Birmingham City bounced back from their humiliating 6-1 defeat to Blackpool with a respectable draw against Millwall on Saturday. 

Goals from Juninho Bacuna and Lyle Taylor were enough to earn the Blues a point from the clash, but despite that point, they sit 20th in the Championship standings.

It has been a very disappointing campaign for Lee Bowyer's side, who would be in big trouble had it not been for the points deductions given to Derby County and Reading.

Despite that, loyal fans have still turned out at St Andrews - Birmingham City's stadium - week in, week out, offering their support to the players despite their struggles on the pitch.

As a result, we thought it would be interesting to see how the Blues' attendances this campaign compare to those in recent seasons.

How do they compare?

To compare attendances we must first make it clear what the attendances at St. Andrews have been this season.

According to Football Web Pages, in their home league matches so far, the Blues have averaged an attendance of 16,048.

 

 

Given that the capacity of St. Andrews is 29,409 this may seem a small number, but there are mitigating factors.

Back in 2020, a structural survey of the stadium revealed problems and ever since, the Kop and Tilton Road stands have been closed.

Having one third of the stadium closed is clearly going to affect attendances and as such, this year's attendance is lower than in previous seasons, although higher than 2019/20.

In 2019/20, for example, Blues averaged 15,975 fans per match, although that too comes with the caveat that some matches were played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, both seasons are a drop off from previous averages in 2018/19 (22,483) and 2017/18 (21,042). The capacity would not permit such attendances this season even if there was the demand for it.

The truth is, it's hard to compare these numbers given that Blues have closed a third of the stadium due to safety measures, however, given that the stadium still has a working capacity of approximately 19,000, it isn't like St. Andrews is being filled week in, week out.

Their average attendance falls shy of that figure, but given the performances on the pitch, that is perhaps understandable.