How the fans raised the roof again

Friday 20 August 2021 07:00

United's 5-1 victory over Leeds was the first time Old Trafford has been full for over 17 months – and the returning Red Army made an immediate and undeniable impact, by producing an atmosphere that sound experts believe is the loudest match recorded at the stadium since 2018.

The high point came when Mason Greenwood's stunning second-half strike went in off the post at the Stretford End, putting United back into the lead just minutes after Luke Ayling's impressive effort had given the visitors a shock equaliser. 
 
That goal brought about a roar that registered a mammoth 117.6dB – to put those decibel levels into context, 118dB is the average noise of an aircraft at take-off power at 200ft, and the average sound levels of a live rock concert is 108-114dB.

The roar that greeted Bruno Fernandes’s first-half opener wasn’t far off the noise that greeted Mason’s goal, however – peaking at 117.5dB around the ground.
Access All Areas: United 5 Leeds 1 Video

Access All Areas: United 5 Leeds 1

How good was our opening day? If you weren’t at Old Trafford, delve into our behind-the-scenes video…

The overall average for the Leeds game on Saturday, as a whole, was 95.55dB – the highest since the match against Wolves back in September 2018 (97.85dB), an emotional and highly charged occasion which saw Sir Alex Ferguson return to Old Trafford for the first time following his illness.

Old Trafford’s loudest match on average during the 2019/20 season – before the matches went behind-closed-doors – was the 4-0 opening-day win over Chelsea in August 2019, with an average sound level of 95.04dB and the loudest roar that day reaching a mighty 119.1dB when Marcus Rashford put United 3-0 up.
United hire independent sound experts to send a report after every game, which identifies the average and maximum dB levels for each half and links the peaks to the on-field events that triggered them.

Prior to the 2019/20 season, recording devices were primarily placed in front of one stand, but since then there have been six devices in place across Old Trafford, which the specialists believe present a more accurate and balanced overall reading when it comes to documenting the atmosphere in terms of sound levels. 
 
Oh how we’ve missed those roars… long may they continue.

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