BLUEBIRDS WARNOCK’S BOYS SET FOR FAN-TASTIC SUPPORT IN THE PREMIER
CARDIFF City are set to become one of the better supported teams in the Premier League after reporting bumper season ticket sales already for next season.
On Thursday morning, the club announced 21,200 season tickets have been sold ahead of their return to England’s top flight, which is just 1,000 fewer than the amount snapped up when Malky Mackay took the Bluebirds into the top flight five years ago.
With almost three months left until the Premier League gets back underway, it’s expected that the Bluebirds will be in a position to declare sell-outs for many of their games next season.
That would mean Cardiff being able to boast greater attendances than a number of established Premier League sides next season.
It further highlights the incredible work done by Warnock since he arrived at the club in October 2016.
The Bluebirds were in 23rd place in the Championship when the Yorkshireman was named as Paul Trollope’s permanent successor while they gained automatic promotion into the Premier League in his first full campaign in charge in South Wales.
And his efforts have been reflected in the stands as more fans continue to flock to Cardiff City Stadium ahead of the Bluebirds’ highly anticipated return to the Premier League.
Despite enjoying a magnificent 201718 campaign, the Bluebirds’ average league attendance for the season was only 20,164, ranking them as the 13th best supported side at home out of the 24 teams in the Championship.
Cardiff City Stadium holds 33,280 supporters, although after segregation, that figure is likely to drop to just shy of 33,000.
The Bluebirds must have 3,000 tickets available for matchday sales while they will also have to allocate 10 per cent of their stadium’s capacity – little more than 3,000 - to away fans. And the club have their usual obligations to provide tickets to groups such as the Cardiff City Foundation.
It means that - if they can shift the remaining 5,000 or so season tickets left in the coming months - they will have bumper crowds on their home patch throughout next season given that the matchday sales tickets will be in high demand while the majority of sides visiting the Welsh capital will take the majority - if not all - of their full allocation.
While Championship winners Wolves
had a significantly better average attendance at Molineux during the 2017-18 campaign than the Bluebirds did on their own turf, their ground’s capacity of 31,700 is a sizeable chunk smaller than that of Cardiff City Stadium.
And with regards to the two sides battling for promotion - Fulham and Aston Villa – via the play-offs, only the Villans could surpass Cardiff ’s crowd given Craven Cottage’s capacity is 25,700 while Villa Park holds 42,682.
It means that - using the average attendances of sides in the Premier League last term - the Bluebirds look set to be the 11th best supported team at home in the league next season if they are at capacity, or 10th if Fulham overcome Villa in the playoff final at Wembley.
Tottenham will move into their new 62,062-seater stadium in the summer, meaning their attendance will drop having spent the 2017-18 season playing their home games at Wembley, although their tally will still be significantly more than Cardiff ’s.
And while the other sides to finish in the top six last season - Man City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal – will continue to have vastly greater crowds than Cardiff as well as Newcastle, West Ham
and Everton – along with Aston Villa if they gain promotion – Cardiff are still expected to be one of the better supported crowd in the top flight next term, which will no doubt be music to the ears of Warnock and the club’s hierarchy.