Manchester United had the highest aggregate attendance in domestic league football of all European men’s clubs during the 2023-24 season, a Uefa report has revealed.
The ‘European Club Talent and Competition Landscape report’, being published on Thursday, has found that in league matches, their total attendance of 1,397,148 was the highest of all European teams at home.
That is despite United finishing eighth last season, their lowest finish in Premier League history.
German side Borussia Dortmund had the highest average attendance in home league matches, with 81,305 per Bundesliga match. Dortmund did play two fewer home league matches than clubs in England, Spain and Italy.
In all competitions, Dortmund had the highest total attendance of 1,951,745. That was helped by six home Champions League matches, with the Black and Yellows reaching the final of the competition last season, losing to Real Madrid.
United ranked third for home attendances in all competitions with a total of 1,834,291, while Italian outfit AC Milan were second, with an aggregate home attendance of 1,860,964.
In total, 16 European clubs had total home league attendances of more than one million for the season, including West Ham, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
For total attendance, the Premier League was the best attended league, with 14.7 million people going to games. Although there was a 4% drop in Premier League attendances for the 2023-24 season from the previous year – the average stadium capacity had decreased by more than 5%.
With an average match attendance of over 23,000, the Championship was the seventh-best attended league in Europe during the 2023-24 season.
Growing attendances in the women’s game
In the women’s game, attendances in top flights across Europe rose to over 2.6 million people, a rise of 38% from the previous season.
English teams were at the forefront of that, with Arsenal’s total home league attendance for the season of 329,986 more than 200,000 clear of every other European club.
Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea were the three other sides with total season attendances over 100,000 for league matches.
Barcelona finished second in all competitions with a total attendance of 216,974, being the only club in Europe to have a total above 100,000 for matches in the Champions League alone.
The Champions League final between Barcelona and Lyon in Bilbao was the fifth-best attended women’s match in Europe last season, watched by 50,827 people.
Arsenal’s home Women’s Super League matches against Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool were the four to beat that mark.