Before Chelsea began receiving external financial injections in 1994, West Ham's average league attendance had been larger than Chelsea's average league attendance in the majority of the previous 15 seasons:
1981: +8,243 (figure by which West Ham's average attendance exceeded Chelsea's)
1982: +13,453
1983: +10,150
1984: +266
1987: +2,914
1989: +4,786
1991: +1,747
1992: +2,507
1994: +1,384
