Ipswich Town: Town fans named in top 20 of most supportive on earth

The Blues' army of followers finished above fans of fierce rivals Norwich City and supporters of fabled NBA franchise the Boston Celtics, plus the likes of Premier League rivals Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal and the famously enthusiastic Leeds United fanbase.

READ MORE: How McKenna made Portman Road a fortress

Indeed, the Blues are ranked an incredible 18th globally in the study, carried out for OLBG. 

Town fans cheer their side on against Liverpool (Image: Ross Halls) Using stats from last season (2023-24), boffins gave fans of each side in the world's biggest sporting leagues - including the likes of American behemoths the NFL, NBA and MLB - an overall score based on a number of factors.

That included the percentage of the team's home stadium that was full last term, the same stat for ten years ago and things like total online mentions, plus positive and negative feedback from fans.

Town's average attendance last season was 28,845, or 97% of Portman Road's advertised 29,673 capacity last year.

READ MORE: BBC pundit names Town player in his team of week yet again

That's a huge leap from the relatively dark days of 2013/14, when average attendance was just 17,110 (58% of capacity).

Analysts also recorded 605,000 online mentions for Town last season, of which just 4% were negative.

And that resulted in a total fan support score of 32.39 out of a possible 50.

Wherever Town play, they are backed by a travelling army (Image: Ross Halls) The ranking was topped by Real Madrid (44.43), followed by Manchester United (39.62), Cadiz FC (38.57), German outfit Bayer Leverkusen (37.98) and NHL side the Arizona Coyotes (36.67).

Other than Manchester United, the only English football sides to finish above Town were Millwall (6th), Crystal Palace (10th), Manchester City (12th), Aston Villa (13th) and Watford (17th). 

Town's support has soared since Marcus Evans sold the club to visionary American owners, and Mark Ashton and Kieran McKenna combined to finally stir a long-sleeping giant.

Now back in the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, their average home attendance across three games so far is a staggering 29,825 - Ashton having revealed ahead of the season that the capacity has been increased by works at Portman Road over the summer.

Town fans have created an unbelievable atmosphere at Portman Road for the past few seasons (Image: PA) Speaking ahead of last month’s game against Fulham, boss McKenna said: "What the fans can do is twofold.

"It’s about creating the atmosphere and the intensity that makes it difficult for the opposition and gives our players a boost. And it’s also about sticking with the team when things go against us.  

“I think over the two-and-a-half years I’ve been here we’ve built that. It maybe wasn’t there so much at the start, but through the way the group has performed, the way they’ve dealt with adversity, the resilience that they’ve shown, that’s given the crowd belief. In turn the crowd then give the players belief.” 

Top 20 most supportive fanbases in world sport according to OLBG:

1. Real Madrid
2. Manchester United
3. Cadiz FC
4. Bayer Leverkusen
5. Arizona Coyotes
6. Millwall
7. Real Betis
8. Borussia Dortmund
9. Atlanta Hawks
10. Crystal Palace
11. Bayern Munich
12. Manchester City
13. Aston Villa
14. Borussia Monchengladbach
15. Eintracht Frankfurt
16. PSG
17. Watford
18. Ipswich Town
19. Werder Bremen
20. Boston Celtics