Liverpool - Manchester United: The rivalry and bittersweet history

When we talk of football enmities, one particular rivalry can never be overlooked. Over the course of years, it’s been one of the most talked about rivalry. Liverpool and Manchester, two cities located in the North West of England are the homes of two of the greatest ever football clubs that the world has witnessed. Geographically they are just 30 odd miles apart, but what these two clubs have achieved over the years can hardly be set apart. Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC, the two most decorated clubs in the history of English football share one of the fiercest rivalries that has lasted for decades now.

But these two cities do not just share a sporting rivalry, it’s way beyond that. And to learn that, one needs go deep into history, maybe more than a century backwards to find it out in detail.

In brief, it was a clash of two cultures while at the same time they shared an industrial rivalry as well. Football just happened to have taken it to a whole different level.

How can we forget what Bill Shankly had once famously said? ”Football is not a matter of life and death, It’s more important than that”. Well folks, every bit of that statement holds good for the North-West Derby and the history associated with it.

It started way back in the 19^th century, during the industrial revolution. The one thing that was always common between Liverpool and Manchester United is their working class roots. They were both working class cities back then and were doing remarkably well in their trades.

Manchester Ship Canal

However everything changed in 1894 when the Manchester Ship Canal was constructed. Liverpool was largely dependent on the import and export business, a business which was the industrial source of revenue for most of the households in the city. It was quite apparent for a city with a working class background. Hence, construction of the Manchester Ship Canal took over that business. Merchants in the city were cut out of the trade in almost all goods and quite clearly it became the source of dismay to them.

But what amazes me after going through the complete history is that, both the cities were full of passionate football supporters.

That was also the time when hooliganism was very extensive in football. Well, at least in England. But when it came to Liverpool and Manchester United, there was a lot of bitterness between the fans and with time their extreme hatred for each other has only grown stronger. Hence, that is how an industrial rivalry which started due to the power shift from one city to the other transformed into a fierce football rivalry.

Well, that is far history dating more than a century back.

Fast forward to 2012. Now both the cities are distinguished for their intense rivalry on the football pitch and at times off it. Football rivalries which started over much smaller incidents have now taken the center stage where the entire world watches when these two rivals clash. Both teams with rich tradition and history, it has become more about the bragging rights. No one can deny the fact that both the teams were destined to win trophies and create histories. There is plenty of evidence that validate this statement. During 1950s and 60s, United were a dominant force in England while 1970s and 80s belonged to Liverpool. The power shifted back from the Merseyside to Manchester since the beginning of Premier League era in 1992, and it’s been 2 decades of domination for United since then.

But with all the bitterness, hatred and differences among the fans, one can still find several similarities between the two clubs. Hunger for success, attractive football that pleases your eyes, legends, loyal players, controversies, tragedies that shook both the clubs and some of the greatest managers football has ever seen. All these factors have played major parts in scripting the success stories of both the clubs over the years. Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been in a league of their own since the beginning of League Football way back in 1888 and without any doubt, they have been the two brightest stars shining in the sky of English football for over a century now.

The Old English First Division Championship Trophy

The Football League era (Pre Premier League Era)

Liverpool won their first top flight title, which during those days was called First Division, back in 1900-01 season. That was just a beginning of what was going to set a benchmark for all other clubs in English football later on. Since then they went on to win it on 17 more occasions (1905–06, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1946–47, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88 and 1989–90).

United achieved the feat 7 years later, when they won it in the 1907-08 season. Liverpool had won it twice before that, when they got their hands back on the trophy in 1905-06 season. Since then United went on to win it on 6 more occasions (1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65 and 1966–67).

1946-47 season was the first season in which Liverpool and Manchester did a one-two. Liverpool beat United by just 1 point to win the league. Leeds United found themselves at the bottom of the table that season.

Liverpool and United did another one-two in the 1963-64 season when Liverpool again went on to finish on top. They won the league by 4 points.

But the actual contest was seen during 1963-64 season. That season the other team from Manchester stole all the limelight as Manchester City were crowned champions, but the real tussle was for the 2nd place finish and a place in the European cup between Liverpool and United. United won the battle on this occasion bettering Liverpool by just a single point to book a berth for the following season’s European cup.

