Borough Park is our happy place
Crowds continue to climb and, for the fourth season in a row, Workington have welcomed record attendances to their Northern Premier League fixtures at Borough Park.
Since the two covid interrupted seasons, Reds have attracted an average 700 plus attendance to CA14 2DT with the recently ended 2024-25 campaign welcoming more supporters through the turnstiles for league fixtures since our final term (’76-77) in the Football League.
It is a far cry from the dark days of the late eighties and nineties when the average crowd was below the 200 mark, over nine seasons, plummeting to a woeful average of just 126 during 1991-92. Indeed, home games against Worksop Town (93) and Alfreton Town (97) at that time recorded two of the lowest attendances in our history.
In contrast to those alarming figures, the record attendance for a league game at Borough Park was set in 2015 when 2,603 passed through the turnstiles for the visit of FC United of Manchester (runners-up v. the champions).
The table (below) indicates crowd figures for league matches only and doesn’t include the gates announced for cup-ties and play-off matches.
| Season | Aggregate | Average | Season | Aggregate | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975-76 | 30,399 | 1,321 | 2000-01 | 6,619 | 315 | |
| 1976-77 | 34,689 | 1,508 | 2001-02 | 5,135 | 245 | |
| 1977-78 | 13,480 | 586 | 2002-03 | 6,184 | 294 | |
| 1978-79 | 9,486 | 431 | 2003-04 | 6,662 | 317 | |
| 1979-80 | 8,879 | 422 | 2004-05 | 11,825 | 563 | |
| 1980-81 | 8,960 | 426 | 2005-06 | 10,095 | 481 | |
| 1981-82 | 6,738 | 320 | 2006-07 | 12,517 | 596 | |
| 1982-83 | 5,947 | 283 | 2007-08 | 8,230 | 392 | |
| 1983-84 | 5,091 | 242 | 2008-09 | 7,459 | 355 | |
| 1984-85 | 5,139 | 244 | 2009-10 | 8,299 | 415 | |
| 1985-86 | 5,286 | 251 | 2010-11 | 7,987 | 399 | |
| 1986-87 | 3,886 | 185 | 2011-12 | 8,658 | 412 | |
| 1987-88 | 4,551 | 216 | 2012-13 | 7,596 | 362 | |
| 1988-89 | 3,518 | 167 | 2013-14 | 7,477 | 356 | |
| 1989-90 | 3,610 | 171 | 2014-15 | 12,614 | 548 | |
| 1990-91 | 3,020 | 143 | 2015-16 | 11,882 | 517 | |
| 1991-92 | 2,654 | 126 | 2016-17 | 10,353 | 450 | |
| 1992-93 | 3,841 | 192 | 2017-18 | 8,773 | 381 | |
| 1993-94 | 4,590 | 230 | 2018-19 | 7,897 | 395 | |
| 1994-95 | 3,604 | 172 | 2019-20 * | 7,762 | 485 | |
| 1995-96 | 4,661 | 233 | 2020-21 * | 1,593 | 398 | |
| 1996-97 | 3,896 | 186 | 2021-22 | 14,024 | 738 | |
| 1997-98 | 4,123 | 196 | 2022-23 | 14,028 | 738 | |
| 1998-99 | 15,909 | 795 | 2023-24 | 14,845 | 742 | |
| 1999-00 | 11,394 | 543 | 2024-25 | 16,372 | 780 |
This season, and particularly since the lowest gate of the season (451 v. Basford United) in November, the crowds have been very healthy and probably not reflective of a team in the lower half of the division.
But hats off to the directors on this one because they have introduced several excellent initiatives over the last few seasons and our fan base now contains far more juniors/young adults than ever before.
The average of 780, from an aggregate figure of 16,372, is the best return in thirty-eight seasons of Northern Premier League football, nine seasons in National North and only marginally inferior to the average in our title-winning adventure in the North West Counties League.
It will be important to maintain, and add to these figures, until the stadium project is underway which, in theory, should generate even more support through the turnstiles on completion!
