Who is top of the pile in Manchester?
Hollywood came to the Etihad Stadium yesterday to see Manchester City play Stoke City. David Hasselhoff, Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall were in attendance to watch the reigning champions of the Premier League put three past Stoke and keep up the pressure on league leaders Manchester United as they bid to become top dog in the city.
But how well are Manchester City really doing? Everything football-related in Manchester is a competition, so who is winning? Well, in terms of celebrity spotting, their recent show is some pretty good form. The Blues of Manchester are clearly winning that competition but what about other aspects of those two great clubs?
Capacity: Old Trafford – 75,811. Etihad – 47,805.
Construction cost: Old Trafford – £90,000. Etihad – £154 million.
Most expensive ticket: Old Trafford – £52. Etihad – £58.
Number of toilets per person: Old Trafford – 1:1000. Etihad – 1:500.
In Top Trump terms things would be hard to call, but on the field things are easier to see. For all of Manchester City’s noise and celebrity endorsement they have a long way to go to catch up with their neighbour’s haul of silverware. They will continue to push United all the way this season and Mancini will drive his talented charges into battle but to truly begin to turn the tides, I think Mancini will need to wait until Ferguson has left the stage.
Until then he’ll just have to be happy to be top of the celebrity spotting league.
Peter Stickney
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