Manchester United’s global reputation amongst fans appears to be thriving despite a decade of decline on the pitch, according to a recent survey.
The Red Devils have slumped to their worst-ever start to a Premier League season following a 0-0 draw away at Aston Villa before the international break, having picked up only eight points from their opening seven Premier League games.
This poor start follows the club’s worst-ever Premier League finish last season slumping to eighth place, bringing about calls to sack manager Erik ten Hag, as their league title drought ticked over a decade in rather embarrassing fashion.
Manchester United maintain worldwide reputation
Despite a decade of disappointment, United remain locked with Liverpool as the country’s most successful clubs, both stretching out a healthy lead in major honours won over the nearest competitor, Arsenal.
This rich history has helped the Old Trafford outfit retain their place as the English club with the most overseas fans, according to a survey by Chiliz from The Global Fan, a report powered by Fan Tokens.
The Global Football Fan Report, conducted by the creators of Fan Tokens Chiliz, surveyed over 8,000 football fans across the UK, USA, Brazil, South Korea, Nigeria, Japan, Italy, and Turkey and revealed the true extent of the global nature of football fandom.
According to the report, 86.6% of football fans globally have some level of interest in a club overseas, with 33% claiming to have a foreign club as their main team.
Real Madrid and Barcelona took the top two spots in the survey as the clubs with the most foreign fans, closely followed by Manchester United in third.
Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool take up the next five spots in the leaderboard respectively with the Premier League coming out as resounding winners for the most supported league overseas.
Top 20 clubs with the most overseas fans*
| Rank | Club |
|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid |
| 2 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Manchester United |
| 4 | Chelsea |
| 5 | Arsenal |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 7 | Manchester City |
| 8 | Liverpool |
| 9 | Bayern Munich |
| 10 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 11 | Milan |
| 12 | Atletico Madrid |
| 13 | Juventus |
| 14 | Borussia Dortmund |
| 15 | Porto |
| 16 | Boca Juniors |
| 17 | Atalanta |
| =18 | Aston Villa |
| =18 | Roma |
| =19 | Santos |
| =19 | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| =20 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| =20 | Benfica |
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The survey did, however, note that 83.3% of global fans believe their clubs should be doing much more to engage with them, suggesting a bias towards domestic fans.
Manchester City’s continued success could soon see them race towards the top of the table, while a new generation of fans threatens to destabilise the solid foundation of support for Manchester United, although it seems impossible for either team to overpower the might of Real Madrid and Barcelona for a long, long time to come.
