Manchester United top 25 best supported clubs in Europe
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Independent Minds
the top 25 best supported clubs in Europe
Manchester United are officially the best supported club in Europe, beating the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to the crown.
Click here or click the image to launch our guide.
The average Old Trafford attendance of 75,304 last season sees them replace Real Madrid, last year's winners, at the top of the attendance rankings released by analysts Futebol Finance.
Based on attendances last season, here's our guide to the 25 best supported clubs in Europe.
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Comments
"form is temporary - class is permanent"
Or maybe there's a flaw in your argument somewhere?
Oh you mean like the 25 years when we didn't win anything but the FA Cup? We still had a bigger fan base than L'pool even then because United play the game as it should be played. There's a reason United have been the world's best supported club for decades - they're exciting to watch. Machine-like clubs such as L'pool and Chelsea just don't hack it in the same way with the fans outside their local area because their games are nothing like as dramatic.
- compared to only 5 English clubs in the top 25; only 3 Spanish; and only 2 Italian.
Not sure that Inter are in the right place though. Shouldn't they be 10th on c55,000?
can anyone explain this mystery? Like the Independent perhaps (after all - isnt that the point of lists like this??)
What that tells us is that there is clearly a hefty price to pay — both monetarily, and culturally — if you want to be successful, unless you have the kind of football culture that exists in Spain, where, of course, Real Madrid and Barca are fairly unique (in world football), but the rest of the Spanish teams are able to out-compete and outplay most of the rest of the Premiership, below the "top four", on a fraction of their budget.
As an example, when Sevilla won two UEFA Cups in a row, playing some of the best football in Europe, and competing with Real and Barca in the league, their budget was one tenth of that of Real Madrid, a paltry 30m Euros in total. The team that finishes bottom of the Premier League gets close to that much in TV money alone (subsidized by the big clubs, of course, which is hardly ever mentioned).
That tells us that most of the non-top four clubs in the Premier League are throwing money away, year after year, on players, coaches and wages, that are simply not good enough, and that is one of the reasons that they aren't able to compete. Of course, the monetary gap is a problem, but if clubs in Spain can compete with Barca and Real on one-tenth of the budget, one has to wonder why clubs in England cannot compete better in an environment which is falsely -- and rightly, in my opinion -- skewed with subsidized TV money (in effect, most of the teams in the PL would not earn what they do, if the money was shared out "fairly" to the clubs that attract the TV audience).
Anyway, a more substantive criteria would take acount of other variables: supporters groups, season ticket holders, shirt sales, etc. etc., and in this, as in all other matters, Real Madrid will rein supreme. Why? Because it is the most well-known club in South America alongside FC Barcelona, and because it enjoys influence comparable to both Liverpool and Manchester United in Asia. Oh, and United may not be far behind, but that doesn't make their supporters worth their salt: Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson don't savage their own team's support on four or five seperate occassions for nothing. If they had anything close to the atmosphere produced at Anfield we'd never hear the end of it, but the fact is: they never have and probably never will, charging in excess of 60 quid for a standard seat.
Each and ever one of you. Never mind, you scouse wankers might win something next season, but then agan...........
Atmosphere at Anfield??? More like choreographed choir singing prior to kick off, after that catcalling and slating of the fat waiter and his wanky players.
To quote notexactlymanx from his/her post above: "Sorry to disappoint you but Man U have been the besst supported club in British football for decades. All through the '70's & 80's when all we seemed to win was the odd F.A cup this was the case."
FACT !!! Check with the FA record books for verification.
Scores at the doors: Ryan Giggs 11 Steven Gerrard 0
Such 'wanky' players sure taught United a lesson in how to play football last season, didn't they? Or did you forget? I lost count of the amount of excuses your lot contrived to try to explain the 6-2 drubbing, though a personal favourite of mine, and something that will stay with me for the rest of my days, was the posters brandished around Old Trafford claiming 'Rafa's Cracking Up!' - before, that is, he left the Theatre of Empty Seats with a 4-1 victory to his name (and ironically, as you were made well known, cracking up).
Anyway, beyond the two pearls of wisdom we gleaned that day (that United fans take a very liberal attitude towards support, especially when it comes to leaving their seats, and that they field just as much wank as anything we've got - I'd take Lucas over Anderson any day of the week, and so, it seems, will Brazil), I think it's safe to say your support was shite and has always been shite. And if you really find it so hard to stomach, just take a look at what Ferguson and Keane actually said before mouthing off like an embittered teenager.
And your shower of shit have won what recently???
Self Pity City FC are just like us in the 80's when we used to turn you over in the league but come nowhere near winning it.
You asked us to come back when we won 18 so we did.
Never mind there's always next season as you've been saying for the last how many years???
kstandbarmyarmym, considering you seem to recall so much about 'Nited in the 1980s, how come you post like a very angry 12 year-old?
As for Self Pity City, who bring up a footballing tragedy every February to use as a cynical marketing device? That would be Man United.
Grow up.
A conversation between myself and town crier has fuck all to do with you Bertie.
