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Football

12th Mar 2018

Bray Wanderers attendance plummets and shows League of Ireland still has a long way to go

Jack O'Toole

When Sligo Rovers kicked off their season at home to Limerick last month they were celebrating the 3000th game in their club’s history.

To celebrate the milestone, the club aimed to have 3,000 plus fans at the game and they reached their target when 3,056 supporters showed up to the Showgrounds to watch Limerick open their season with a 1-0 win.

Less than a month into the new season and just 384 fans showed up for their match against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Monday evening.

Last month, 1,124 fans turned up for Bray’s home opener against St. Patrick’s Athletic as the Wanderers opened their account at the Carlisle Grounds with a 2-1 loss.

Storm Emma ruled out their next home game with Waterford with Monday’s visit of Sligo marking just Bray’s second home game of the season in the league.

Last July, the FAI claimed that attendances for League of Ireland matches had risen by 48.8% in the 2017 season in comparison to the same period from the season before.

However, during that time, the Wanderers 1-0 win over Galway United last April was the lowest attended game so far in that division with 477 fans showing up to the Carlisle Grounds.

Five games into this season and they’ve already beaten that mark.