By Sport Reporter
Surrey broke attendance records as well as completing the three-in-a-row as more spectators attended 2024 County Championship matches at the Kia Oval than in any other year in the 21st century.
As well as a total of 65,433 fans across the season, the club also set a record set for a match (13,706 versus Essex) and for a day of the red-ball competition (6,311 for day one versus Essex).
Surrey had their largest-ever member numbers at a Vitality Blast fixture, with 5,747 swelling the fixture attendance to just over 19,000 to watch the side qualify for Finals Day by beating Durham in a rollercoaster of a match.
There was a record crowd for the South East Stars fixture against Southern Vipers – part of the double-header that saw Surrey take on Somerset as part of Blast Off, the first weekend of fixtures in the Vitality Blast – as 7,185 fans were in the ground to see the Stars beat the Vipers with a dominant performance. It was an all-time record at the Kia Oval for a regional or county women’s fixture.
The record for largest attendance at a County Championship match at the ground this century had actually been set for the first game of the season against Somerset, when 10,401 watched a thrilling fixture that ended in a draw with Surrey trying to chase down 209 in just nineteen overs.
The Essex fixture was a top-of-the table clash when the club hosted a Festival of Red Ball Cricket on the first day. The club ran a special Q&A for spectators with Alec Stewart and Matt Dunn, put on coaching sessions for under-16s and also ran a beer festival.
Steve Elworthy, CEO at Surrey CCC, said: “It’s been another very special year of cricket at the Kia Oval and we’ve been so pleased to see the support shown for our teams. Surrey fans are the very best in the country and they’ve shown that the red-ball game has a significant and growing appeal.
“It was also great to see the number of fans and members coming to support the men’s and women’s teams in the Vitality Blast. This bodes particularly well for next year when the first fully professional Surrey women’s team will walk out at the Kia Oval.
“We will look to continue this trend in 2025 and hope to see more records set next season.”
