Crowded House - Notable Attendances
United's 19 home Premiership games during the 2004-2005 season were watched by a total of 1,289,541 spectators. That's an average of 67,871 per game, an all-time record for British football.
67,989 fans were inside Old Trafford for the Premiership visit of Portsmouth on Saturday February 26, 2005. That figure constituted the largest attendance at Old Trafford since the stadium record was set on March 29, 1939 when 76,962 were present to witness an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town.
The largest crowd ever to watch a United fixture at Old Trafford was on Monday December 27, 1920 when 70,504 turned up for the Football League Division One game against Aston Villa.
The largest attendance ever to watch a league fixture in England was 83,260. The occasion was a Football League Division One match between Manchester United and Arsenal on Saturday January 17, 1948 at Maine Road, home of Manchester City FC. United were sharing their neighbours headquarters at the time while Old Trafford was out of action because of war-time damage.
Old Trafford is currently undergoing its latest development, which will see the northwest and northeast quadrants link-up the west, north and east stands at second-tier level. The capacity will rise from 68,000 to 76,000.
The largest crowd to watch a match involving Manchester United was 125,000 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid, on April 11, 1957. The game was against Real Madrid in the European Champion Clubs' Cup, semi-final, first leg. Real won the match, 3-1 and went on to take the tie by a 5-3 aggregate.
