Financial Worries In The Football League

Last updated : 10 March 2013 By County Ground

A BBC survey has shown that falling attendances and rising player costs have contributed to the fears as a 'challenging' economic climate continues to test many business sectors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21713435

"It's important to keep a long-term perspective on crowd figures as they can fluctuate significantly from season to season," a Football League spokesman told BBC Sport.

"Nevertheless, gate income remains the biggest single revenue stream for clubs so we are monitoring the situation - attracting and retaining fans remains a priority."

Northampton Town chairman David Cardoza spoke only last week about attendances at Sixfields which have dipped this season despite more success on the pitch.

He told the Chronicle & Echo: "We’re doing okay; arguably we are not doing as well as we were five or six years ago when we were going for promotion, but the world was a different place then.

“People had more money and everyone was on a high then.

“I’d like bigger gates, definitely, but I think we can achieve that in our last few games.”

Saturday's 4,746 gate against Accrington pushed the season average up slightly to 4,456. Last season the Cobblers attracted an average crowd of 4,867