'Whither Rugby?' 05/06 - New Boys do Best
By BrianC
June 11 2006
In this article, many of you will be pleased to know, we let the figures and graphs do most of the talking. Here we look at how the clubs have performed against each other both last season and in the professional era.
A more detailed explanation of the source of the figures, the variables and my interpretation of them can be found on The Figures Explained.
| 2005/6 | Average Gate |
| Leicester | 16815 |
| Northampton | 13252 |
| Gloucester | 11573 |
| London Irish | 10772 |
| Bath | 10442 |
| Sale | 9724 |
| Worcester | 9668 |
| Bristol | 9265 |
| Wasps | 8983 |
| Saracens | 8134 |
| Newcastle | 8030 |
| Leeds | 5900 |
The stars of the 05/06 season were Bristol and Worcester, the newer boys on the block. Worcester, with the help of extra capacity at Sixways, grew their gates by 18.6%. Bristol bounced back to the Premiership in no uncertain terms, their average gate of 9265 was 31.9% up on 02/03, the last season they were in the Premiership.
| % Growth on 04/05 | |
| Bristol (0n 02/03) | 31.9% |
| Worcester | 18.6% |
| Sale | 16.6% |
| Northampton | 11.6% |
| Saracens | 7.1% |
| Leeds | 5.9% |
| London Irish | 2.3% |
| Newcastle | 1.0% |
| Bath | -0.1% |
| Wasps | -0.9% |
| Leicester | -1.2% |
| Gloucester | -2.8% |
| No. Growth on 04/05 | |
| Bristol (0n 02/03) | 2242 |
| Worcester | 1518 |
| Northampton | 1372 |
| Sale | 1302 |
| Saracens | 542 |
| Leeds | 326 |
| London Irish | 239 |
| Newcastle | 78 |
| Leicester | 26 |
| Bath | -5 |
| Wasps | -80 |
| Gloucester | -336 |
Sale continued the strong growth we have seen this decade with an increase of 16.6% over 04/05. Honorable mentions also go to Northampton, up 11.3% Saracens up 7.1% and Leeds who managed 5.9%. London Irish still hold the record of being the fastest growing club of the professional era but both Sale and Bristol are now snapping at their heels.
Set against a background of 4.5% overall growth the picture with regards to individual clubs last season is a mixed one. Four clubs grew well, two respectably and six either grew very little or even saw a drop in their figures. Even in the case of the two clubs with what I call respectable growth, Saracens and Leeds, there were factors that flattered their figures somewhat this season.
In the next article in this series I'll take a look at the predictions I made at the start of last season and how well I managed to judge this seasons gates.