Portsmouth and Sunderland's EFL Trophy final attendance record is secure despite Plymouth v Bolton attracting Europe's biggest football crowd over weekend

That’s despite the attendance figure for Sunday’s Papa John’s Trophy final between Bolton and Plymouth being Europe’s biggest football crowd-puller over the weekend.

An impressive crowd of 79,389 was present at Wembley to witness Ian Evatt’s side blow away Plymouth 4-0 to claim the 2022-23 title and claim the trophy for a second time.

Yet it fell short of the number of fans who were present on the day Pompey secured the 2018-19 crown by beating Sunderland on penalties.

5,632 to be precise, with the Blues’ dramatic victory over the Black Cats on March 31, 2019, attracting 85,021 spectators – which remains the competition’s highest-ever attendance.

On that memorable day, both clubs were joined by 40,000-plus flag-waving fanatics at either end of the ground, which made for a spectacular setting.

Both Plymouth and Bolton fans ran Pompey and Sunderland close at the weekend, with 38,000-plus and 34,000 respectively accompanying their sides on their trips to the capital.

That was enough to beat the 75,000 fans who crammed into the Allianz Arena for Bayern Munich’s 4-2 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

It also exceeded the 59,400 crowd that saw Real Madrid demolish Real Valladolid 6-0 at the Bernabeu in La Liga.

But it didn’t set an EFL Trophy final record that remains safely in the hands of both Pompey and Sunderland for another year at least.

It’s also well short of the 89,874 fans that witnessed Pompey lift the 2008 FA Cup against Cardiff – an attendance that remains Wembley’s biggest for a sporting event other than boxing.