ENTICING the fans back to St George’s Lane has been a struggle in recent years for Worcester City.

Disillusionment and general apathy reigned on the terraces following seasons of either mid-table mediocrity or relegation struggle.

Combined with spiralling debts and a seemingly bleak future, the supporters voted with their feet and found better things to do with their Saturday afternoons.

But last season saw an upturn in fortunes on and off the pitch and the situation has improved dramatically over the past 12 months.

City have just finished seventh in Blue Square Bet North, having been tipped for relegation, and only failed in their attempt to reach the promised land of the play-offs in the penultimate fixture. That has been resoundingly reflected in the attendances, with the club seeing their crowds increase by almost a quarter.

City’s average gate this season has been 827, which is up 24.5 per cent on the 2010/11 campaign and makes them the third best supported club in the league behind Halifax and Boston.

It also puts them sixth in step two – including Conference North and South – and that has been warmly welcomed in the boardroom.

Vice-chairman Colin Layland said: “We are very pleased with that. The reason the gates have gone up is because of what has been happening on the pitch.

“It’s been a good season. We finished seventh but a lot of people thought we would get relegated.”

Although the off-field situation remains uncertain when it comes to the post-Lane era, Layland is glad to see the fans backing the club.

He added: “We are all in it together but there’s a much better atmosphere around the club.”

Worcester’s highest attendance of the 2011/12 campaign was 1,501 for the 2-1 Boxing Day victory over M5 rivals Gloucester City.

The lowest was 620 for the 2-0 win against Vauxhall Motors on August 15.