Every supporter likes to think their club has the best fans, the best ground and the best atmosphere, but if recent data is to be believed, Old Trafford has the best atmosphere in the Premier League.
Manchester United’s home has long been considered one of the most iconic stadiums in world football; the Theatre of Dreams is a place that almost every player in world football has literally dreamt of playing at, and while it might not be the most modern, a new study suggests it has what counts: the most buzz.
As per a survey conducted by sports and betting brand Midnite, Old Trafford was the highest-rated for best-home support in the Premier League, taking more than a fifth of the total share of votes with 20.46% of participants concluding it has the best atmosphere.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just Reds propping up the stats; breaking down the results into different groups, the Stretford End and co. also got lots of recognition from other fans, with some 39% of Newcastle fans even voting United as their favourite away day atmosphere. Here’s how the top five panned out:
🚨🔴 A study from @midnite shows Old Trafford has been voted as the Premier League stadium with the best home atmosphere:
1. Manchester United – 20.46% 2. Liverpool – 17.64% 3. Arsenal – 11.49% 4. Newcastle United – 7.56% 5. Chelsea – 7.06%#MUFCpic.twitter.com/prcnSRqLxx
While the votes have no doubt been boosted by the club’s upturn in results and performances since Erik ten Hag arrived, currently sat in third and having won their first trophy for six years, it’d be curious to see what people’s impressions of the 74,000 capacity venue have been in the decade since Sir Alex left.
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As you can see, Anfield came in second with 17.64% of the votes and also topped the list when it came to the atmosphere for travelling fans, with more than 34% of the 1,002 surveyed declaring Liverpool as the best away day. Perhaps not the biggest sample size but many would argue still aligns with the general consensus, historically.
League leaders Arsenalcame in third with over 11% of the votes — the way this current season’s going also helping no end — and equally resurgent Newcastle United’s St James’ Park seemed to live up to its reputation too, claiming fourth place.
On the other end of the spectrum, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and Bournemouth all bottomed out the list, with just 1.31%, 0.71% and 0.60%, respectively; Wolves also recorded the lowest result for away atmosphere, only managing 4% of the votes.
Interestingly, despite being the most technologically and architecturally up-to-date in the English top flight, Spurs’ sparkly new stadium didn’t appear in the top five and neither did Man City‘s equally impressive Etihad, even despite its wider campus and fan facilities which are reportedly set to be developed ever further.
The designs will see the stadium capacity increased to over 60,000. 🏟️https://t.co/bHRoFveWTH
On the other hand, they didn’t find themselves in the relegation zone of the Premier League table for atmosphere either, so that’s something, I guess.
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So, Old Trafford apparently has the best atmosphere in the Prem, but what grounds up and down the EFL and wider football pyramid are the unsung heroes?
Two Greater Manchester-based Paralympians pick up MBEs following Paris 2024 heroics
Danny Jones
A pair of Paralympians born just down the road and honed two discipline-leading national performance centres here in Manchester have officially been awarded MBEs.
The Northerners doing the country proud – sounds about right.
First off, if the name Poppy Maskill doesn’t ring a bell, the promising Paralympic was Team GB’s best-performing para-athlete at Paris 2024 this past summer, contributing a total of five medals towards the nation’s joint-third-highest tally.
After her heroics at the Games, the teenager who turns 20 this weekend (Saturday, 29 March) was the recipient of an early and very prestigious birthday present, becoming one of the youngest individuals to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in history.
She was named on the New Year’s Honours list back in December but finally collected her latest medal in person this week following a ceremony at Windsor Castle, being honoured by King Charles III personally.
Hailing from Middlewich just less than an hour away from our city centre, Maskill might be a Cheshire girl by birth, but this young sporting gem is being polished right here at the state-of-the-art Manchester Aquatics Centre (MAC).
The youngster became the first Paralympian to pick up gold back in August after not only winning the 100m butterfly but smashing the world record in the process, too.
Competing in the S14 class – a category for athletes with intellectual impairments – she finished the heat with in just 1:03, surpassing the previous best by more than half a minute. But her impressive performance didn’t stop there.
MAC regular Maskill went on to win two more golds in the S14 100m backstroke and 4 x100m S14 freestyle relay, as well as a pair of silver medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley S14. Just incredible.
Poppy Maskill wasn’t the only Greater Manchester-based para-athlete who was recognised this month, though, as Stockport‘s very own two-time Paralympic champion Sophie Unwin was also presented with the accolade for her services to sport.
Named a member of the Order along with her co-pilot Jenny Holl, Unwin’s Paris 2024 medal haul included a double of golds in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit and the road race tandem B, not to mention a silver in the road time trial and a bronze in the 1000m time trial at Paris 2024.
Following in the footsteps of fellow MBE and Stopfordian cycling legend, Dame Sarah Storey, who won her 19th gold medal to become Britain’s greatest Paralympian of all time – having made the most of MAC and the National Cycling Centre over in East Manchester during her career – the borough did us proud.
30-year-old Unwin has kicked on just as strong in the new year as well, notching a narrow victory to set an unofficial (unfortunately) world record of 4:36.737 in the women’s tandem at the 2025 Lloyds National Track Championships here in Manchester.
Former Manchester City player Joey Barton found guilty of assaulting his wife
Danny Jones
Ex-footballer Joey Barton has officially been found guilty of assaulting his wife following his two-day trial in the capital this week.
Barton, who played for Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and a number of other clubs, was convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 25 March, following an incident back in June 2021.
The former midfielder left his wife, 37-year-old Georgia Barton (McNeil), with a bleeding nose and a bruise on her forehead following a drunken row at their home in London.
Barton is said to have grabbed and pushed her to the floor before kicking her in the head. Married in 2019, the two have four children and are thought to still be together.
The 42-year-old was still employed in professional football as the manager of Bristol Rovers at the time, but he was ultimately sacked in October 2023.
His wife called 999 at the time, telling police that he had hit her, but later retracted her statement.
Born in Huyton, Merseyside, the chief magistrate Paul Goldspring recognised that the one-time England has a history of violence.
He was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence, meaning he won’t serve time unless he commits another offence and has been ordered to pay £2,138.
Since dropping out of mainstream football, in particular, Barton has come under heavy criticism for allegations of racism, sexism and controversial right-wing politics; he even started an ‘anti-woke’ podcast called Common Sense with Joey Barton.
Back in June of last year, he was ordered to pay £35,000 in damages to settle a libel claim with presenter Jeremy Vine after a series of inflammatory comments made online.
The Radio 2 presenter sued Mr Barton earlier this year, after the former footballer wrote a series of posts suggesting Mr Vine had a sexual interest in children.
He also accused of threatening fellow former pro, Eni Aluko, after a torrent of abuse regarding her punditry online – the ex-England international even went so far as to say she no longer felt safe staying in the country.
Danny Jones -
23rd March 2023 
