Police data shows that ManU is "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 Daniel Taylor of the London GUARDIAN. Police said that ManU Manager Alex Ferguson's team has "not had a single crowd over 70,000 for a league match," 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 that "the average crowd for league matches, excluding City, is 10,000 below" what the club says. The police records state that "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 is "still the best-supported club in England by some distance." The disparity is because United, in common with other clubs, releases "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" (GUARDIAN, 4/12).
