Britain earned £684m from football fans last year

Football fans from around the globe spent a total of £684 million last year to watch football matches in Britain.

Old Trafford and the Emirates top the list amongst the most popular destinations, with each receiving around 109,000 visitors from a total of 800,000 overseas tourists.

Figures also revealed that among the sports travellers, around seventy five percent of them came to watch football.

On average £855 are spent by visitors who come for football, compared to the £636 spent by those who don’t choose to watch football, according to the research carried out by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in collaboration with VisitBritain.

Travellers from Ireland top the chart by exporting 121,000 visitors, followed by Norway in second with 93,000 visitors and Sweden in third with 58,000 football fans visiting Britain.

The study also found out that North West England was the biggest recipient of football related visits, with a ratio of one in ten going to a game. North East England was in the second place followed by Wales in the third.

The English Premier League in collaboration with VisitBritain is focusing on promoting tourism in Britain by attracting football fans to see live matches.

"The Premier League is proud of its role in promoting Britain across the world,” said the league's chief executive Richard Scudamore.

"There are 1.2billion people across the globe who are fans of the league and we want to engage with as many of them as possible."

Scudamore discussed that Premier League is playing a vital role in promoting Britain in the global arena.

Tourism minister Tracey Crouch said: "It's fantastic to see the positive role football is playing in showcasing key destinations in many different regions of the UK."

Football is a vital component of the British culture, and the tourism minister was quick to appreciate the game’s role in highlighting key destinations of the UK.

The article originally appeared on Express.co.uk