STILL on Manchester's 'Big Two' a study undertaken at Manchester University has revealed that - surprise, surprise - United do have fans in Manchester and not all City fans live within a few miles radius of Maine Road.

How much money it cost to tell us the blatantly obvious I don't know but at least it gives the sensible brigade some ammunition to put straight those people who reckon every true football fan in the city of Manchester is of the blue variety while every United fan has a strange accent.

The study came up with 30 per cent of United season ticket holders live in Manchester while City's share was ten per cent more and both had 75 per cent living in the North West.

If the point was to explode the myth that all United fans live a long way away the boffins shouldn't have bothered because they are missing the point completely.

United get all the jokes of far away fans aimed at them because, firstly, they have more long distance true fans than any other club and, secondly, they have far and away the most untrue fans in all four corners of the country and abroad - those people whose only affinity with the club is that they buy all their leisurewear from their local United store.