The number of people watching matches in the Sky Bet Football League increased by 615,685 during the 2014/15 season, a four per cent increase on the previous year, reports www.fcbusiness.co.uk. It is the 12th consecutive season that crowds have topped the 15-million mark.

In total, more than 16.3m fans passed through the turnstiles at league matches played in the Sky Bet Championship, League 1 and League 2 in 2014/15.

In the 28 years since the introduction of the Play-Offs, gates for Football League matches have more than doubled.

Crowds for matches in the Sky Bet Championship increased by more than seven per cent representing an extra 1,228 fans at each of the 552 matches played with the average attendance reaching 17,847.

In Sky Bet League 1 average attendances topped the 7,000 mark (7,038) with a total of 3.9m people attending matches throughout the season.

Crowds for matches in Sky Bet League 2 are at their highest levels for more than a decade and totalled 2.6m during 2014/15. The average gate of 4,679 delivered an increase of nearly eight per cent.

Shaun Harvey, the Chief Executive of The Football League, said: "It is very heartening to see Football League crowds showing such a healthy increase. Having more than 16 million fans at our matches is a great endorsement of the entertainment our clubs provide and I would like to thank everyone that has bought a ticket and backed their team during a memorable season."