So now we know why the Premier League are so keen on taking matches on tour to Asia: the 39th game might be the only one that’s actually sold out.

According to a Daily Telegraph report, attendances at Premier League games are down by an average of almost a thousand fans per game this season. Even Manchester United have been affected, the report says, with the English and European champions having failed to sell out Old Trafford’s 76,180 seats for any game this season.

Most will see this as a sign that the recession is biting in England. Shelling out a hundred quid for a couple of tickets to a 90-minute show must feel more like a luxury than ever these days. And to quote from the Telegraph story:

It is the surest sign yet that the Premier League is not immune from the global financial downturn. The cost of entry, as well as the price of travel, is too much for fans already feeling the pinch to justify.

But can the Premier League be confident that the fans will all come back when (or perhaps if) the economy picks up? Might fans decide that the live TV menu is a more appetising one, either at home or in the pub? Outside the top four, are there that many games worth watching at sky-high prices?

I saw an interesting piece on Soccer Pie suggesting that influences from abroad are making matches in England more tactical and perhaps less exciting:

Coaches that prefer football with much more tactical tasks are more successful and all beauty of specific Island football is in doubt. Now, some matches are real chess games.

Attendances in Italy and Spain are dropping as well, aren’t they? So should the leagues be worried?