Huge growth in Falcons’ crowd stats
The Falcons have averaged more than 10,000 supporters at their nine league games in Newcastle this term, the biggest number in the club’s history, surpassing the average of 8,030 set during the 2005/6 campaign.
The current average going into the last home game of the regular season against Wasps on Saturday May 5 is up 42.5% on last season’s mark of 7,090.
Should the Falcons achieve a home crowd of more than 9,048 in the regular-season climax against Wasps it would ensure the season average tops the 10,000 mark for the first time in the club’s history, and with 7,000 tickets already sold for the 4pm kick-off the target is within reach.
This season’s home figures have of course been boosted by the incredible club record attendance of 30,174 at St James’ Park on March 24, when the Falcons defeated Northampton Saints 25-22 in ‘The Big One’. But the rise in crowd numbers has been a steady one over a number of seasons, the past four years alone seeing a 96.8% leap on the 2013/14 season average of 5,135.
The Falcons’ game in Philadelphia in September has been excluded from the statistics as this was not organised by the club, the increased gates for the Falcons’ matches in Newcastle seeing a rise in performance levels from the team.
Dean Richards’ men are unbeaten on home soil in any competition in almost five months, their last Kingston Park defeat coming on November 24 against Gloucester. Since then the Falcons have won all nine of their home games, commercial director Mick Hogan saying: “It has been a season of fantastic growth on all fronts for the club.
“Lots of attention will understandably be focused on the amazing record attendance we enjoyed at St James’ Park last month, and rightly so, but the crowd numbers for our Kingston Park Stadium matches have also been showing a healthy growth.
“We had our first 10,000-strong Kingston Park sell-out in almost a decade when we hosted Leicester Tigers back in October, and our hospitality and seated areas have been sold out on a number of other occasions.
“These numbers are driven in no small part by the fantastic performance of the team and the exciting, winning brand of rugby on show, but we have also put in an incredible amount of hard work listening to our supporters, finding out what they want and improving our match-day experience in every area.
“That work continues with the ambitious plans we have to develop the stadium in the coming years, but if we can achieve a home crowd of 9,048 or more for the game against Wasps on May 5 the season average of more than 10,000 would be an outstanding milestone to illustrate the progress we are making.”
Tickets for the visit of Wasps on Saturday May 5 are available by [**clicking here**][1] or calling 0871 226 6060.
Season ticket memberships for 2018-19 are available by [**clicking here**][2] or calling 0871 226 6060.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1288
[2]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Season/Index/1361?returnUrl=/newcastle-falcons/Seasons/Seasons
