[Portman]

(IMG:http://www.evenements-et-voyages.com/evenements_fichiers/football_san_siro_milan_ac.jpg)

Média de assistências nos estádios 2007/2008:

1. Real Madrid CF (Espanha) - 76.200
2. Manchester United (Inglaterra) - 75.690
3. Borussia Dortmund (Alemanha) - 72.500
4. Bayern Munique (Alemanha) - 69.000
5. FC Barcelona (Espanha) - 67.560
6. Schalke 04 (Alemanha) - 61.275
7. Arsenal FC (Inglaterra) - 60.070
8. Celtic FC (Escócia) - 56.675
9. AC Milan (Itália) 56.640
10. Hamburguer SV (Alemanha) - 55.365
11. Olympique Marseille - (França) - 52.600
12. Newcastle United (Inglaterra) - 51.324
13. Internazionale (Itália) - 51.210
14. VfB Stuttgart (Alemanha) - 50.445
15. FC Rangers (Escócia) - 49.145
16. Ajax (Holanda) - 49.125
17. Eintracht Frankfurt (Alemanha) - 48.325
18. Hertha BSC (Alemanha) - 45.440
19. Atlético de Madrid (Espanha) - 45.255
20. Feyenoord (Holanda) - 44.620
21. FC Koln (Alemanha) - 43.740
22. Liverpool FC (Inglaterra) - 43.534
23. FC Nuremberg (Alemanha) - 43.450
24. Sunderland (Inglaterra) - 43.343
25. Manchester City (Inglaterra) - 42.126
26. Chelsea FC (Inglaterra) - 41.396
27. SS Napoli (Itália) - 40.780
28. Valencia (Espanha) - 40.710
29. Borussia Munchengladbach (Alemanha) - 40.250
30. Hannover 96 (Alemanha) - 40.235
31. Werder Bremen (Alemanha) - 40.310
32. Aston Villa (Inglaterra) - 39.870
33. FC Sevilla (Espanha) - 39.555
34. SL Benfica (Portugal) - 38.709
35. FC Porto (Portugal) - 38.630
36. Real Bétis (Espanha) - 37.420
37. Olympique Lyonnais (França) - 37.295
38. AS Roma (Itália) - 37.275
39. Everton FC (Inglaterra) - 36.955
40. Paris Saint-Germain (França) - 36.945
41. Athletic Bilbao (Espanha) - 36.235
42. Tottenham Hotspurs (Inglaterra) - 35.966
43. Munique 1860 (Alemanha) - 35.070
44. RC Lens (França) - 34.655
45. West Ham United (Inglaterra) - 34.600
46. PSV Eindhoven (Holanda) - 33.510
47. Fiorentina (Itália) - 31.385
48. Derby County (Inglaterra) - 30.870
49. Sporting CP (Portugal) - 30.721
50. Real Zaragoza (Espanha) - 30.710

Source: Football Finance - http://www.futebolfinance.com/o-numero-de-...opeus-20072008/

Above there's the average of the attendances @ last season in Europe. And as we can see, we're the only italian club in the top 10 though we had the worst season of the last 7-8 years.

[Jack Sparrow]

Ok..fine..don't ask X or Y or Z or whoever.

Just ask yourself, how suddenly in the Ronaldinho era, the number of Barca shirts shot up. Or how suddenly Chelsea are the second/third most supported EPL team from being nowhere 10 years ago.

What happened? All those 'eternally true' fans suddenly decided to stand up and be counted. Face it Chelsea started winning stuff, people noticed, and people who had never ever followed football, but now couldn't ignore it, needed a team to support. And bada boom, bada bing they choose the most winning team.

It started with Beckham mania. And it continued with Liverpool's Istanbul. If you ever went to goal.com's India site...and heard the fan answers. The question is 'Since when do you support Liverpool?' 'Oh..when I saw Istanbul, I was really amazed...blahblahblah'. Benitez is the greatest manager ever. Torres the best forward ever. You read the comments too.

As for 10-40%.

Considering that there might be millions of fans, that does consitute a very small number. It's not the same as saying 3 out of 4 people you meet are glory hunters.

Frankly speaking, everyone who's not a native of the club's city, starts out as glory hunters. Maybe later they develop a genuine interest in the club. But there is no hiding that keeping Madrid's huge worldwide fanbase, and the relatively low age of the fans, it's a glory hunting phenomenon.

As for your 4 year argument...those 4 years were always a case of almost there. It was never a 4 years of darkness. Let Madrid go through a Leeds united or a Juventus like period and we'll talk about 'true fans'. 5 will get you 20, you'd see a sudden sudden fall.

If I could or knew how, I'd draw up figures of how much Juventus shirt sales have fallen in India. But it's enough to walk on the streets to know that. The numbers show up in front of your eyes.