BPL Trophy

Premier League

Along with the history and all those glorious years, both the clubs have made and broken numerous number of records. Manchester United have been the most successful team since the inception of Premier League football that replaced the old English League in 1992. And that is when the power started to shift back to the Reds of Manchester.

Manchester United have won the premier league for a record 12 times while Liverpool are yet to taste Premier League success since it’s inception in 1992.

The most recent record is the 19th league title won by United which beat Liverpool’s long standing record of 18 league titles.

Other Competitions

Man Utd Trophy Cabinet

In the other major competitions, Liverpool have won 7 FA Cups and 8 League Cups while United have won FA Cup on 11 occasions and League Cup on 4 occasions.

Liverpool hold the record of winning the League Cup on most number of occasions while United hold the same record with FA Cup wins.

Liverpool is the most successful English club in Europe. They are 5 times Champions League winners and 3 times UEFA Cup (now Europa League) winners .

United have won 3 Champions League titles, 1 Cup Winners’ Cup and 1 Club World Cup.

All in all, Liverpool have won 41 major trophies while United have won 40 trophies till date (Excluding Community Shields and UEFA Super Cups).

Munich Air Disaster and Hillsborough Disaster

With all the success, both teams have experienced catastrophes as well, disasters that have shuddered both the clubs. A plane crash that shook the foundation of Manchester United as a football club while a stadium related disaster in which 96 Liverpool supporters who left their homes for a football game, never returned.

Munich Air Crash.

On 6th February 1958 at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany the British European Airways Flight 609 which was carrying the Manchester United squad crashed on its 3rd attempt to take off from a runway that was heavily hit by bad weather and layered with snow. It was nowhere close to an ideal situation for a plane’s take off. United players were returning from a European Cup fixture in Belgrade, Yugoslavia against Red Star Belgrade. This disaster as we all are aware is known as The Munich air disaster. It took 23 lives. On board the plane were the then upcoming generation of Manchester United players which also were known as “Busby Babes”. It was a tragic incident which shook not only the club but the entire world. The plane was also carrying few supporters and journalists. There were 21 survivors out of which Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton was one. Sir Matt Busby also survived but with severe injuries. United lost 8 of their first team players. A team that was tipped to win the European Cup that season was left in shatters. The players who perished in the crash were Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Liam “Billy” Whelan, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards who survived the crash, succumbed to his injuries in hospital 15 days later.

Hillsborough Disaster.

The FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs on 15th April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England saw the worst stadium-related disaster in the history of Britain: The 1989 Hillsborough disaster. It also remains one of the world’s worst football tragedies. A day that could have been a day of celebration for the Liverpool supporters turned into a black day in the club’s history. The match was barely into it’s 6th minute when a stampede occurred in one of the stands inside the stadium where most of the Liverpool fans were seated. The crush took lives of 96 people and left 766 others severely injured. There were numerous controversies surrounding the incident for more than 2 decades. False media reports back in 1988 claimed that the Liverpool fans were to be blamed for the chaos but after 2 decades of investigation the truth was finally revealed in September 2012. More than 40 lives could have been saved if policemen had acted on time and if there was a proper plan in place to fight a crisis situation like that. Since the day of these revelations justice for the families of all 96 has been demanded. Hopefully justice will be done.

Managers

Just like in any other club even Liverpool and United’s successes were largely down to some great managerial skills. Both clubs have had Managers over the years who have played a major role in bringing in success into their respective clubs. Some of them have gone into the history books for their extraordinary accomplishments. Listed below are the names of some of them.

Left : Bob Paisley, Centre: Sir Matt Busby and Right: Bill Shankley

Name	Club	Years at Club	Win %	No. Of Trophies Won
Bill Shankly	Liverpool	1959-1974	51.98	11
Bob Paisley	Liverpool	1974-1983	57.57	19
Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	1985-1991 & 2011-12	54.11	10
Gerard Houllier	Liverpool	1998-2004	52.12	7
Rafael Benitez	Liverpool	2004-2010	56.29	4
Ernest Mangall	Manchester United	1903-1912	54.16	5
Matt Busby	Manchester United	1945-1969 & 1970-71	51.42	13
Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	1986 – Present	59.54	37
* Managers with more than 50% win record and at least an EPL, Championship or CL win.