Not go to the game today Bert? Busses not running from Stockport? Don't tell me, the live journal has delayed your posting which you placed two days ago infact.
Weren't that long ago you slated the current Champions of England for going down at Burnley. Seems your mercenaries can't manage to beat them at your rented accomodation.
33 years Bert. Tick, tock, tick, tock
You tool, kstandbarmyarmy. It's a public forum, how do you expect to have a private conversation?
Burnley beat you, City drew. Who are the biggest clowns?
Eastlands is the kind of modern staium you dream of playing in, as opposed to your Meccano set, and in case you hadn't noticed clubs such as Barcelona play in municiple stadia.
What an inept, angry little clown you are.
Interesting that you once again side step my observation that you didn't attend the game on Saturday. Probably because Ciddy sold out, but on the other hand........
Yes Burnley did beat us, before a packed house in what was their first home game ever in the premiership and against the Champions of England. Your multi million pound mercenaries were at home before yet another seats available crowd.
Describing Old Trafford as a Meccano set reminds me of the time when you played at that great, old stadium Maine Rd before you had to sell it because of the debts that had been run up by the pathetic management rhere, when you used to brag about having the tallest floodlights, widest pitch etc. Hilarious!!! Old Trafford may look a little like Meccano but it's ours,developed over a number of years to what it is today and paid for by the supporters and the success of Manchesters biggest, most succesful, most glamourous club.
You only have to listen to managers and professional footballers when talking about the great stadiums they want to play in, san siro, bernebau,nou camp, olympic stadium, anfield and of course Old Trafford.
No mention of the "off the peg" rented accomodation Ciddy now ply their trade in. A stadium which for all intents and purposes looks like hundreds of new stadia such as the DW at Wigan, Stadium of Light at Sunderland, Richo at Coventry etc. Same stadium, different city. Nothing original whatsoever.
Have you ever been to the nou camp? I was there in 99 and also had the privelige of being at the olympic stadium in rome where the 2 best teams in europe played for the champions league trophy.
Your shitty little club ever played in a champions league final Bert???
Now the trauma you suffered as a child to the man you called "uncle" is something a skilled psychotherepist can work with but treating someone who follows a shitty little club like Ciddy who haven't won anything of note for over 33 years and who are and will continue to be in the shadow of United, Manchesters' only world respected football club is an entirely different matter. Even the great Freud would struggle to deal with your fantastical, bitter envy.
"inept, angry little clown" shadow and projection Bert.
33 years. Tick, tock, tick, tock..............
Yawn. Didn't even bother reading that latest load of crap.
Grow up you silly, angry little boy.
"Yawn, didn't even bother reading that latest load of crap. Grow up you silly, angry little boy" was the incredibly mature response from Bertie from Stockport.
Shadow and projection Bert.
33 years. Tick, tock, tick, tock
Shut up you silly Rag clown.
Go and play Fifa 10 - 'Nited might win something.
Wow Bert you're on a roll. Two mature, intelligent responses on the bounce.
If you can keep this up and have the stamina you may be able to spin this out for as long as it's been since your little club won any silverware.
33 years Bertie. Tick, tock, tick, tock.........
That Rag comes out with the same crap in every post. I hope he copies and pastes it all or he's even more stupid than I thought.
Real Madrid, AC Milan and oh errrrr.... LIVERPOOL!
Wallop!
Not true based on past attendance figures. During the 60s when Liverpool came out of the old 2nd Division and their fans were seeing teams they hadn't seen for over 10 years, attendances at Anfield were ALWAYS below that of Old Trafford. In the mid 70s when UTD were relegated, and the following year promoted, attendances in both years were not only higher than at Anfield, they were the best in the country. But we'll see what sort of crowds Liverpool can attract for the best part of this season when their recent decline becomes a more permanent feature. How many will go to Anfield when Liverpool are struggling in 7th or 8th position in the table?
If the powers that be at Anfield believed that Liverpool could attract any more than 52K for home games - the capacity at Anfield pre 1990s - then they would have built a bigger stadium 15 years ago. Their new proposed stadium with 70k capacity will only ever be filled when the visitors are a local NW team. However, LFC have more pressing matters than determining how many people want to see them play.
Step up Manchester City Football Club best supported in Europe at no. 24.
A long way down the list perhaps, but for Manchester City - after three decades without a proper trophy - to even feature in Europe's Top 25 goes a long way to dispelling the nonsense oft repeated by United fans that they are in some way a "small club".
Germany, with a population some 30 million larger England and with a far bigger land mass (and thus catchment areas), should perhaps be expected to feature more prominently, but they also have amateur and semi-professional leagues where we have long-established and well-supported small, local sides. Having said that, t must be great for players to play in front of such numbers week in week out, so a policy in the EPL of larger stadia and smaller ticket prices could be a policy well worth checking out.
You seem to have such a great knowledge of the rags splendid history, please describe what a world dominating club they were for the following 26 years after they were handed the EC in 1969.
On a post card please.