Second only to.... Southampton

Last updated : 18 March 2002 By Luke Thornhill
Professor David Howard carried out a survey on behalf of the current Premiership sponsors Barclaycard.

He analysed recordings of all Premiership fans singing at home games.

Using the latest scientific sound equipment, the professor examined the collective voice of the fans to uncover their relative tuning accuracy and their tendency to go sharp or flat, the key elements of good singing.

"All the fans sing with real passion and belief, but in some cases the vocal skills of some fans don't come close to matching the ball skills of the players that they support.

"Luckily for the players, United fans do and they have an extremely unified and stable pitch," said the professor.

"At the other end of the scale, Bolton fans' pitch moves around wildly and has an alarming tendency to drift sharp and flat."

Southerners Southampton pipped United to top spot, with Derby County coming in third followed by Newcastle United and Liverpool.

Bolton Wanderers came bottom, with Tottenham second worst singers.