Third division team Rot-Weiss Essen traveled to SV Waldhof Mannheim (2:0) on Sunday. Once again, RWE was able to rely on its traveling fans.

For the second time in this third division season, Rot-Weiss Essen reported a sold-out stadium two weeks ago against MSV Duisburg (4:1). 19,200 spectators made the pilgrimage to Hafenstraße for this derby. Thanks to the sell-out crowd against the Zebras, RWE defended third place in the home crowd table.

A total of 280,598 fans were in attendance for the 17 league matches, giving an average of 16,506 spectators per home match – a strong figure. Only Dynamo Dresden and Arminia Bielefeld are ahead of Essen in this statistic.

While Dynamo have welcomed 486,828 fans to their home games at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion so far (28,637 fans on average), the relegated second division side from the Bielefeld Alm has 308,519 visitors and an average of 18,148 fans per game.

Meanwhile, Essen lead another ranking. It is the away attendance table for the 3rd division. Nobody travels as much as the RWE fans. On average, 2239 fans travel to the third division club’s away matches, which is top of the league. RWE is also ahead in terms of absolute numbers:

RWE is in first place in the away ranking – ahead of Dresden and 1860

35,824 spectators attended the away matches this season. Although 1860 Munich and Dynamo Dresden have already played one more match away from home, they are nowhere near Essen. One thing is clear: Rot-Weiss Essen has the highest away attendance of all third division clubs.

This lead was extended on Sunday: RWE was accompanied by 1330 supporters at the traditional duel in Mannheim. The match was won 2:0 and the team and fans were able to celebrate together after the game.

The Essen team’s next away game is scheduled for Wednesday evening (April 24, 7 p.m.) at 1. FC Saarbrücken. This will be followed by just two more away games at SV Sandhausen and VfB Lübeck.