Despite being one of the biggest games of the season, the latest derby between Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC attracted just 14,002 fans to CommBank Stadium on Saturday night.
That crowd figure is the lowest in the history of the fixture and less than a quarter of what the match managed to attract in 2016 when 61,880 attended their season-opening clash at ANZ Stadium.
While looming rain in Sydney and the lacklustre form of both sides likely contributed to the poor turnout over the weekend, the new low is a concern for the A-League Men (ALM) as it looks to reinvigorate itself after a tough few years.
The competition has managed to attract over 20,000 fans to a game once so far this season and that was for the first Sydney derby with crowd figures only falling since then.
"It was nowhere near what you'd expect from a Sydney derby," former Socceroo Robbie Slater said of Saturday's crowd on Sky Sports' The Big Sports Breakfast.
"That was a very disappointing result for the whole competition."
While the overall crowd figure fell short of expectations, active supporters from both sides were in full voice with a safe-standing section used at CommBank Stadium.
Wanderers coach Mark Rudan, who was handed a contract extension prior to the derby, was quick to pay tribute to the vocal Western Sydney fans after the game as the club claimed an impressive 2-0 win over the Sky Blues.
"It's been a tough time for the fans and I understand just how important this fixture is - particularly at home as well," Rudan said post-match.
"They were singing and cheering non-stop all night. They are very important to us and the players. I'm most happy for them."
Danny Townsend, managing director of the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), has stressed the importance of re-engaging with active support to ensure crowd numbers can increase moving forward and reinforced that stance on social media.
"Active support engagement is part of our off-season plans but that being said it should be an ongoing focus not a one off discussion," Townsend said via Twitter on Sunday.
"It has to be the catalyst for our attendance rebuild."
