How Stoke City's attendance v Norwich City compared to the rest of the Championship | OneFootball

The Potters came away with a valuable point against the Canaries on Saturday

Stoke City continued their decent start to life under head-coach Narcis Pelach as they held play-off chasing Norwich City to a 1-1 draw at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Potters headed into the game off the back of a 0-0 deadlock in South Wales against Swansea City prior to the international break, with Pelach facing off against his former employers for the first time after being headhunted by the Potters to succeed Steven Schumacher last month.

The Spainard spent just over a year as assistant boss at Carrow Road, and worked with Norwich head-coach Johannes Hoff Thorup for a few months before he was handed the opportunity to take over in the Potteries, and his insider knowledge of the Canaries was prevalent as Stoke limited his former side to few major chances in front of goal.

Stoke started the brighter with early opportunities for Tom Cannon and Andrew Moran to open the scoring, but the visitors grew into proceedings, and Potters keeper Viktor Johansson was called upon twice in quick succession to expertly deny both Marcelino Nunez and Kenny McLean from close range.

Thorup's men did soon take the lead though, as a well-worked move on the stroke of half-time saw Ante Crnac fire past Johansson at his near post to bag his first goal for Norwich since his summer move from Rakow Czestochowa.

That looked to be a sucker punch for the Potters as the interval beckoned, but Dutch winger Million Manhoef had other ideas, as he picked up Enda Stevens' cross on the right side of the Canaries' box and curled a strike past George Long to level the scores in first-half stoppage time.

Both teams had chances to take all three points in the second period, but it turned out to be a goalless, yet entertaining half of play that ended with the teams each taking a share of the spoils.

Stoke fans will feel pleased at their recent performances at the bet365 Stadium, with three wins in their last four home games in all competitions, and we have looked at how their attendance on Saturday compared to the rest of the Championship games.

Stoke City's attendance against Norwich City compared to the rest of the Championship

Stoke have pretty steadily averaged just over 20,000 home fans in league games at the bet365 Stadium over the last few years, and this outing against Norwich was no different, with 23,002 supporters in attendance to see the 1-1 draw play out.

That was the fifth-highest attendance in the Championship over the course of the weekend, with Leeds vs Sheffield United (36,695), Sheffield Wednesday vs Burnley (28,105), Middlesbrough vs Bristol City (24,438) and Hull City vs Sunderland (23,072) recording higher numbers than the Potters' fixture.

Oxford United vs West Bromwich Albion saw the lowest attendance in the Championship this weekend at 11,453, followed by Luton Town vs Watford (11,758), Blackburn Rovers vs Swansea City (13,550), Preston North End vs Coventry City (15,907), Millwall vs Derby County (17,321), QPR vs Portsmouth (17,438) and Cardiff City vs Plymouth Argyle (20,634).

Stoke's attendance against Norwich compared to their other home games so far this season

According to Transfermarkt, the Potters' average attendance has improved so far this term compared to last, from 22,742 to 23,200, but that is working off a much smaller sample size this season, and that figure could deviate depending on their league form.

The game against Norwich was Stoke's fifth home outing in the Championship so far this campaign, and their attendance of 23,002 was the second-lowest to date.

The Potters' season-opener against Coventry City is still their highest home attendance so far, with 25,037 fans at the bet365 Stadium on August 10, while their second home outing of 2024/25 against West Brom follows behind at 24,371.

As is the surprising nature of football, Stoke's lowest home attendance in the Championship so far yielded one of their biggest wins in recent history, as 20,824 supporters watched Narcis Pelach's side hammer Portsmouth 6-1 last month.

The Norwich game follows as their second-lowest, while the 3-1 defeat to Hull City on September 20 comes right in the middle of all the outings to date, at 23,366.