Man Utd hit back over "violent fans" claim

Manchester United have defended their travelling supporters after a newspaper published extracts from the club's own report that…

Manchester United have defended their travelling supporters after a newspaper published extracts from the club's own report that branded them violent and ill-disciplined.

Officials of the champions dismissed a report in the Daily Mail, which they claimed twisted figures taken from the club's own annual safety report.

In a statement on the club's official website today, United said that only 87 of the 52,570 fans travelling officially to 22 away games in the English premier league and two cup competitions were arrested last season.

"The vast majority of United fans, both home and away, are extremely well behaved," Manchester United director of Communications Paddy Harverson said.

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"As at all football clubs, we sometimes have a problem with the behaviour of a tiny majority of supporters, but this report is a selective, exaggerated and misleading account of our annual safety report.

"United have never pretended that the problem of hooliganism has gone away completely. But the situation is vastly improved from 10 or 20 years ago, and the problems we do have exist at all other clubs."

The United document included reports from other premier league clubs detailing incidents of aggressive behaviour from United fans.

Coventry City's safety official described United's fans as the worst away supporters he had ever experienced and called them "not very nice people".

Bradford City described them as "appalling" and said violence towards home fans was organised and a "return to the bad old days".