Quote Originally Posted by ToTaL ITK View Post
LOL we will not get crowds if relegated...you'll be looking at 8,9k. Cardiff fans are an odd bunch , very used to hard times and desperate
for success. They won't be easily won over
I've done this to death with Sludge, but the only chance of us getting crowds like that in League 1 would be if we were heading for relegation. In fact, often sides who are successful in League 1 get better crowds than when they were struggling in the Championship. Bar a few examples, the majority of Championship sides only get big crowds when they're challenging for promotion.

Those are generalisations and there are always exceptions.

Take City.

In 1971 we narrowly missed out on promotion to the First Division and had an average crowd of over 21k. We then spent 3 seasons narrowly avoiding relegation, only to go down in 1975. Crowds halved between 1971 and 1973 as we battled at the foot of the table. In Division 3 in 1976 our average attendance went up by over 2.5k as we won promotion.

We then spent another 6 seasons struggling in the second tier, watching our crowds drop by another half to 5.5k as we were relegated again in 1982. In 1983 our crowd in the Third Division rose again as we won promotion again.

Things were different when we went back down again in 1985. We were relegated again from the third tier in 1986 and our crowd fell again.

It's also interesting to see what happens in reverse, after promotion from the third tier.

First season back in the second tier sees a small crowd increase, followed by a drop in attendances for the next two seasons as the club remains lower mid-table.

Fans enjoy success. They'd sooner cheer on a promotion attempt in League 1 than a relegation battle in the Championship. We're not alone in this by any means. Some call that fickle, but it is what it is.