CREWE Alex lost their first ever competitive game against Manchester United in an historic encounter at Gresty Road last night but pocketed their share of gate receipts of more than £150,000.

The Carling Cup tie at the Alexandra Stadium was a 10,103 sellout with 1,662 United fans in the crowd.

Although under Carling Cup rules the ticket receipts are split equally between the teams, with a percentage going to the Football League, it was still a bumper pay-day for the Railwaymen.

It could have been a lot more but the Alex won many friends among the Old Trafford faithful and rewarded their own fans by resisting the temptation to up the prices.

Club spokesman Andy Wilkinson explained: 'I am sure we could have sold out twice over. We wanted to make sure our most loyal fans were able to get a ticket, while only a fraction of Manchester United fans could get a pass for the away stands.

'The tickets were sold at £15 each, which is actually £2 less than the price for a normal league game.'

The club introduced strict criteria to ensure that only loyal Alex fans got tickets. Supporters who sold their tickets on can expect to be traced and punished.

It was a clash between the two longest-serving managers in professional football.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who celebrates his 18th anniversary in charge of United in a fortnight, is still junior to Dario Gradi who is in his 22nd campaign as Crewe boss.

And Sir Alex show his respect for Dario's outfit by fielding a side packed with nine internationals.

A firework threatened to mar proceedings when it streaked across the sky from outside the ground and exploded yards from the players.

Following the incident, just after the half-time whistle, police in protective headgear were seen moving in on a group of youths who had gathered outside the stadium.

Stadium manager Cliff Simpson said: `We had three arrests, two who were found drunk entering the ground and another who jumped the turnstiles twice. Five people were ejected, for their behaviour with one found pilfering from the tea shop

`The only other incident was that rocket. If it had hit someone it would have done some damage.'

`The ticket office did a marvellous job. When United scored we had a look at the main stand and there was very little reaction so obviously the measures to keep United fans out of there worked.'