purpleronnie Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/revealed-manchester-uniteds-old-trafford-2592078 Crowds at Old Trafford are much lower than the official attendance announced by United on matchdays, according to new police data. Figures from Greater Manchester Police revealed under the Freedom of Information Act show the club did not have a crowd over 70,000 for a Premier League match this season, until last week’s derby with City. But United regularly announce attendances in excess of 75,000. The police data shows the average Old Trafford attendance is 10,000 fewer than the figures announced. The FOI request was lodged with Greater Manchester Police by Reds Away, which runs a travel and news website and blog for United fans. Reds Away said that – in common with most other clubs – United under FA rules must publish an ‘official attendance’, which includes those who bought a ticket whether or not they actually went to the game. Greater Manchester Police, however, keeps a record of actual numbers who pass through the turnstiles. The figures reveal a startling number of ticket-holders who do not show up. The figures show that 66,005 fans watched the first Premier League home game against Fulham this season, but the club said the attendance was 75,352. United announced the attendance at January’s clash with Southampton as 75,600, but the police figures show the actual crowd was 59,766 – a difference of 15,834. Barring the recent derby, the largest actual crowd for a league game inside Old Trafford was 69,933 for the Liverpool game in January. United recorded an attendance of 75,501. The data covers all competitions, including the Champions League. The police figures reveal just 33,409 watched the Capital One cup game against Newcastle in September, with the club claiming a gate of 46,358. The largest disparity was revealed at United’s Champion’s League game with Cluj in December. The GMP figures recorded a crowd of just 46,894, with the club claiming an attendance of 71,521. This year’s record crowd came at the ill-fated Real Madrid Champions League tie last month, where the police figures reveal 72,299 fans attended. The club’s figure was 74,959, 2,660 higher.
Fox92 Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 Something we didn't know. Don't get why they do that.
Corky Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 Arsenal usually have 60k crowds announced, yet you see so many empty seats at the Emirates.
RowlattsFox Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 People buy season tickets so they go to certain games or get priority on away games but don't go to all games.
MPH Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 Something we didn't know. Don't get why they do that. People buy season tickets so they go to certain games or get priority on away games but don't go to all games. Yeah its all about how many tickets are sold for each game.
purpleronnie Posted 13 April 2013 Author Posted 13 April 2013 Most knew that, but its the amount of people who dont go that's amazing, not just a few hundred but sometimes 15,000+.
Kitchandro Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 33,000 - that's not far off what we'd get for a game against Newcastle.
MooseBreath Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 Man Utd attract quite a lot of well off fans from around the world. Wasting a ticket doesn't matter to them so much.
Bayfox Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 Clubs should release attendances based on people going in turnstyles. However due to tax laws they dont and are allowed to count season tickets in the official figure for vat and tax paid on monthly figures.
WhenYourSmilingLCFC Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 I've heard of teams publishing lower attendances than what really was the attendance. I'm sure Coventry done it a couple of years ago, for money reasons. Might be a load of rubbish, but sure I read it somewhere.
StanSP Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 I've heard of teams publishing lower attendances than what really was the attendance. I'm sure Coventry done it a couple of years ago, for money reasons. Might be a load of rubbish, but sure I read it somewhere. So Coventry published a minus attendance?
SystonFox Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 I thought teams HAD to announce the correct attendance on the night? Something to do with health and safety or fire officials? Anyone know anything about this? As said anyway pretty sure all clubs do it! The bigger ones will be the worst
Guest Bilo Posted 13 April 2013 Posted 13 April 2013 It does put paid to the 'attendances are holding up in the Premiership' myth doesn't it? If Manchester United are having to do this to save face, how many other clubs are doing the same?
C-man Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Really sad this. There must be thousands of United fans who want to go to games but simply can't because season tickets are in the hands of rich idiots who don't care if they miss matches. If I miss a home game I make damn sure that someone uses my ticket. Someone always takes it and this is for Leicester FFS.
ousefox Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Well surely we must do the actual attendance as it certainly didn't include STH's vs Boro
The Doctor Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Well surely we must do the actual attendance as it certainly didn't include STH's vs Boro I doubt it, that game though we had no chance of fooling anyone, and a ready made excuse for the low attendance.
BoneDog Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Do they do this to make themselves more attractive to sponsors and whatnot, so they can haggle for bigger deals or something?
Leicester Lass Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Well surely we must do the actual attendance as it certainly didn't include STH's vs Boro Obviously couldn't get away with it that game. Otherwise, all the attendances announced at our games are tickets in circulation rather than people through the turnstiles. It's common practice at most grounds.
ousefox Posted 14 April 2013 Posted 14 April 2013 Obviously couldn't get away with it that game. Otherwise, all the attendances announced at our games are tickets in circulation rather than people through the turnstiles. It's common practice at most grounds. Would love to see our real attendances then with the amount of games STH's will have missed due to sky
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.