After Covid-19 every team in West Yorkshire was affected in some way, most of it being negative.
Attendance was no exception, as most clubs seemed to have taken a decrease in their average over the last three seasons.
However, for Farsley Celtic and Barnsley F.C., you can see the huge impact this season had.
Farsley Celtic are a club who are a few leagues lower down in the Conference North Division.
This of course means that the club has a much smaller attendance, but what it does not change is the fact that they have seen a 19.27% drop.
Thomas Ritchie, Farsley Celtic head of media said; “You have to consider the cost of living crisis that stems from the Covid-19 outbreak and the busy schedules after the huge break.”
“We have offered £10 tickets to anybody with a season ticket from the Premier League or Championship as a way to try and help resolve this.”
Barnsley saw their attendance take a huge dip over the last three seasons as their average in 2019/20 to today has dropped from 13,618, all the way down to 8792.
This is a drop of 35.44% and even if the club did see themselves get relegated last season to League one, this is a much bigger drop off than what you would expect.
This could be because of the after effects of Covid-19, such as the increase of living and huge inflation rises. The club currently sits with a massive season ticket price of £475 for adults, which when compared to the average League one price, is over £30 extra, which could be a reason.
The big exception was York City, who actually had a huge increase in attendance of 81.92%, a trend that is an anomaly within the West Yorkshire football clubs.
York City are fresh off of moving into their new £44.2 million stadium in February 2021 whilst also securing promotion back to the National League in May of 2022 making it a club on the rise.
Chairman of the Minster Men supporters group and lifelong York City fan John Uttley said “The facilities and new stadium have played a huge part in the increase in attendance, along with the promotion having something to do with it.”
The demand for tickets for home games has increased to the point where a 30 minute time limit has been placed on customers wishing to purchase home tickets.
The effects of Covid-19 definitely seem to be long lasting but it is still hard to see how long.
