Marine set new record attendance - 70 years ago!

The attendance for the friendly against the touring Nigeria team on Wednesday August 31st 1949 had previously been thought to be 4,000, but the discovery of an official FA news bulletin from November 1949 records it some 50% higher at 6,000.

Marine Chairman Paul Leary said: “My thanks to football historian and friend Brian Lowe for passing to me a copy of the Football Association’s bulletin from 1949 which records the attendance for the Nigeria game as 6,000 which will now be the Club’s official record attendance as opposed to the 4,000 previously publicised in our records.

“Looking at the film footage and photographs of the game it doesn’t really surprise me that the attendance was 6,000 so at least with Brian’s help we have been able to put the record straight.

“The footage is absolutely fabulous and demonstrates the numbers at the football ground for that historic game for Marine Football Club.”

Archive film material of the game can be found here.