The line graph compares the number of people who attended elite-level football matches in three European countries between 1980 and 2004.
Overall, the number of people attending football matches in both England and Germany exhibited an overall upward trajectory throughout, whereas an opposite scenario was relevant for Italy over the whole span. Although Italy led the list in the initial years according to total number of people attending top-level football games, England overtook it, representing slightly higher results in the last years.
To begin with, Italy recorded by far the highest numbers of people who attended football matches over the whole time frame. Starting at 35 000 in 1980, this number, six years later, witnessed a marked rise to about 37 000, a figure that then decreased significantly yet at a much slower rate, ending at about 25 000 people in 2004.
In contrast, both England and Germany, represented an upward trend, despite some fluctuations throughout. The figures for both countries stood at around 25 000 people in 1980. Afterwards, the difference in attendance between England and Germany became more pronounced, with the figure for former slipping to about 22 000 in 1986, while that of latter dropped to approximately 19 000 in the same year. Later, an average number of people attending football matches for both countries underwent a considerable growth, with England reaching at just under 35 000, which was markedly higher than Germany, which stood at around 32 000 in the final year. This illustrates that in spite of initial dominance in total attendance at football matches in Italy, England far surpassed it in the final year.