Chelsea have the largest amount of armchair fans in London with 33% admitting they have never seen them play in the flesh. Arsenal were second worst in the capital with 29% admitting they had never been to the Emirates.
Despite 26,000 new season ticket holders and a new 57,000 capacity stadium in Stratford, 23% of West Ham fans say they have never watched the Hammers up close and personal with the same amount of Spurs fans that have never been to White Hart Lane. Only Watford and Crystal Palace came out better.
The survey by EveryFan of 2,000 fans shows West Ham were the second most likely set of fans to count London as their closest city. The average West Ham supporter lives 41 miles away from the London Stadium in Stratford and spends £31 on official merchandise which is some way behind Chelsea fans who buy £64 worth of Chelsea branded goods per season.
Leon Walters, CEO of EveryFan, said: “With our research, we wanted to find out exactly what the modern fan looks like, and it’s thrown up some fascinating results.
I don’t believe the results of this survey based on personal experience. I’ve worked with plenty of Arsenal and Spurs ‘fans’ and I’ve only ever met one from each club who actually went to games. I get identical results if when I think of all the neighbours that have lived near me going back for decades.