O/T Millmoor capacity

[Hazza Has A Gazza]

I was watching a few videos of old games from the early 80's on YouTube recently. There's a video of a 2-4 home defeat to Barnsley which no doubt a lot on here will have been there that day. I was just 3 years old in 1982 and it would be another six years before I went to my first game.
Millmoor looked absolutely rammed, and I've never seen the Railway End as full as it looked that day either. So I'm wondering what the capacity was at the time?
There must have been at least 6500 Barnsley fans alone.
I had a Rothmans football book around 1985/86 and I'm almost certain the capacity was listed as 18500.
Who was there that day and can you remember the attendance?

[Pattylallacks2]

Hazza the match took place on 14 November 1981 and the gate was 18324. Ronnie scored both Rotherham goals.

[sickly_child]

Remember it well it was my 18th birthday.

[mikemiller]

I was at the game and above figures sound about right. Not as packed as some of the 1960's/early 1970's games though. At some stage - mid 70's (?) more barriers were put in and the capacity of Millmoor was cut from 23500 to 18500, I think. ie ground was more-or-less officially full for that Barnsley match

[Hazza Has A Gazza]

Thanks chaps. It's hard for me to even imagine what it would have been like not just inside Millmoor but around town and outside the ground with nearly 20000 people going to the match.
My dad used to bemoan the 4000-5000 crowds we were getting when he first started taking me to games 30 years ago. He would have seen the regular 20000+ crowds.

[rileyev.the.third]

There were probably closer to 10'000 Tarn there that day, they were all over the ground. Tbh the crowd given out will have been lower than it actually was. We did have the delightful AJ as chaIran and helicopter fuel doesn't come cheap!

[miller172]

Always thought the capacity early 80s was around 25,000 seem to remember the attendance for the Sheff Utd game when the wall went down was over 21,000 and I'm sure that was an all ticket game

[animallittle3]

There were probably closer to 10'000 Tarn there that day, they were all over the ground. Tbh the crowd given out will have been lower than it actually was. We did have the delightful AJ as chaIran and helicopter fuel doesn't come cheap!

Definitely close to 10k I agree from Barnsley that day .

It took over an hour to get into the ground from the top of Millmoir Lane and many opted to go in your main stand terracing and avoid the crush .

Crowd of over 19k I seem to remember .

[CAMiller]

I was there that day and it was probably the fullest I have ever seen Millmoor. We stood at the bottom of the enclosure level with the Tivoli end 18yd box. That area would usually be empty for most matches but not that day. Not ideal for my 5' girlfriend at the time.

I think capacity was reduced to around 18.5k in the mid 60s so officially there has never been a crowd bigger than that there since I started watching us.

[PerigordMiller]

There were 24k there for the Leeds cup tie about 1972. Proper crush that was.