"City have more fans in Manchester than United"

Andycoleno9

snowflake obsessed matchday malcontent
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First of all, i apologise to mods for making a thread to just get an answer but after i google it and found nothing relevant about this, i decided to ask here where i can get answer from people from Manchester( and England).

How even that story started? Abroad it is so many times repeated. I know that City also have tradition and fan base but i can't imagine that they could have more fans in Manchester( including whole region, not just city).

Thanks for answers.
 
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Andycoleno9 said:
First of all, i apologise to mods for making a thread to just get an answer but after i google it and found nothing irrelevant about this, i decided to ask here where i can get answer from people from Manchester( and England).

How even that story started? Abroad it is so many times repeated. I know that City also have tradition and fan base but i can't imagine that they could have more fans in Manchester( including whole region, not just city).

Thanks for answers.
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In our heyday in the 90s and 00s a lot of our supporters were supposedly Londoners and it snowballed from there. Growing up in Manchester I knew a lot more United fans than City. Even now with City's recent dominance it's still an even split I'd say. Although there seems to be a lot more younger City fans than United nowadays (I see a lot of my students switching allegiances), but that is what happens when a club start winning trophies.
 
I think this myth came about with season ticket figures. These figures aren't accurate but it gives the idea of what I'm saying.

United 60k season ticket holders, 45% are from Manchester.

City have 40k season ticket holders but 65% are from Manchester.

So iirc their was a paper back in the day used these type of figures to say the majority of Uniteds support came from outside of Manchester whereas City got the majority from Manchester and this was miss interpreted as city have more fans in Manchester and from then, the myth grew legs.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
First of all, i apologise to mods for making a thread to just get an answer but after i google it and found nothing relevant about this, i decided to ask here where i can get answer from people from Manchester( and England).

How even that story started? Abroad it is so many times repeated. I know that City also have tradition and fan base but i can't imagine that they could have more fans in Manchester( including whole region, not just city).

Thanks for answers.
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Probably spin by the City hierarchy who are very sensitive to the image of the club and how it reflects on them

City fans are mostly limited to Manchester while Utd have fans all over Britain. They are nowhere near Arsenal or Chelsea in terms of international support let alone Liverpool or Utd. I'll bet there are more supporters of those two in Abu Dhabi than City fans. City is probably closer to Spurs on the international scene...small (but growing)
 
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Steve Bruce said:
I think this myth came about with season ticket figures. These figures aren't accurate but it gives the idea of what I'm saying.

United 60k season ticket holders, 45% are from Manchester.

City have 40k season ticket holders but 65% are from Manchester.

So iirc their was a paper back in the day used these type of figures to say the majority of Uniteds support came from outside of Manchester whereas City got the majority from Manchester and this was miss interpreted as city have more fans in Manchester and from then, the myth grew legs.
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Wow. Power of media at its best. But that myth became holly truth. City is playing today in my town against Dinamo. All newspapers are repeating that info. They even are throwing in some ridiculous numbers about number of fans in Manchester.
 
Just look at the stadiums on a match day, social media followers and general popularity of both clubs comparatively and you have your answer without having to do any strenuous detective work.
 
City have a smaller Manchester following, and are now gaining a bigger following outside of Manchester, ironically turning into everything they mocked Utd for in the 90s, a stadium which while still often not full, is being filled up by day-trippers.
 
crossy1686 said:
Just look at the stadiums on a match day, social media followers and general popularity of both clubs comparatively and you have your answer without having to do any strenuous detective work.
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As i said, i don't believe in that but i was curious how that shit and illogical story started. @Steve Bruce explanation cleared it a lot and makes sense
 
Like others have said, I think it mainly stems from United having fans everywhere, whereas City fans don't. Also that City fans have been desperate for any slight on United so continually repeat it.

My experience in Manchester is that it seems about even but I'd expect the reality to be more red.
 
It all came from the celebrity boom of the early to mid-90s. Where the likes of Zoe Ball and Angus Deaton were all over TV as United fans. Shows like Fantasy Football and They Think It's All Over would push this narrative that only United had fans from outside their own area. Once the Premier League came in and it was this giant celebrity wankathon, as the biggest team in the land we were the whipping boys for bitter louts.

City had Curly Watts, Bernard Manning and Eddie Large. All low class, local, ugly bastards, so that helped the myth.
 
It's pretty obvious that City will have a higher percentage of their matchday fans from Manchester, as they're nowhere near the same global appeal as us.

But we'd utterly dwarf them for fans in Manchester, as you don't just create a fanbase overnight.
 
I can only speak from limited experience (time I lived there, United fans I know and their whereabouts) but I think it's not that City necessarily have more fans in Manchester than United do... its more that a larger % of City's UK fans might come from Manchester than the percentage of United fans.

(i.e. numbers in Manchester may be broadly even but because United have more fans in the UK (and wider), it's convenient for some to sell the "Manchester is blue" story).
 
We have a far larger following than City throughout Britain and the world, but winning trophies entices young fans to follow the team that are on top, and both City and Liverpool fanbase is growing over the last few years.
 
Also, a lot of it depends on whether or not you count Stockport as part of Manchester.
 
Who has set this old hare running again?

In United's pomp City fans were continually making statements about their fans based in Manchester in comparison to United, they were also claiming their pies were better than United's and that United were also getting too much coverage from the press, that every ref was biased towards United, Fergie time, etc. Everything except performances on the pitch and the winning of trophies!

