How Birmingham City and Aston Villa's home attendances compare so far | OneFootball

The Second City rivals are both well-known for their passionate fanbases

Birmingham City and Aston Villa are both known for boasting two of English football's most passionate sets of fans, even though, at present, it is those from B6 who have enjoyed more recent success.

Blues have not resided in the same division as Villa for seven years now, with the latter earning promotion from the Championship in May 2019 by defeating Derby County in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Since then, they have gone from strength-to-strength under Unai Emery and ended a 30-year trophy drought in May by lifting the UEFA Europa League in Istanbul with a 3-0 win over SC Freiburg.

Whilst it pains Birmingham supporters to see their rival fanbase enjoying such great days, Knighthead Capital Management have certainly restored hope at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in the short and long-term, where they will hope to compete in the Second City derby for a prolonged period of time in the top-flight.

Even though there is a divisional gap between the two clubs, comparisons are often made, and FLW have looked at how attendances at St. Andrew's and Villa Park compare after the first two months of the 2026/27 campaign.

Birmingham City's attendances at St. Andrew's so far in 2026/27

Action Images

Just a few short years ago, only half of St. Andrew's was open to supporters as a result of much-needed renovation works, but after a £15m makeover in 2024, it is often full to the brim these days.

An average attendance of 27,163 last season was the eighth-best figure in the Championship as Birmingham only lost three times on home turf whilst finishing 10th, and despite a minor decrease after four games in B9 this term, figures are still extremely respectable.

Unsurprisingly, the highest gate in B9 this season came during the 2-2 draw with West Midlands rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers, with 27,503 in attendance for the pulsating encounter, whilst the average gate sits at 26,703, which is currently the fifth-highest in the league heading into its first international break.

Aston Villa's attendance figures have been impacted for 2026/27 season

Action Images

During its time, Villa Park has hosted several European nights and FA Cup semi-finals, making it one of the most famous stadiums in English football, and the largest in the West Midlands region by capacity by some distance.

As Emery's side ended their long wait for a major trophy and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the second time in three years, an average attendance of 41,977 was the 10th-highest in last season's Premier League.

However, attendances will be impacted in B6 this season as the North Stand is redeveloped, with the previous structure that was built in 1977 currently being demolished, reducing the overall capacity to approximately 37,000.

In their home losses against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest so far this term, the Trinity Road, Doug Ellis and Holte End stands have remained packed, though, with average gates coming in at a figure of 36,759.

Birmingham City's upcoming stadium would trump fresh Villa Park capacity

Image supplied by Grayling

Image supplied by Grayling

St. Andrew's current capacity is still way below that of Villa Park's, even with the redevelopment, with the B9 ground able to fit a maximum of 29,409 fans.

However, in a matter of years, Blues will be boasting a bigger stadium than their cross-city rivals, even if that doesn't immediately come with success on the pitch.

The Powerhouse stadium will be the centrepiece of the multi-billion pound Sports Quarter development in East Birmingham, and is set to hold 62,000 supporters, with there being hope that it opens by 2031.

Villa Park, meanwhile, will be expanded to over 50,000 in capacity when the North Stand is rebuilt in 2027, with the new structure holding over 12,000 seats ahead of the stadium being a host venue for UEFA Euro 2028, some 32 years after it was the setting for four matches at Euro 96.