Manchester United, who thrashed Los Angeles Galaxy 7-0 in the first match of their tour, have been big news since moving on to Denver

James Ducker is following Manchester United around the United States and is offering a daily behind the scenes look at life on the road with the club in his pre-season tour diary.

“Man U the capital of its empire,” screamed the headline on page 3 of the Denver Post’s Sports pull-out today. There seems a genuine fascination in these parts about how the Barclays Premier League club – coming from a city whose 2.6 million population is very similar to that of Denver – can have such a huge global appeal. “When you look at a team like Manchester United, they’re in a relatively modest-sized city in the UK,” Brian Kitts, a professor who teaches sports and entertainment marketing at the University of Denver, said.