United tap into eastern promise

United are well ahead of the game in Asia, but Arsenal and Liverpool are also seeking a foothold in what has become a lucrative market place for the big English clubs. Liverpool, who helped whip up Far East fervour with a visit that briefly overlapped United's, are also exploiting the merchandising and communications opportunities.

England's big three have websites in Chinese and are stepping up the sale of replica kits and memorabilia.

Draper said: 'This is not a new market because our popularity really started in the Sixties when live football started to be screened out here. It followed on from the success of English football in Scandinavia.

'So television has always been the driver and, of course, they see more and more games here and the number of fans has grown to five million. Now that is a market. If you were Mars or Pepsi and you were told you had five million people to go at, you would say: "Yes, pleaseî.

'We are lucky that our best marketing weapon is the team. We have had a fantastic one through the Nineties and it is up to us to take advantage of that - in the nicest possible way.

'We are not into raping and pillaging. We are into a working relationship with our fans. That is part of being here because we want to find out what they need. We can't do it every week - we do that through television. But we can do it every few years.'

There has been a brisk trade in replica shirts in Singapore during the visits of Liverpool and United.

James Lim, a 36-year-old businessman who is head of Liverpool's fan club here, said: 'The shirt is a compulsory item.'

So it seemed in Kuala Lumpur, where more than half the crowd were wearing red United shirts. The new gold ones, another sure-fire winner, will be on the backs of the United players in the National Stadium here tonight.

Mark Adams, managing director of IMG Singapore, which organised Liverpool's games there and in Bangkok, said: 'These visits can only help the bottom line of a football club, which is a business.' Liverpool and United both played to capacity crowds.

United's store in Singapore, the first of its kind outside Britain, has seen a 25 per cent jump in sales over three weeks, with fans buying souvenirs ahead of the match there.

United's visit has been organised by ProEvents, a Singapore-based company whose chief executive Julian Kam believes that soccerrelated sponsorship and merchandising could generate $273m over the next five years in Asia.

He said: 'All top European teams realise that you can't ignore the Asia market when we get to see the Premiership three times a week on television. They get even more popular as the weeks go by.'

There are advantages, too, for the sponsors. Chase Manhattan's sponsorship of a United friendly in Hong Kong two years ago increased its credit card membership by 20 per cent, or about 100,000 cards. The sale of event-related merchandise at the game raised more than $700,000.

Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs will be cashing in to the tune of £2m from his testimonial game against Celtic on August 1 after United confirmed that the Old Trafford clash is already a 67,000 sell-out.

The Wales winger, already a multi-millionaire, said: 'When you look at the support of the two clubs, you are probably talking about the biggest fanbase in the world, never mind Great Britain.'

There was good news for United fans yesterday when Trafford Council said that it would not close parts of Old Trafford because of persistent standing at games, although the local authority wants to talk to the club about how to deal with individuals who refuse to sit down.

United last night agreed a £2.5m fee for 23-year- old Wigan goalkeeper Roy Carroll. Ferguson will seal a four-year deal for him when the squad return from the Far East.