Figures released by the Football League show an increase in crowds for the eighth consecutive season.

A total of 16.3m supporters attended the 1,656 fixtures played across the Championship, League One and League Two, with English football’s second tier retaining its place as the fourth most watched league in Europe.

The Championship attracted more than 9.9m as a total audience, compared to Germany’s Bundesliga (13.9m), the Premier League (13.1m) and Spain’s La Liga (11.5m).

The average attendance in the Championship was 18,568, 7,359 in League One and 4,406 in League Two.

In the East End, West Ham United topped the average attendance figures with 30,923. The club’s highest gate came on the final day of the regular season when 35,000 were on hand to watch them beat Hull City.

In League One, the highest gate of the season at Brisbane Road came when Leyton Orient hosted Sheffield Wednesday in March as 6,196 fans attended.

The O’s boasted an average crowd of 4,298 in the league across the season.

In League Two, Dagenham & Redbridge’s average league attendance was 2,090, with the highest gate (3,259) coming for the visit of Southend United in November.