Premier League set to pass crowds landmark

A view of Old Trafford (GETTY IMAGES)

The Premier League will pass the 250million fan mark at tonight's games - 20 years after its launch.

The landmark has been hailed by the PL's chief executive Richard Scudamore, with average attendances swelling by more than 50% compared to 1992-93, the first season of the league.

Scudamore also said crowds were now more diverse and family-friendly.

He said: "Having 250 million fans come into Premier League grounds is a terrific landmark. The Premier League is now the most watched and supported football league in the world and what people see is great football played in fantastic stadia packed full of vibrant, passionate fans.

"Over the last two decades our clubs have worked tirelessly to make Premier League grounds more welcoming and are striving to deliver a first-rate experience for all fans.

"We have grown from 9million supporters in the 1992/93 season through to 13million-plus in each of the last four seasons, and this campaign our grounds are currently 95% full.

"Importantly the audience for Premier League football has never been more diverse: 23% of attending fans are female, 11% are black or ethnic minority and 13% of season-ticket holders are children. More of everyone is coming to Premier League football."

Average attendances in the 1992-23 season were 21,131, and for this season so far are 35,767 only slightly below the record season of 2007-08.

Ahead of tonight's fixtures, 249,949,825 fans have witnessed 3,215 players in 7,975 games, scoring a total of 20,955 goals.

Manchester United, unsurprisingly, have had the biggest crowds and account for nearly 10% of the total number of fans (24.4M) ahead of Arsenal (17.1m) Liverpool (16.5m), Newcastle (15.9m) and Chelsea (13.7m).