The Red Devils claim the existing number of tickets sold, including those in executive areas at Old Trafford, has now reached 64,000, ahead of the Sunday evening deadline for sales.

When the normal allocation reserved for away supporters is included, it would take the club to within touching distance of the 67,500 capacity of previous campaigns.

Capacity now stands at 76,000 with the opening of new quadrants.

The sales figure, way in excess of any other Premiership club's ground capacity, has come in the face of continued opposition among more militant groups of United fans to the ownership of Malcolm Glazer.

"This is fantastic news," said a club spokesman.

"We have almost sold as many tickets for every game before the start of the season than we had as an entire capacity last year.

"It is a record figure, not just for us but for English football as a whole and something we are very proud of.

"It shows that United fans are continuing to support the team at Old Trafford in huge numbers."

Supporters who want season tickets but fail to meet Sunday's deadline will be placed on the waiting list created by the club when they confirmed they were launching a special one-year season ticket earlier in the summer.