Prenton Park - Attendances

Attendances

Prenton Park has seen the number of supporters rise and fall considerably over its hundred-year history. Around 8,000 visitors watched the first game at the stadium on 11 March 1912, as Tranmere beat Lancaster Town 8–0. Early attendances varied from 5,000 to 8,000, though, on Boxing Day 1921, 11,137 supporters came to see Tranmere take on Bolton Wanderers Reserves. Tranmere entered The Football League the next season, and 7,011 watched their first game against Crewe Alexandra F.C.. There was an average of 6,000 in attendance at home games, before the Football League was suspended as a result of the Second World War.

After the war, the number of supporters rose, and by the early 1960s this number had increased to highs of 12,000. Attendances began to fall towards the end of the 1960s; this trend continued through the 1970s, though the decade did give Tranmere its largest-ever crowd: 24,424 on 5 February 1972, for a fourth-round FA Cup match against Stoke City. With today's capacity of under 17,000, it is unlikely that this record attendance will ever be broken.

The 1980s saw the number of supporters falling to some of the ground's lowest levels. The lowest ever attendance at Prenton Park was on 20 February 1984, when only 937 supporters watched a 2–0 victory over Halifax Town. However, the decade also saw a high number of supporters in the ground for other reasons. In the Hillsborough disaster, 96 Liverpool F.C. fans lost their lives and, on 15 April 1989, 12,000 people attended a memorial service at Prenton Park.

Tranmere's success in the 1990s led to improved attendances, rising to around 9,000 per game. By 2010, this had fallen to around 5,000 per game; however, 12,249 supporters took advantage of an offer of free admission to watch a replayed match against Notts County F.C., on 19 April 2011. In the season 2011–2012, there were two £5 administration offers available; one of them was on a Bank Holiday and the other was for a celebration of 100 years of Prenton Park 1912–2012 with an attendance of 6,824, with many events on before and after the game and at half time.