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Manchester United named world’s favourite football club

Manchester United has been named the world’s most popular football club and most valuable team brand in sport with 659 million followers worldwide, according to Kantar.

Almost half of the UK premier league team’s supporter base is found in Asia-Pacific, with 325 million fans in the region, 108 million of which are in China. The club has a further 71 million fans in the Americas, 90 million in Europe and 173 million in the Middle East and Africa.

The number of Manchester United’s followers across the world has grown by 98% since the previous study in 2007. The survey also revealed that football is the world’s most popular sport with 1.6 billion followers globally.

“Manchester United has built on a tradition of iconic players, iconic teams and iconic achievements,” says Manchester United commercial director Richard Arnold. “Manchester United resonates with followers all over the world, and it's their passion and support that means year after year we can continue doing what matters most to everyone at the Club: playing attacking football and competing for trophies.”

The survey was completed by 54,000 individuals in 39 countries. The 35 questions analysed demographics, age, gender, socio-economic background, interest in club merchandise and awareness and attitudes towards commercial partners.

General Motors became the official car sponsor of Manchester United at the beginning of the month.

David Hing, London