The aggregate crowd figure for the just completed 2012/13 regular season over-shadowed the previous record, set last season, by more than 250,000.

FFA CEO David Gallop said the 18% jump in attendances was a significant indicator that the Hyundai A-League is moving towards a sustainable future.

"This season more Australians have watched the Hyundai A-League live in our venues than ever before," Gallop said.

“What they’ve experienced is the best standard of football our competition has ever seen and the best live atmosphere in Australian sport.

“The growth is the end product of hard work and investment by 10 clubs. I thank the fans all over Australia for making this an unforgettable season.”

The average crowd of 12,348 is the all-time record since the A-League expanded from its inaugural eight-club format.

The jump in crowds was matched by the 18% rise in TV audiences to almost 80,000 per game, an all-time record, with the cumulative TV audience passing 10 million for the first time.

In digital channels, footballaustralia.com.au, powered by the 10 Hyundai A-League clubs and Australia’s national teams, attracts more than 800,000 unique browsers or individual fans visiting websites, m-sites and mobile apps per month. This equates to a 40% increase on the network compared to last season.

Growth in social media has also seen notable increases including a 105% aggregate increase across A-League assets on Facebook and Twitter.

“The A-League is not just on the move, it's expanding massively in the mainstream of Australian society and capturing thousands of new fans live, on TV and in the digital space,” Gallop said.

“Importantly, we are riding a demographic wave. We are a young, exciting and international sport. We represent the diversity of Australian society like no other.

“Now we enter the new-look Hyundai A-League Finals Series that will showcase all that's great about the competition into an action packed three weeks of sudden death football.”