This paper examines the relationship between the league standing of English professional football teams and the rank and size of the SMLA in which they are located, and the influence of population, among other factors, on attendances at football fixtures. The paper commences with a brief review of existing work in this area and concludes on the basis of empirical work presented here that the demonstrated influence of population on both league standing and attendances would suggest that big city teams will be more successful. Additionally, the relative importance of distance between teams competing in a fixture on attendances for lower division teams, might suggest benefits to be derived from regionalisation of the lower leagues.
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