The `Theatre of Dreams,` - Old Trafford, has always been very well supported, and regularly gets attendances of 67,000 plus. At the end of this season it went to arond 70,000 due to new expansion, which will eventually result in a seating capacity of 76,000.

The ground is currently the 2nd largest ground in the UK, the biggest is the Milennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Once Wembley is finished, (and that`s a BIG when due to major building delays), then Wembley will be the largest.

Here`s one fans impression of the ground, though bear in mind it`s a little out of date now.

Quote:Fans Impressions

Old Trafford is arguably the most famous, and elegant ground within British sport, and despite your allegiances to your club, you have to be in awe of Old Trafford. From getting your first glimpse of Old Trafford, to when you get up quite close, the home of the Red Devils is a huge impressive complex, and holds a massive 68,000 fans.

There are some drawbacks at Old Trafford though. Away fans are seated in the East Stand Lower Tier, and the first thing that you notice when you take your seat is that the ground/pitch looks a lot smaller than it does on the telly – more compact if anything. It does come as a bit of shock and God knows what the poor sod's right at the back of the North and West stands must see.

The atmosphere from the home crowd is non-existent. The away fans out-sing the home fans something silly, and you only find that the home support rarely gets excited. Pockets of the home crowd come alive when Utd have scored a goal, or they are bored of watching them annihilate the opposition, and decide to occupy themselves by bursting into song. Really disappointing to say the least. But as an away supporter, you will have a complete ball with your fellow fans. You also get a fairly good view of what is going on, with the liberty of re-creating the days of terracing, by standing up for the full 90 mins.

Getting away from the ground is a complete nightmare. Despite saying that Old Trafford Tram stop is near the ground, it is a good 10 minute walk from Old Trafford. The police and officials keep you back, as I witnessed for myself for 15-20 minutes after the match until the entire home supporters have dispersed. Couple this with the agonising wait for the Tram, I missed my train going back home! It took me an hour and a half to get back to Manchester Piccadilly Station, and probably has been one of the most frustrating journey's back I have experienced. If you are travelling from far a field by train, then to leave at least 2 hours to make sure that you can get back on time to the station, rather than clock watch.

The matchday programme is one of the plushest matchday publications I have come across, is very well put together, and at £3 (December 2002 price) is justifiable for what you get.

The megastore (0161-848-8181) at this stadium is the largest in the country with a floor area of 6000 square feet! and obviously as this is Manchester United there is also a superstore!!!

Located within the North stand is the 'Red Cafe' (0161-930-2930). This is a Manchester United theme restaurant, but this is obviously very busy on match days. Like other large premiership clubs there is also a club museum and guided tours of the ground (...both at a cost).

Make no mistake, this is a lovely ground, but just don't expect your breath to be taken away when you get there!

As far as the football is concerned, there was a lot of dissent when Glazer too over, with some fans claiming never to return to Old Trafford. But, looking at the above attendance figures it seems to have had little if any impact on the situation. True fans will continue to support them despite who`s in charge.

Manchester United came 2nd in the Premiership this season, and Glazer is putting money into the club for Sir Alex Ferguson to buy new players, but, it`s going to take a lot to catch up to Chelsea who came top again. Their Russian backer has almost limitless resources to play with.