Championship ahead of La Liga in fans’ attendances

THE Championship was the third most-watched league in European football during the 2016-17 season.

The Premier League tops the list with total attendances of more than 13m, with Germany’s Bundesliga second.

England’s second tier, with an total of more than 11m, ranks higher than Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.

League One – which was won by Sheffield United – is ninth in Uefa’s Club Licensing Benchmarking Report.

The Championship was fourth in last year’s report and enjoyed an average attendance of 20,125 during the 2016-17 campaign.

Title winners Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United saw the league’s highest attendance of the season, with more than 52,000 fans taking their seat at St James’ Park.

In League One, more than 31,000 people watched Sheffield United defeat Chesterfield 3-2 at Bramall Lane.

Uefa’s report also found that the Premier League and Championship continued to top the list of foreign club ownership last season.

Almost two thirds of Premier League clubs have foreign owners compared to 58% of Championship clubs.

For the first time, the average wage bill of the Premier League (153.9m euros) is more than double that of the next highest – paying league – the Bundesliga (75.3m euros).

For the first time in European football, 11 clubs have reported aggregate league attendances of over one million.

West Ham United, Celtic and Liverpool have now surpassed the one million mark, joining Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City in the top 11.