Though both the clubs were largely successful during the 50s, 60s, 70s and until mid 80s, there was hardly any bad blood between the managers back then. Matt Busby and Bill Shankly were good friends outside football and during Bob Paisley’s reign at Anfield, United were struggling to find someone who could emulate Matt Busby’s success at the club as a manger. But the arrival of Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson changed the entire scene. The rivalry wasn’t just confined within the football field but went into the media. Reporters always had their pens and their papers ready and they chose their sides as well. Build ups to matches added more dimensions to the rivalry while the post match outlooks from the managers would make one wait fervently for the next encounter between the two clubs.

Kenny Dalglish Vs Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson & Kenny Dalglish

Way back in 1988, Dalglish famously commented about Ferguson saying, “reporters would get more sense out of talking to his young daughter than to Ferguson”. To which Sir Alex responded by saying that “Dalglish and Liverpool in general should be more respectful towards their opponents”. That was just a beginning of what was going to be an intense rivalry between the duo. One of those incidents that kept the bitterness alive among the two clubs and it’s fans.

It started before Sir Alex’s reign at United though. In 1986 Jock Stein’s death led to the appointment of Ferguson as manager of Scotland for the World Cup finals in Mexico in the short term. He telephoned Dalglish to inform him that he had selected him and also that he wasn’t willing to take Alan Hansen. Later Ferguson wrote in his autobiography that instead of standing by that decision of his, Dalglish opted to give Ferguson a piece of his mind by suggesting Hansen cannot be left out of the team. Ferguson went on to confirm his decision which led to the withdrawal of Dalglish from the Scotland squad. Dalglish defended himself in his autobiography saying, ‘he had been obliged to undergo a knee operation.’

Many believe, that was one of the main reasons why it became Ferguson’s prime desire to depose Liverpool as England’s dominant club once he arrived at Old Trafford. And the rest as they say is history.

Sir Alex Ferguson Vs Rafael Benitez

Sir Alex Ferguson & Rafael Benitez

Rafael Benitez joined Liverpool in July 2004 to replace Gerard Houllier. Houllier tasted decent success during his 6 years’ stay at the club. Upon his arrival he had made it clear that it was going to be a 5 year rebuilding process of the team. The process did yield results as Liverpool won 5 trophies in 6 years under Houllier.

Benitez had to carry the team forward from there on. United were inching closer to beat their record of 18 league titles. And it was about time when Liverpool fans were largely frustrated due to their failures in the Premier League as they started demanding for success in this competition.

But Benitez’s appointment as Liverpool manager was the beginning of yet another fierce rivalry between 2 managers in the top flight. Sir Alex on a few occasions has blamed Rafa for the downfall of Liverpool while Rafa has gone on to question the managerial skills of Sir Alex.

Benitez had decent success with the club in the cup competition and Champions league. However he couldn’t change the fortunes of the Merseyside club as United went on to win their record equaling 18th league title in the 2008-09 season while Liverpool were the 2nd best in the league that season.

Starting from the pre-match press conferences to the match days, there were exchange of severe words. It kept the rivalry alive and the media busy.

Players and Loyalty

Both the clubs have produced great players in the process.

Carrahger & Gerrard with the Champions League Trophy in 2005

Liverpool with legendary players like Bob Paisely, Billy Liddel, Willie Fagan, Phil Taylor and Berry Nieuwenhuys during the Pre-World War II years to name a few. When you talk of legends, how can you not mention of the Billy Shankly era. Emlyn Hughes, John Toshack and Kevin Keegan among the big names to have represented Liverpool that took not just English, but also European football by storm with all the success they had in a decade and a half. Following that era players like Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness emerged as the ones who would sail the ship forward. Since then, our generation has seen players like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carrahger, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler to name a few, who have been great performers for the club. A lot of players mentioned above haven’t just been successful for the club but they have been very loyal to Liverpool and it’s fans as well. Some of the other great players who have played for Liverpool in past two decades are Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Xavi Alonso, Sami Hypia, John Arne Risse, Dirk Kuyt and Pepe Riena. The list can go on.

