Jim's column 24.2.2018

The FA Cup run came to an end at Brighton's Amex stadium on Saturday but the Sky Blues' young team did the club proud against their Premiership opponents which included the impressive £14m record signing Jurgen Locadia.

The Amex attendance was reported as 26,966 which I think was quite impressive for a stadium that only holds 30,750 and the modern trend for attendances to be poor when Premiership sides entertain lower division teams.

City's following was reported as 4,529 but I believe there may have been a couple of hundred in the Brighton areas and not included in that figure. The Sky Blue Army's numbers were restricted by the allocation from Brighton and without a cap I think we would have topped the 7,873 that travelled to Milton Keynes for round four.

Since away fan numbers have been officially reported around 11 or 12 years ago, these are the top City away followings (Wembley apart):

11,423 v Man United (League Cup) 2007-08

7,956 v Arsenal (League Cup) 2012-13

7,873 v MK Dons (FA Cup) 2017-18

6,781 v MK Dons 2013-14

5,604 v Birmingham (FA Cup) 2010-11

5,186 v Arsenal (FA Cup) 2013-14

5,021 v Tottenham (FA Cup) 2012-13

4,988 v MK Dons 2012-13

4,846 v Blackburn (FA Cup) 2008-09

4,529 v Brighton (FA Cup) 2017-18

You have to admit they are impressive followings for a lower division club.

Talking about attendances I have to comment on the Accrington crowd figure two weeks ago. The club reported the 'official' attendance as 28,343 but most regulars realised there were nowhere near that number actually in the ground. Most estimates put the actual crowd at more like 21,000. The reason for the higher number being reported is that all EFL clubs (and Premiership clubs) have to include every season ticket holder whether in attendance or not and every ticket issued. The club gave away around 14,000 tickets to local schools for the game and all of these were included in the 'official' attendance when my view is that only about 50% of them were taken up.

In days gone by the official attendance was the number counted at the turnstiles, plus an allowance based on dividing season ticket numbers sold by the number of matches that season, but not (I believe) "complimentaries".  That was because the Football League were entitled to a share of the gate receipts, and therefore were more interested in the money than the number of spectators. In my opinion the league rules are crazy, especially when it comes to historic record-keeping, but the league have a poor record when it comes to recognising history.

Talking to other club historians I discovered that many Premiership clubs have virtually identical attendances for every home game despite there being numbers of empty seats and that the Manchester police reckon that Old Trafford attendances are sometimes 10,000 less than the 'official' attendance reported.

The 28,343 reported gate does set a new record for Tier 4 since the league's reorganisation in 1992 but it's lower than the highest since the 1958 reorganisation (when Division Four was formed) – that record is 37,774 for Crystal Palace v Millwall in 1961. The gate was also lower than City's tier 4 record, 28,429, set in 1958-59 for the Division Four promotion six-pointer with Port Vale.

Next Saturday's Legends Day is promising to be the biggest in terms of former players attending with 53 Fps confirmed as I write this. Several are attending for the first time including Micky Adams, Jim Blyth, Nick Pickering and Andy Marshall, and Mo Konjic is attending for the first time in many years. Seven decades of City players will be represented on a day that is dedicated to Cyrille Regis. Cyrille's widow Julia and a good number of his relatives are also attending as well as several football personalities keen to pay their respects to the big man. To see a full list of former players attending go to www.ccfpa.co.uk