Record crowds at Go Media Stadium during dream debut Auckland FC season

Nearly a quarter of a million football fans flooded the stands at Go Media Stadium as Auckland FC smashed records in their debut A-League season.

235,316 people attended the newly created club’s 13 home games at the south Auckland venue during the 2024/25 A-League regular season.

With Auckland FC starting from scratch a little over a year ago, football fever has since taken over the city with the Black Knights attracting the season’s highest average home attendance in the A-League with 18,101 fans per match.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s Director of Auckland Stadiums, James Parkinson advised “the atmosphere at Go Media Stadium has been electric this season - with record crowds through the gates for Auckland FC’s incredible debut year.

“It was clear that something special was brewing before a ball was even kicked, and when Go Media Stadium was sold out for the opening Auckland FC match - we knew that that could be the catalyst for an amazing year.”

This campaign has delivered four epic sellout crowds (the venue’s maximum capacity depends on event overlay, Ed), including both home derbies with Wellington Phoenix. The memorable derby victories were bookended by the spectacular October opening day win against Brisbane Roar, as well as the final home match title celebration against Perth Glory in April.

New Zealand’s regular-season club football attendance record has been smashed twice along the way.

A record crowd of 27,009 attended the 6-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix in February.

Acknowledging this, Parkinson added "Aucklanders have embraced their new home team, turning up each week and building a cultural movement which is once in a generation. Go Media Stadium has proven itself as the People’s Stadium - welcoming record numbers this year culminating with Auckland FC taking home New Zealand’s first A League football trophy.

“Now we look forward to more incredible experiences they look to go one step further and further cement themselves into Auckland’s sporting folklore.”

Saturday afternoons at the football have been the story of the summer for Aucklanders. 88% of the Auckland FC crowd this season are from Auckland, with the remaining 12% travelling from outside the region. Of the travelling crowd, 87% travelled exclusively to watch their new home team in Auckland.

Auckland FC Chief Executive, Nick Becker noted “there has been magic in the air at Go Media Stadium this year and our fans have propelled us to achieve incredible things together. This season has been full of ‘I was there’ moments that will live long in the memory and we are hoping for more before our season finishes.

“It’s been a dream start for our club and the fans have been incredible at Go Media Stadium, week-in and week-out. Now we need them once more. Records have tumbled for us all year but now there’s one thing that matters most - winning our first A-League championship title.”

Auckland FC fans have turned Go Media Stadium into their home fortress and have had an excellent time doing it. Over 92% of fans have confirmed themselves to be having a great time at the venue throughout the season.

There has been plenty to celebrate this year, with the home team losing just one of their 13 home games this season. Celebrations have been fuelled by over 110,000 portions of hot food, 215,000 beverages and 40,000 portions of hot chips sold at the stadium this season.

With such large crowds, there’s always a big cleanup operation ahead.

Sustainability is at the heart of Go Media Stadium and Auckland FC’s ethos. Auckland Stadiums diverted over 34,000kgs of waste from landfill throughout the season, equating to 80% of waste.

Go Media Stadium is now preparing to host the second leg of Auckland FC’s Isuzu UTE A-League 2025 Finals Series on Saturday 24th May.

2,700 additional temporary seats are being installed to boost the venue’s capacity and should Auckland FC reach the final, then that match will also be played on home soil at Go Media Stadium, with 800 more temporary seats installed.

Images: Fans and onfield action during Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix clash at Go Media Stadium. Credit: Go Media Stadium.