Manchester United F.C.

Support

Before the Second World War, few English football supporters travelled to away games because of the time and cost. As United and City played home matches on alternate Saturdays, many Mancunians would watch United one week and City the next. After the war, a stronger rivalry developed and it became more common for a supporter to choose one team to follow exclusively.

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When United won the league in 1956, they had the highest average home attendance in the league, a record that had been held by Newcastle for the previous few years. Following the Munich air disaster in 1958, more people from outside Manchester began to support United and, as travel became quicker and cheaper, many started to go to matches. This swelled United’s support and is one reason why United have had the highest league attendances in English football for almost every season since then, even as a second division side in 1974-75.

Related Topics:
1956 - Newcastle - Munich air disaster

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Although it is often claimed that few Mancunians support United (similar claims are made about Juventus and Bayern Munich), the Manchester Evening News has conducted several surveys asking Mancunians which team they support and United have topped each poll, on one occasion getting 66% of the vote. The club estimates they have 75 million fans around the world, with 40 million fans in Asia alone.

Related Topics:
Juventus - Bayern Munich - Manchester Evening News - Estimates - Asia

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In the mid-1990s, United became unpopular among many followers of other English clubs, whose supporters often perceived United's as bandwagon-jumpers (or gloryhunters) who had chosen their team because of its success, although a quick look at average attendance figures from the 1980s would strongly refute this. Around this time, there was considerable gentrification in English football and an influx of supporters who had previously shown little interest in the game, especially at the more successful teams such as United. It was around this time that Roy Keane made his now famous remark that "There are too many people more interested in eating prawn sandwiches than getting behind us", which led to the expression 'the prawn-sandwich brigade'. While many people who were supporters before this era still go to matches, many have found the frequent price rises too much to bear. -->

Related Topics:
Gentrification - Roy Keane

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In the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s, an increasing source of concern for many United supporters was the possibility of the club being taken over. The supporters’ group IMUSA (Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association) were extremely active in opposing a proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1999. Another pressure group, Shareholders United Against Murdoch (now Shareholders United) was formed at around this time to encourage supporters to buy shares in the club, partly to enable supporters to have a greater say in the issues that concern them, such as ticket prices and allocation, and partly to reduce the risk of an unwanted party buying enough shares to take over the club. However, this scheme failed to prevent Malcolm Glazer from becoming the majority shareholder in the club. Many supporters were outraged, and some formed a new club called F.C. United of Manchester. The new club plays in the North West Counties League Second Division, and attracts attendances of approximately 2000.

Related Topics:
IMUSA - Rupert Murdoch - 1999 - Shareholders United - Malcolm Glazer - F.C. United of Manchester - North West Counties League

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Although the full effects of Glazer's takeover on the club's support are not yet known, the club has still made a record number of season ticket sales. United put on sale an extra 2000 season tickets which were only on sale to members of club.

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