"You only live round the corner, live round the corner, you only live round the corner!" is a chant often directed at Manchester United fans, and if they are playing in London, then it turns out there are some concrete statistics to back this up.
A Virgin Media poll of 1,500 supporters has confirmed that 18% of United fans live in London, compared to only 14% in Manchester. So, if you are wondering why those trains leaving London Euston for Manchester Piccadilly are packed with those donning red shirts, then that is the reason.
But it is not just the Red Devils who have the majority of support from outside their city limits.
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Liverpool count on 14% of their support from the capital, while 13% are based in Merseyside, and what is perhaps even more surprising is that Reds fans live furthest away from their ground on average - 129 miles to be precise.
This backs up another eye-catching statistic from the survey, which states that just over half (55%) of Premier League fans actually support their local team and on average, live 83 miles away from the side they follow.
Meanwhile, more than one in five of those polled admitted they had never been to their team's ground.
Looking at the individual clubs themselves, Aston Villa fans live closest to the ground, with the average distance between themselves and Villa Park deemed to be just 52 miles.
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Everton fans will reportedly attend the most games this season (nine), while comparatively fair-weather Tottenham fans are set to go to the fewest (two).
Other interesting figures from the poll included the fact that 44% of fans who do not support their local team will get labelled as 'glory-hunters.' But what is perhaps an even more damning state of affairs, is that more than one in ten (11 per cent) considered changing allegiances to Manchester City after Jack Grealish's summer move to the Etihad.
Thoughts on the study? Let us know in the comments.
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Words by James Hilsum.
Topics: Liverpool, Manchester United, Premier League, Fans, London