6:24pm UK, Thursday September 29, 2005

Football club Manchester United has taken centre stage in this year's hottest theatre production in Iran.

Crowds are flocking to see the play FANS, which is written and directed by Mohammad Rahmanian.

180 Manchester United's Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Loved: Manchester United

It tells the story of the soccer-mad Shelton family living in 1960s Manchester.

It has struck such a chord in the soccer-mad Islamic Republic that extra seating has had to be brought in.

The play's central character Frankie is played by Parviz Parastoui, one of Iran's foremost theatre actors.

Frankie, the head of the household, rules the family home with an iron rod and tests his wife Nancy, brother Sonny and sister Agnes on obscure soccer trivia.

His grip weakens when a Manchester City-supporting taxi driver wins the affections of his wife.

Rahmanian has never been to Manchester and only briefly visited the UK.

He said: "I had wanted to write about prejudice-induced violence for a long time until I hit on football and where on earth could be a better location for a football play than England?"

The play is on an international tour and will also visit Sweden and Canada.