from the data it's noticeable that fans of other clubs, managers and commentators, new signings etc. quite often describe Notts as a "massive club".

I think that's partly because of the big crowds we've been drawing, but also partly because we've been knocking around L2 and the NL for a decade. Nobody would say that if we were in the Championship. I'd love to see us punch above our weight some time soon!

The Brothers have took Notts from strength to strength, and got things done at a steady pace, yes we'd like them to splash the cash on very good players and pay extortionate wages, they probably could afford to, but not to put the club into astronomical debt. I say keep doing what they're doing and we'll get there.

The 'massive club' description seems to come more from those outsiders @Chris mentions

Like others on this thread, I think 'ok mate, you carry on believing that'. We're too scarred by decades of 5000 to declare that ourselves.

I think the perception comes from seeing that Nottingham is a 2-club city and, with the exception of Bristol, that usually means 'big'. The irony though is that they're right. Nottingham is a hell of a big metropolitan area, bigger than Sheffield for example (who cannot count Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley & Chesterfield)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

When Nottingham was much smaller, we were getting the 47,000 or so post-war crowds. The dormant fanbase has always kind of been there. I think we have to give credit to all those great-grandparents and grandparents (in my case), who passed on the flame. Maybe it skipped a couple of generations, but I think the great-grandchildren are the ones to pick up their family heritage. It's amazing how young the crowd looked at Wembley. Just 10-15 years ago, It still looked like you needed a cloth cap to be a Notts County fan.