First Kick is (almost) in the books with only a sold out Jeld-Wen Field left for Monday night. Here is a look at the first week of attendance figures from around Major League Soccer. The first set of games featured Colorado hosting Columbus and Vancouver hosting Montreal's inaugural match. 21k sold out BC Place for Vancouver's home opener while just over 14,700 were DSG for the Rapids.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

Danny Califf says of the hype leading into Saturday's game, "I think there was a lot of hoopla leading up to the game but once the game got underway, Union fans were cheering for the Union."

Califf, in the starting lineup after a two game layoff, was named to Goal.

Although the fans in The Fort have never wavered in their support for the Revolution, the early-season attendance figures at Gillette Stadium don't look promising. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)

Although the Revolution may be playing inspired soccer this season, one thing that hasn't looked good in 2012 is the team's home attendance record.

Very busy week of games in Major League Soccer. Before we get to the attendance figures here is an article from the San Jose Mercury News with club President Dave Kaval. The article provides some information about team season ticket sales (4,000) and preparations for a move into the team's new stadium.

Often, when push comes to shove in radicalising a group of football supporters, it will take one, symbolic moment to push those that might otherwise have merely got on with the job of watching their team to realise that the time for action is now.

For those that follow the ailing Blue Square Premier club Kettering Town, that moment may have come at any of three or four different occasions over the last month or so, but the tipping point for many may have cone with twin five-goal defeats at the hands of Luton Town over Christmas and the New Year (results which plunged the club back into the thick of the relegation places at the bottom of the table), it with the release of an official club statement which sought, unsurprisingly enough, to place the blame for the club's woes at the foot of everybody but those with the overall responsibility for managing its finances.

Back after a hiatus, I present you the latest attendance figures from the Major Indoor Soccer League. As you may or may not know, United Soccer Leagues took over the MISL this season and brought it under their umbrella along with its nascent I-League. The result is a seven-team league that's averaging right about what the old one was through the same number of games a year ago.

The Major Indoor Soccer League's regular season ended today and here are the final attendance figures for the league:

Team G Total Avg. Med Hi Lo Baltimore Blast 12 71,538 5,962 5,800 9,644 2,316 Rochester Lancers 12 68,102 5,675 5,570 7,210 3,997 Missouri Comets 12 49,105 4,092 3,892 8,276 2,853 Milwaukee Wave 12 47,463 3,955 3,336 5,964 3,059 Wichita Wings 12 45,707 3,809 3,865 5,200 2,538 Syracuse Silver Knights 12 35,406 2,951 2,901 3,892 2,317 Norfolk SharX 12 19,157 1,596 1,385 3,422 635 MISL TOTAL 84 336,478 4,006 3,700 9,644 635
The MISL averaged 4,007 fans per game (announced) last season and 4,006 this season.

On June 18th, 2011, the New England Revolution put a glaring black mark on what was already shaping up to be an abysmal season when they ordered Gillette Stadium's TeamOps security to ransack The Fort and remove supporters using offensive chants. The fallout was massive; New England received a deluge of bad press, while supporters' groups around the league hung banners and sent messages in support of the Revs' fans.

Before we jump into attendance figures for the weekend, a couple of quick items. First, we'll start with a programming note. Footiebusiness Contributor Dave Laidig is preparing a comprehensive and extremely interesting look at the Castrol Index and statistical evaluation of players. Dave has tried to account for the minutes played bias in the Castrol Index and has produced some extremely interesting numbers.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union 2–1 Schalke

The Union are now 4–0–0 in international friendlies at PPL Park after a very entertaining 2–1 win over Schalke 04. The official attendance was 7,464 which, as is usually the case with attendance figures, seems generous. Whatever.