Leeds United's average attendance compared to the rest of the Championship so far | OneFootball

FLW outline the average attendances in the Championship and how Leeds United compare.

Leeds United have one of the largest and most passionate fanbases in the country, especially in the Championship, with Elland Road regularly full to the rafters in recent seasons.

Leeds is a city situated in West Yorkshire in the North of England and is the largest one-club city in England. The likes of London, Birmingham, and Manchester are the homes of multiple clubs. Leeds, however, have the likes of Guiseley, Leeds City, Farsley AFC, and Garforth Town to contend with.

But all of those play non-league football at present, making Leeds the highest ranking professional side in all of West Yorkshire. Therefore, there is little excuse for them to not have a stadium at close to full capacity, and as a strong side with good footballers, there is every chance that fans will flock to Elland Road once more in 2024/25.

The expectations at Elland Road this season

The close of the transfer window allows clubs to now focus solely on the football on the pitch until January, with Leeds aiming to bounce back to the Premier League at the second time of asking. Alongside the recently relegated sides, they have been named among the favourites for promotion once more, after narrowly missing out last term following a loss in the play-off final at Wembley against Southampton.

Those four teams are aided by the likes of parachute payments, more saleable assets, and quality footballers. The expectation, therefore, was always that they would compete at the top end of the division to bounce back to the top-flight at the first or second time of asking, be that from their own fans or those of other teams in the second.

Leeds have enjoyed some recent success despite failure to bounce straight back up last season, when under Marcelo Bielsa's tutelage, they would finish ninth upon their returning season to the Premier League, after 16 years away. However, their passionate fanbase can still expect high-quality football at Elland Roa, which is playing host to Championship games once again this season.

Leeds have plans to expand the ground at some stage, albeit that is likely to be contingent on promotion. They have held talks with relevant stakeholders in the city as the club continues to take steps towards expansion, according to reports from iNews back in April. They state that the Whites are working on plans to expand their home stadium to around 50,000.

Despite that, it remains one of the largest in the UK. Elland Road is the 15th largest football stadium in English football and has a capacity of 37,068, with only Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday able to boast larger stadiums in the second tier.

How Elland Road's attendance compares to the rest of the Championship in 2024/25

Leeds are one of the biggest clubs outside of the Premier League, commercially, historically, and in terms of the size of their fanbase. Their potential as a major one-club city in the UK is, undeniably, enormous. If they are to compete with English football's elite, then the first step feels like the expansion of Elland Road.

For now, the focus is on promotion, and their attentions were on giving Daniel Farke a team capable of competing once again. There is no way of unlocking the potential of being a major power without going up. They are a relative juggernaut in the division and have already started well, with Leeds currently inside the play-offs after two wins and two draws in their first league games.

Elland Road has seen a chaotic and dramatic 3-3 draw with Portsmouth, and a regulation and fairly comfortable 2-0 win over Hull City so far, but there are bound to be more games of both types over the course of the campaign. But just how does their average attendance compare to the rest of the division? We take a look, here.

Per Transfermarkt, Leeds have the second-highest attendance so far in the league, with Sunderland the only team ahead of them at The Stadium of Light. Sunderland have averaged 40,059, whilst Leeds are near their capacity with 36,475 at Elland Road so far.

No other club has averaged higher than 30,000, with the likes of Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday the closest to Leeds at around 30,000. Leeds' attendances dwarf the likes of Luton Town and Oxford United, who are so far averaging the fewest number of supporters at 11,777 and 11,368 respectively.

However, perhaps the key figure is the percentage of the ground that clubs are currently managing to fill, with early season optimism perhaps boosting attendances in the summer sunshine. Leeds fill 96.3% of the capacity of Elland Road, with Carrow Road (96.9%), Fratton Park (97.9%), and Kenilworth Road (99.4%) the only stadiums which have a higher percentage of their ground filled at present.

The Stadium of Light is 82.2% full, which puts into perspective the sheer volume of Leeds fans flocking to Elland Road currently. With Leeds having one of the strongest squads in the league again this season, and a two-time Championship winner at the helm in Daniel Farke, they will hope to be the 12th man and to make Elland Road a fortress again.