Sunderland's stunning average home attendance compared to Leeds, Portsmouth and other Championship rivals

The Stadium of Light has provided the solid foundations upon which Sunderland’s push for promotion into the Premier League have been built.

Historically, the Black Cats home has always provided a tough place to visit for opposition sides - and that was why Sunderland’s return on their home patch last season proved to be so underwhelming. During a campaign that saw Tony Mowbray, Michael Beale and Mike Dodds occupy the home dugout, the Black Cats lost just under half of their home games, collecting 32 points from a possible 69 points in front of the Wearside faithful.

Thankfully, this season has brought a monumental improvement having lost just one of their first 19 games at the Stadium of Light and that defeat came last month when a Charlie Hughes goal was enough to give Hull City all three points and succeed where several of Sunderland’s promotion rivals had failed.

During their first season under new head coach Regis Le Bris, the Black Cats have created some remarkable moments in front of their home support. Who could forget Chris Rigg’s impudent finish that helped see off Middlesbrough in September or the 4-0 hammering of Sheffield Wednesday as Le Bris introduced himself to the home faithful in spectacular fashion? Although it did not lead to a win, Alan Browne’s quite frankly bizarre late equaliser against Leeds United raised a smile and seeing youngster Tommy Watson net his first two goals on home soil in a 2-1 victory against Stoke City will live long in the memory.

There is no doubting Sunderland possess one of the loyalist fanbases in the Championship - but how does their average home attendances for league games compare to their rivals across the second tier?

Who has the highest average attendance in the Championship?

24. Oxford United - 11,340 23. Luton Town - 11,501 22. Swansea City - 15,086 21. Millwall - 15,166 20. Queens Park Rangers - 15,654 19. Blackburn Rovers - 16,377 18. Plymouth Argyle - 16,500 17. Preston North End - 16,571 16. Cardiff City - 18,773 15. Watford - 19,353 14. Burnley - 19,718 13. Portsmouth - 20,233 12. Hull City - 21,011 11. Bristol City - 21,809 10. Stoke City - 22,445 9. West Bromwich Albion - 24,961 8. Middlesbrough - 25,241 7. Norwich City - 26,253 6. Sheffield Wednesday - 26,507 5. Coventry City - 27,366 4. Sheffield United - 27,390 3. Derby County - 28,905 2. Leeds United - 36,147 1. Sunderland - 40,190

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