Timbo asked about discrepancies in attendances between the Centenary History and other sources:
torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=programmes&thread=7931&page=1I think Budleigh may have pointed out other examples in the past.
John Lovis has said to me that he feels the figures given in the book tend to be LOWER than those reported in the press at the time - citing the number of sub 1,000 gates in the Webb era as an example.
The 1975/76 discrepancies that Timbo points to surprisingly seem to be in the opposite direction - with figures in the book HIGHER than those in the programme.
What figures are right? Does anybody know for sure?
The post 1927 results/line-ups/attendances grids in the book were the work of Leigh Edwards.
I have a book on attendances called "Through the Turnstiles" by Brian Tabner. He explains that his figures are taken from official Football League records.
I have cross-checked and the average TUFC home attendances per the Centenary History tie up EXACTLY with Tabner's figures from 1927 to 1995. There are small discrepancies in the last four seasons 1995 to 1999.
That tends to suggest that Leigh Edwards got his figures from the same official source as Tabner - at least up until 1995.
Attendances are a bit of a "soft" figure rather than an "absolute" figure. Do you count people admitted on complimentary tickets? Do you count the players, the officials, the stewards? Do you count season ticket holders even if they don't turn up?
I would be interested to know what the standard definition of an "official attendance" is. Could any of the points I have listed above explain figures reported to the Football League being different from figures reported in the press at the time?
