Another 1,400 plus crowd at AFC Portchester – interest in Portsmouth area Wessex League action is at a remarkable level

The kick off at the On-Site Group Stadium had to be delayed for 15 minutes to ensure all spectators were inside the ground.

The 1,458 crowd was the third highest in the Wessex League since records began, and the second four-figure attendance at the ground in four months.

The Wessex’s highest gate remains the 1,598 who watched Portchester’s El Creekio derby with Fareham in January.

Second highest remains the 1,485 who saw Salisbury’s city derby with Bemerton Heath Harlequins in December 2015.

The fourth highest ever recorded was the return El Creekio derby at Cams Alders last month, which attracted 1,107.

And the fifth highest was also set this season, when Portchester’s visit to Westleigh Park to face Moneyfields just after Christmas was watched by 1,102.

Portchy have been involved in the six highest Wessex Premier crowds this season - fifth highest was the 552 who saw them beat Bemerton last October and sixth best was the 510 that saw the 1-1 draw with Baffins on April 1.

Due to the size of the crowds against Baffins and Horndean, the Royals’ seasonal average is now 455.

That is actually higher than Concord Rangers and Hungerford in the National League, three tiers higher than the Wessex Premier, are averaging.

This season, 13 of the 24 National League South clubs have failed to attract a crowd as big as Portchy welcomed for Horndean’s visit

They include Hawks, whose highest gate of a league season that once looked so promising is 1,251 against champions Ebbsfleet last November.

Nine National League North clubs - including former Football League outfit Southport - have not welcomed a crowd as big as Portchy v Horndean.

Even higher, in the National League - the top flight of English football - 13 clubs out of 24 have welcomed crowds lower than Portchy v Horndean this term.

They include the likes of Barnet, Torquay, Aldershot and Dagenham & Redbridge, all of whom have been in the EFL in the last decade.

Only five clubs in the Southern League South - two tiers higher in the pyramid than the Wessex Premier - are averaging more than Portchy’s 455.

They include table-topping Weston-super-Mare, who have the best average of 818 in their league. Second best, despite the fact they are battling to avoid relegation, are Portchester’s neighbours Gosport Borough (average 689).

Portchy’s two 1,000-plus attendances are both higher than all but one recorded across the four Southern League divisions in 2022/23.

The exception is the 2,042 that saw Barwell v St Ives in the Central Premier division last November.

The highest in the Premier South is the 1,385 who watched Plymouth Parkway take on tenants Truro City on Boxing Day.

The highest crowd in the Southern League Division 1 South - the league both Portchy and Horndean could be playing in next season - is the 1,435 who saw AFC Totton play Larkhall last month.

SEE MORE: AFC Portchester v Horndean picture gallery

Totton - managed by Jimmy Ball, son of England World Cup winner and ex-Pompey boss Alan - are currently four points clear at the top of the division.

They defeated Cinderford 3-0 at the weekend with two goals from Scott Rendell - who was at Hawks last season - taking his league tally to 24.

Across the whole of the seventh and eighth tiers on Good Friday and Easter Saturday, only one club – Macclesfield FC – attracted a higher attendance than Portchy v Horndean.

The Sulkmen – already crowned champions of the Northern Premier League West division – welcomed a crowd of 4,060 for their 5-0 win over City of Liverpool.

Phoenix club Macclesfield are remarkably averaging over 3,600 for eighth tier league games this season – more than 1,000 higher than when Macclesfield Town were playing in League Two in 2019/20.

This season’s attendances - certainly for the PO postcode fixtures already mentioned - clearly illustrate the levels of interest in ninth tier football.

Who would have thought, even 12 months ago, that four PO derbies this season would be watched by four-figure crowds?

After all, last season’s Portchester v Horndean league game was watched by 266, and just 178 saw the same game in 2019/20.