Chinese prefer English football

Results of a study by Dr. Sue Bridgewater, a researcher at Warwick Business School, showed that the England team shirt was all the rage in China during World Cup 2006. The results were presented to the Football Association this month.

The poll also showed Chinese fans have a stronger interest in international football over Chinese local football with England being the favourite team beating out Brazil, Argentina and Germany.

During the World Cup 2006, 78.01 percent of the Chinese fans preferred watching international football compared to 31.24 percent preferring Chinese local football.

In major tournaments that China did not play in, 96.3 percent of Chinese fans supported another national team.

England was by far the most supported team with 26.35 percent. Brazil followed England with 20.61 percent, Argentina 11.82 percent, Italy 10.81 percent, and German 10.81 percent.

When Chinese fans were questioned about which team shirt they had seen most often, England's percentage was 27.2 percent, followed by Brazil at 12.9 percent and Italy at 11.2 percent.

English Premier League Manchester United had a 9.5 percent rating that put it above all remaining international clubs.

The study found that the most regularly seen international football shirt in China was the England national shirt with 40.56, followed by Manchester United with 30.42 percent. The Italian team shirt is third with 29.72 percent, with Real Madrid at last place at 12.14 percent.

Of all fans questioned, 54.14 percent said they owned a football shirt and England was once again in the lead - 19.6 percent owned an England shirt. Manchester United followed England with 13.9 percent, and then AC Milan at 8.8 percent, and the Italian team at 8.23 percent.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.