The EFL has announced that attendance figures for this season have been the best recorded since 1959.

The cumulative figure of 18.1m spectators for games in the Championship, League One and League Two represents an 11% increase on the previous season.

When factoring out clubs that did not compete in the EFL the year before - including Newcastle United, which has a 52,000-seater stadium - the figure was still up by 3% year on year.

The cumulative audience in the Championship alone was 11.1m, up from 9.7m, while League One grew from 4m to 4.4m and League Two dropped slightly from 4.9m to 4.8m.

"Football attendances clearly benefit from promotion and relegation as those teams carrying larger supporter bases move around divisions," said EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey.

"But what is particularly pleasing with this latest set of data is the fact the EFL has seen a 3% growth season-on-season when this factor is removed and you analyse the attendances of the 67 clubs who have been members for the past two seasons.

"It is clear to see that the EFL continues to be one of the most watched football competitions and our clubs deserve huge credit for continuing to find new and innovative ways of encouraging supporters through their turnstiles."

The news comes a week after the EFL announced the launch of new service iFollow, which will allow fans outside of the UK to watch all of their chosen club's games live online from next season.