'Sunderland have a higher average attendance than Juventus

Former Hull boss Phil Brown has described Sunderland fans as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ as he pointed out the club has ha higher average gate than Italian and European giants Juventus.

Sunderland have emerged through some tough years in League One to return to he Championship this season, and the fans have responded with a league-leading average attendance of 38,095 – a jump of around 5,000 on their average gate in League One in 2021/22.

Juventus, meanwhile, can muster just 36,565 in Serie A this season.

“Sunderland are mid-table at the moment and they are just short of 40,000 average crowd, it’s absolutely phenomenal,” Brown told the Official EFL Podcast.

“Again, a statistic that came out on [Radio Five Live programme] Fighting Talk, they have got a bigger average than Juventus.”

Brown also allowed the veil to slide a little on the fact he is a huge Sunderland fan himself (although it is hardly a secret) and he says a play-off charge in the second half of the season is not beyond the Black Cats.

“We are, sorry I’m talking about Sunderland here, we are mid-table in the Championship but we are top ten in terms of crowd support in terms of England’s top four divisions, phenomenal.

“It’s a great division, it really is. If Sunderland can just hang in there, you never know they might just nick into the play-offs, I’m hoping.”

ALSO READ: 'Be more like Sunderland fans,' Championship boss tells his own supporters