Leicester City no longer lead the way for average attendance in the Championship this season, having been overtaken by their promotion-chasing neighbours down the M69
Jordan Blackwell
07:00, 17 Dec 2025
As if it’s not galling enough for Leicester City to see neighbours Coventry flying high at the top of the Championship standings, there’s another table in which the Sky Blues have now overtaken them.
City had, until the final weekend of November, been leading the charts for average attendance in the Championship this season.
But after weeks of gaining ground, Coventry’s attendance of just over 31,000 for their clash with Charlton saw the Sky Blues leapfrog City, who had just under 29,000 present for their game against Sheffield United.
For each club’s most recent home match, over the weekend just gone, around 600 more supporters were inside the CBS Arena than were at the King Power Stadium, and so Coventry retain their slender advantage.
With 10 home games played, City’s average attendance stands at 29,678. Coventry’s is 29,837.
It was a table that City were perhaps favourites to lead. Two seasons ago, they had the third-highest average attendance in the Championship behind Sunderland and Leeds.
With both of those clubs now in the Premier League, City were the front-runners to take top spot.
At just under 40,000 capacity, Sheffield Wednesday have the biggest ground in the division, but amid the protests over off-field woes there, they were never likely to trouble the top of this particular table.
City and Coventry are two of six clubs whose capacities sit between 32,000 and 34,000, along with Middlesbrough, Derby, Sheffield United and Southampton. Of those clubs, City have been the most consistent at posting 30,000+ attendances over the past few years.
That’s not been the case of late, though. City have now gone five matches without reaching 30,000. In some cases, that was due to small away followings. That was not the reason for the weekend just gone though, with Ipswich packing out their end at the King Power.
In any case, it’s not a competition as such to finish top of the average attendance table. There are no prizes to be won. It’s just that it’s an indicator of where clubs are at.
Hope has been restored over a number of years at Coventry, and with a chance to return to the top flight after a quarter of a century away, their supporters have been packing out the stands.
At City, there’s been malaise around the running of the club and with middling results on the pitch this year – the win over Ipswich was just their fourth home victory from 10 this term – some fans have been staying away.
The fall in the average attendance is not yet worrying in any way, but it would be remiss not to mention the negative trend.
It should be something City want to correct. They need performances on the pitch, of course, and more showings like that against Ipswich will bring supporters back.
But as it’s a sign of the happiness at a club, perhaps it should be a table City aim to finish top of.
If they do get back above Coventry before the end of the season, that should be an indicator that things are looking up.