http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/12/manchester-united-attendances-police-figures
Manchester United are adding as many as 24,000 fans on to crowd attendances compared with the actual number of people watching games at Old Trafford, according to police data.
Sir Alex Ferguson's team have not had a single crowd over 70,000 for a league match, police say, not taking in Monday's game against Manchester City. The club, in contrast, recorded attendances in excess of 75,000 every time. Instead Greater Manchester police's figures claim the average crowd for league matches, excluding City, is 10,000 below what the club say. The police records state it is 65,601 rather than the official figure of 75,527. In all competitions it is 61,739 rather than the club's 73,653.
United are still the best-supported club in England by some distance but the new set of figures claim Old Trafford was not even half-full for the Capital One Cup tie against Newcastle in September. The police recorded the number of people who passed through the turnstiles at 33,409. United gave the crowd as 46,358. In the next round, against West Ham, the disparity was even bigger. The police put down the crowd as 51,724, whereas United recorded it as 71,081.
When United played Cluj in the Champions League in December, having qualified for the knockout stages, the crowd was announced as 71,521. In fact, the police say it was 46,894.
The disparity is because United, in common with other clubs, release the number of people who bought tickets, whether or not they attend. The police keep their own record of actual match-goers for safety purposes and have released the data to the Redsaway fans' website under the Freedom of Information Act.
The figures show the high number of supporters who will buy tickets for matches without going. Arsenal are among the clubs who suffer the same problem on a large scale.
United's largest crowd of the season for a league match, according to the police, was 69,933 for Liverpool's visit in January (the club put it at 75,501). The lowest was against Southampton later that month. On that occasion the official attendance was given at 75,600 when, according to the police, the genuine figure was 59,766. In other words, almost 16,000 ticket-holders stayed away.
The Real Madrid match in the Champions League attracted the one 70,000-plus attendance at Old Trafford this season, in the data. The police recorded it at 72,299 whereas United declared it was 74,959, lower than any domestic league match because of Uefa's seating restrictions.
comment by Paulpowersleftfoot (U1037)
posted 3 minutes ago
Date Opponents Actual attendance given by GMP Official attendance given by MUFC
25-Aug-12 Fulham 66,005 75,352
15-Sep-12 Wigan Athletic 66,686 75,142
29-Sep-12 Tottenham Hotspur 68,072 75,566
20-Oct-12 Stoke City 64,722 75,585
03-Nov-12 Arsenal 69,077 75,492
24-Nov-12 Queens Park Rangers 64,452 75,603
28-Nov-12 West Ham United 62,304 75,572
15-Dec-12 Sunderland 64,294 75,582
26-Dec-12 Newcastle United 64,996 75,596
29-Dec-12 West Bromwich Albion 66,847 75,595
13-Jan-13 Liverpool 69,933 75,501
30-Jan-13 Southampton 59,766 75,600
10-Feb-13 Everton 68,123 75,525
02-Mar-13 Norwich City 66,238 75,586
16-Mar-13 Reading 62,493 75,605
UEFA Champions League
Date Opponents Actual attendance given by GMP Official attendance given by MUFC
19-Sep-12 Galatasary 61,111 74,653
23-Oct-12 S.C. Braga 56,452 73,195
05-Dec-12 CFR 1907 Cluj 46,894 71,521
05-Mar-13 Real Madrid 72,299 74,959
Domestic cups
Date Opponents Actual attendance given by GMP Official attendance given by MUFC
26-Sep-12 Newcastle United 33,409 46,358
16-Jan-13 West Ham United 51,724 71,081
26-Jan-13 Fulham 55,080 72,596
18-Feb-13 Reading 57,172 75,213
10-Mar-13 Chelsea 63,582 75,196
