The English Football League recorded its highest cumulative attendances for almost 60 years in 2016-17, with more than 18 million fans watching matches.
Crowds attending Championship, League One and League Two games were up by 11% on the 2015-16 campaign, and the most since 1958-59 when 18.8m turned out.
The figure was boosted by almost two million fans of relegated Newcastle and Aston Villa attending home games.
However, there was a 3% rise for the 67 clubs in the EFL this season and last.
In the Championship, more than 11m supporters went through the turnstiles, with Newcastle boasting the biggest average attendance of more than 51,000 and Villa second with more than 32,000.