Giggs & Scholes

Manchester United also have produced and signed some great players over the years. Billy Meredith, Jack Silcock, Joe Spence are the names of some of the United legends from the early days of Manchester United (Beginning of 20th century). After that it was the Busby babes. David Pegg, Dennis Viollet, Duncan Edwards, Bill Foulkes and Bobby Charlton to name a few. Later George best went on to become one of the most successful stars in English football, not just for club but also for the country. Since the inceptions of Premier League our generation has witnessed players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Garry Neville, Nicky Butt, Roy Keane, and David Beckham. Some of the legendary players who represented United during the early days of Premier League are Mark Hughes, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona. A few other players who have joined United later and have gone on to become huge successes with the club and their respective countries are Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. Like Liverpool even United have got a long list of players like Giggs, Scholes, Neville and many others who were and continue to be loyal towards the club.

Battles on the Pitch

On-Field clashes.

This fixture even today is undeniably the most awaited one in English football. Due to the massive fan bases of both the clubs worldwide and not just in their respective cities, the rivalry is a treat for all the fans across the globe. The reason is largely down to the rich history of both clubs. Both the clubs have great stadiums which are among the best in world. Anfield can hold approx 45K supporters, whilst Old Trafford can contain more than 75K. The atmosphere is always exhilarating no matter if it’s Anfield or Old Trafford. With the support that they receive from the supporters and the adrenaline rush through the players from both the sides have produced some exceptional performances for the fans to cherish year after year.

In 1977, United ended Liverpool’s dream of winning a treble by beating them 2-1 in the FA Cup final. In 1983, Liverpool beat United 2-1 to win the Football League Cup Final for the third consecutive time. In 1988, when Liverpool had almost won the League a month in advance and faced United at Anfield, Sir Alex Ferguson’s United came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 and spoil Liverpool’s plans for an early celebration. In the Premier League, in 1994, a repeat of the 1988′s Anfield match where again both teams drew 3-3 but this time around it was Liverpool who had to chase the game. In 1995, Cantona scored from the spot to salvage a point for United in a match which looked certain of going Liverpool’s way after they were cruising with a scoreline of 2-1. In the vein would be Liverpool’s 4-1 Old Trafford rout, United’s 4-0 win, great FA cup ties and plenty more to talk about.

Transfer between the Clubs

Since 1964 there has not been a direct transfer between the clubs. Phil Chisnall was the one who joined Liverpool from Manchester United in 1964. However, he didn’t have much of an impact on his stay at both the clubs. Most of the other transfers have been been pretty much the same where the players couldn’t make their names at both the clubs. Some of the notable names are Tom Miller (Liverpool to Manchester United – 1920) who had a decent run at Liverpool but couldn’t emulate the same performance with United, Fred Hopkin (Manchester United to Liverpool – 1921) had a decent couple of seasons with United but bettered his performance with Liverpool and Allenby Chilton (Liverpool to United – 1938) who never got an opportunity to turn up in the Liverpool colors before moving to United where he established himself as a key player.

There are players though, who have joined other clubs prior to joining their fiercest rivals. Paul Ince joined Liverpool after spending 6 seasons at United but before that he played for Inter Milan. Owen upset all the Liverpool faithfuls when he joined United in 2009 after making appearances for Real Madrid and Newcastle United.

Vidic saw red at OT

Sending Offs

In a game of such high intensity and emotions, players sometimes lose their cool. Sometimes it costs their teams and something that adds a lot of spice to these encounters. Great encounter for the neutrals, but definitely a nervy one for the supporters of both the sides. There have been plenty of Red Cards shown in the past. Few of the most recent sending offs that I can recall are listed below.

Michael Owen (EPL, Old Trafford1998)

Javier Mascherano (EPL, Old Trafford, 2008)

Nemanja Vidic [(EPL, Anfield, 2009) and (EPL, Old Trafford, 2009)]

Steven Gerrard (FAC, Old Trafford, 2011)

Jonjo Shelvey (EPL, Anfield, 2012)

Every time these two teams meet, the eyes of the footballing world is on them. Both the teams have given their supporters plenty of joy and great memories to cherish over the years. To sum it all, they have done a huge service to this beautiful game of football. They deserve every accolade and every admiration for what they have achieved over a century. They deserve the respect of not just their own fans but also every single person who loves this game. Hopefully both the teams will continue to play attractive football and celebrate more successes while maintaining the rivalry with right spirits, little bit of bitterness and of course, respect…