If they have returned to the old days of trying to score a one-up-man-ship point over the displacement of Manchester based fans, it means the defeat at weekend has rattled them more than they care to admit!

Even when their team has been winning more trophies than we have in recent years, City fans still are scared of our comeback and when we beat them at the own ground the anxiety levels for their fans rises almost exponentially.
 
Steve Bruce said:
I think this myth came about with season ticket figures. These figures aren't accurate but it gives the idea of what I'm saying.

United 60k season ticket holders, 45% are from Manchester.

City have 40k season ticket holders but 65% are from Manchester.

So iirc their was a paper back in the day used these type of figures to say the majority of Uniteds support came from outside of Manchester whereas City got the majority from Manchester and this was miss interpreted as city have more fans in Manchester and from then, the myth grew legs.
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Actually, those figures would mean that:

United have 60k*0.45 = 27,000 season tickets from Manchester
City have 40k*0.65 = 26,000 season tickets from Manchester

So I dont see how it would be used to start that myth because it literally says that United have more fans in Manchester (or that at least the number of fans in the city is more or less evenly split). But I suppose more accurate figures could swing that figure either way.
 
FujiVice said:
All low class, local, ugly bastards, so that helped the myth.
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:lol:

But yeah - that sounds about right.

Before they struck oil, the selling point was always that City were the "genuine" team, the one "real" people from Manchester supported (United were plastic and only supported by southern cnuts and wealthy tourists). And in the pre-oil days (with City often being out of the top flight to boot), this was a plausible enough tale to sell (to - I dunno - hipsters and whatnot, people who craved the "authentic").

Needless to say, it got harder to peddle this romantic underdog story after the club became filthy rich and started winning the league on a regular basis (in front of a bunch of empty blue seats).
 
Im possible to say and really who cares. Anyone who switches allegiance because a teams winning cups is not a real fan just a plastic pillock.
 
Mr. Meeseeks said:
Actually, those figures would mean that:

United have 60k*0.45 = 27,000 season tickets from Manchester
City have 40k*0.65 = 26,000 season tickets from Manchester

So I dont see how it would be used to start that myth because it literally says that United have more fans in Manchester (or that at least the number of fans in the city is more or less evenly split). But I suppose more accurate figures could swing that figure either way.
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Because people are lazy and just see 65% vs 45% and never thought about the total season tickets.

They see the numbers and just concluded City has more local fans.
 
It started because United have fans all over the world where as the majority of City fans are all based in Manchester, like most medium sized English clubs they they are supported mostly by locals.
 
The more successful the team, the more fans generally.

Obviously united dominated the 90's and 00's, so the majority of 20-50 year old's id say were united fans.

Since cities rise there's probably a much larger % of younger fans.
 
United definitely have more fans locally. If the barren years continue it might change. However, right now there's no chance City have more fans than United in Greater Manchester. I reckon, even in Stockport, United have more fans!
 
Andycoleno9 said:
First of all, i apologise to mods for making a thread to just get an answer but after i google it and found nothing relevant about this, i decided to ask here where i can get answer from people from Manchester( and England).

How even that story started? Abroad it is so many times repeated. I know that City also have tradition and fan base but i can't imagine that they could have more fans in Manchester( including whole region, not just city).

Thanks for answers.
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Myth
 
Didn't think anyone took that seriously. Thought it was considered to be a pisstake.
 
I've never worked anywhere where City fans outnumber us and I have worked in a looooot of places, all in Greater Manchester.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Didn't think anyone took that seriously. Thought it was considered to be a pisstake.
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It rankles with some City fans.

It did in the past when they considered themselves a ‘people’s ‘ club. Bit like Everton.

Now they have people in London walking around in City shirts
 
City are irrelevant in every possible way. Says it all when 99.9% of United fans rather have them winning the league than a team from a different city.
 
I lived and worked in and around Manchester for 20 years and United always had the most fans.
 
It’s not true. Majority of football fans I encounter are United fans. City does have concentrated areas of support like Stockport and Wythenshawe (and even wythenshawe is like a 50/50 split) and a lot of the kids growing up like City (it’s normal, they have the cool players and win trophies)
 
Steve Bruce said:
I think this myth came about with season ticket figures. These figures aren't accurate but it gives the idea of what I'm saying.

United 60k season ticket holders, 45% are from Manchester.

City have 40k season ticket holders but 65% are from Manchester.

So iirc their was a paper back in the day used these type of figures to say the majority of Uniteds support came from outside of Manchester whereas City got the majority from Manchester and this was miss interpreted as city have more fans in Manchester and from then, the myth grew legs.
Click to expand...

Even if those numbers are true, all it would prove is that City fans aren't very good at math. 45% of 60k is 27k while 65% of 40k is 26k...
 
One place they seem to be losing fans by the day is redcafe. Couldn't enter a single thread this time last year without having to check it was a United site. They said it wasn't about being smug and winding up. Can hardly see any of them now. Funny.
 
SER19 said:
One place they seem to be losing fans by the day is redcafe. Couldn't enter a single thread this time last year without having to check it was a United site. They said it wasn't about being smug and winding up. Can hardly see any of them now. Funny.
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Especially after last Saturday evening at around 7:30pm...
 
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