Andy Anson, commercial director of English Premier League club Manchester United was interviewed by Singapore's New Paper through ProEvents. The Q & A included:
Singapore is one of a few countries in the world with a dedicated Man United super store. While Singaporeans can get their hands on everything Man United here, it has been five years (from 2001) since the first team or any of the players visited us. Are there any plans to play a game in Singapore soon? We know we have many fans in Singapore and we do look closely at the venues we visit on tour. Unfortunately this time, it does not look as though we have been able to fit in a trip to see our supporters in Singapore, but it is certainly a destination that is firmly on our radar for the future.
Man United have a soccer school in Hong Kong. Any plans to tie up with more Asian countries, including Singapore, to open more academies? The Soccer School is a great success, and we are working closely with our partners Nike to target new venues. Singapore is definitely on our list of priorities.
Man United is the self-proclaimed 'most popular football club in the world'. How many fans do you have and what percentage of them are from Asia? The last estimate by independent research company MORI, suggested the club has over 75 million fans worldwide, of which just over half - 40.7 million are based in Asia.
Man United have a feeder club in Belgium. Will we see an Asian feeder club soon? The club only has a relationship with Royal Antwerp in Belgium. We do not see the programme expanding.
Park Ji Sung is the first Asian to play for Man United. Has Park's signing helped increase Man United's appeal in Asia, and to what extent? That is difficult to say, since the club never singles out individual players to promote itself. But the credit card that we launched in Korea in February this year already has 410,000 cardholders.
Singapore is one of a few countries in the world with a dedicated Man United super store. While Singaporeans can get their hands on everything Man United here, it has been five years (from 2001) since the first team or any of the players visited us. Are there any plans to play a game in Singapore soon? We know we have many fans in Singapore and we do look closely at the venues we visit on tour. Unfortunately this time, it does not look as though we have been able to fit in a trip to see our supporters in Singapore, but it is certainly a destination that is firmly on our radar for the future.
Man United have a soccer school in Hong Kong. Any plans to tie up with more Asian countries, including Singapore, to open more academies? The Soccer School is a great success, and we are working closely with our partners Nike to target new venues. Singapore is definitely on our list of priorities.
Man United is the self-proclaimed 'most popular football club in the world'. How many fans do you have and what percentage of them are from Asia? The last estimate by independent research company MORI, suggested the club has over 75 million fans worldwide, of which just over half - 40.7 million are based in Asia.
Man United have a feeder club in Belgium. Will we see an Asian feeder club soon? The club only has a relationship with Royal Antwerp in Belgium. We do not see the programme expanding.
Park Ji Sung is the first Asian to play for Man United. Has Park's signing helped increase Man United's appeal in Asia, and to what extent? That is difficult to say, since the club never singles out individual players to promote itself. But the credit card that we launched in Korea in February this year already has 410,000 cardholders.