Nigel Adkins’ Saints army is on the increase.

The club have officially finished the 2010/11 season as the best-supported side in League One – and by some distance.

Their average crowd of 22,160 is more than 4,000 ahead of any other team in the division.

And only six clubs in the entire Football League have boasted a better gate than Saints this season.

Proud supporters have given their views on the club’s impressive following.

Nick Kemp, of Basingstoke Saints, said: “The support this season has been phenomenal, right the way through.

“Even when there was that little sticky patch before Nigel Adkins came in it was still good."

“Then, when he arrived and everyone was on the bus, as he likes to stay, there was just more and more of an interest.

“I think the Hartlepool game we had something like a 2,000-plus walkup in the morning, which was incredible.

“And I tip my hat to all those I have seen travelling to the away games.

“Days like last Saturday are for all those who have been through the hard times, and I think we deserved it.

“It’s a hugely different atmosphere now to what it was a few years ago.

“It’s a little bit like when it was good under Gordon Strachan.

“It has really picked up, and everyone is turning up with smiles on their faces now.”

Steve Grant, who runs the SaintsWeb fans’ forum, said: “The figures speak for themselves – I think we are the 25th best-supported club in the country.

“It’s quite impressive, given that we are probably the most expensive club to watch on a match-by-match basis in League One.

“But it ultimately proves that when you get a winning team people will turn up.”

Season ticket holder Murray Dalton added: “What a season. The players and the management have been brilliant and, because of this, more and more supporters have been coming back.”

After Saints, the best-supported side in the third tier was Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls averaged 17,817 fans at Hillsborough during the season.

Only Championship sides Leeds, Derby, Norwich, Leicester, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest ended with better figures than Saints outside the Premier League.

Bitter rivals Pompey fell well short, despite being a division higher than Adkins’ side.

Fratton Park held just 15,707 supporters on average, as Portsmouth meandered towards a mid-table finish.

Even Saints’ lowest turnout of the season – 17,857 for a home game with Colchester last September – was well above that number.

And more people turned up at St Mary’s on average than they did at two Premier League clubs – Wigan and Blackpool.

Saints also saw a significant increase on last year’s figures.

In 2009/10, the club attracted an average of 20,982 people into each match at St Mary’s. That was an incredible rise of 17.6 per cent on the previous season, reflecting the bright future heralded by Markus Liebherr’s takeover two years ago.

Saints have further improved on that this time around.

Their latest figure marks a 5.6 per cent rise on the last campaign.

Attendances next season seem almost certain to go up again, as the club makes a proud return to the Championship.

Saints’ biggest gate of the season came, unsurprisingly, on the final day of the season, against Walsall, as 31,653 people packed into St Mary’s for a memorable promotion party.

Full story in today's Daily Echo