The Championship is now the fourth most watched League in Europe with 9.4m fans in attendance at games in 2007/08.

Only the Premiership, Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's La Liga have higher crowd figures with the average attendance at Championship games last term at 17,022.

Crowds at matches in the Coca-Cola Football League broke the 16m barrier for the fourth consecutive season. In total, more than 16.2m supporters attended the 1,656 matches played during 2007/08.

The Football League has enjoyed a sustained period of attendance growth since the mid-eighties with crowds more than doubling in that time. In recent seasons gates have reached their highest levels for nearly 50 years.