History of the Manchester-Liverpool Rivalry
Manchester United and Liverpool’s rivalry is one of the biggest in the UK as the two clubs boast the titles of the most successful clubs in England, by a distance too. This derby isn’t considered a local derby but with only 30 miles separating the two clubs, it adds wood to the fire with fans dotted around these two huge cities and up across the country. This rivalry isn’t all just about football however, as the two cities have a lot of bad blood between them. It dates all the way back to 1894 with the Manchester Ship Canal, causing many people in Liverpool to lose their jobs as ships could directly get to Manchester without interacting at the docks in Liverpool, causing huge tension from the early years.
The Start of the Football Rivalry
This then led to the two clubs first meeting the same year, only 3 months after the canal opened, setting up for a fierce match between Newton Heath (they changed to Manchester United later in 1902) and Liverpool FC. Liverpool had gone unbeaten all season In the 1893/94 2nd division and faced Newton Heath for a grudge match to see who played in the 1st division the upcoming season. Liverpool ran away victorious on the 28th April and was the start of this gigantic rivalry.
The Two Clubs surging through Domestic Football
Liverpool had then won 2 titles by the time United were introduced to 1st division football in 1906, then a couple years later United won the league in 1908 which seen a run of 5 trophies in a 3 year span to 1911, this included 2 league titles, 2 charity shields and the FA Cup. League Football took an indefinite break with the occurrence of the first World War until 1919. This following period seen Liverpool win back to back titles in 1922/23, coinciding with a disastrous period for United dropping down to the Second Division. This then started a bland period for both clubs as neither seen a trophy in the entirety of 1923-47.
Matt. Busby.
Manchester United were famously then turned around drastically by the now legendary Sir Matt Busby who was appointed Manager in 1945, despite playing over 319 games collectively for United’s two biggest rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City. He also held the role of Liverpool’s captain and was offered the assistant manager job at Liverpool but declined due to their ideas and carried on his pursuit of a managing role. When in talks with Manchester United, he demanded that he took care of training sessions, transfer activity and all actions regarding the squad, as he claimed he knew more about the beautiful game than the current officials at the club. He then bargained for his 5 year lucrative deal to turn the club around. Obviously, this didn’t go down well with Liverpool fans who were livid with their former captain joining the enemy and as we will focus on now, made them the best team in the country.
The Busby Babes
At first, United didn’t see silverware until Busby’s 4th year in charge when they won the FA Cup in 1948, off the back of a stable start to his career seeing 3 consecutive 2nd place finishes, being tipped by one point of LIverpool in the 1946/47 season. Busby then brought the club their first title in over 40 years when they lifted the trophy in 1952, the first of his 5 1st division titles across 1952-1967. During this period of dominance, Liverpool were in a rapid decline in the second division and only returned in 1962. Manchester United had met Liverpool 9 times from 1950 to 1962 and were unbeaten the entire time, leaving sour tastes in the mouths of all Liverpool fans having to sit back and watch their rivals bathe in all the glory. However, Bill Shankly’s men won the next 3 meetings upon returning to the league.
Manchester United then became the first English club to be European champions in 1968, epitomising the sheer success busby brought to the club. However, Liverpool were on the rise with Shankly’s men equaling United’s 2 titles in the 60’s decade.
The two clubs sharing domestic titles and each having surges and resurgences is what makes this rivalry just so special as for over 100’s of years it has been back and forth for domestic success.
Liverpools Dominance
It was then Liverpools turn to knock United off their perch as they seen an unbelievable period of sheer dominance. In a 16-year stint from 1974-1991, Liverpool had 3 famous and all successful managers in Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish and Bill Shankly.
Bob Paisley
The club won the league 11 times in this period (1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990) and had 3 FA Cup wins in 1974, 1986 and 1989. The even bigger achievement was they were European Champions on 4 separate occasions in this stint too (1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984), making United’s 1 European title look puny.
Kenny Dalglish
All United could shout about in this period was their triumph over Liverpool in the 1977 final stopping them win the treble. They also added 3 other FA Cups in 1983, 1985 and 1990. In addition to the 4 successive League Cup wins from 1981-84. Incomparable to the dominance led by Liverpool.
However, the moral of this derby is everchanging periods of dominance, and next it was United’s turn.
Bill Shankly
Early Alex Ferguson Era
With Liverpool taking the title in 1990. Fans would have thought they were unstoppable and United had no chance of competing, however this would turn out to be their last domestic title until present.
Sir Alex took over in 1986 and by 1989, fans were already calling for the sack. They ended up beating a strong Nottingham Forest side in 1990 to the FA Cup which effectively kept Fergie his job, his first trophy. They then slipped up the league title in 1991/92 to Leeds despite winning the League Cup and UEFA super cup. Liverpool won an FA Cup in this time in 1992.
The Premier League Dominance
In 1992/93, the football league was scrapped and the first season of the Premier League commenced. Manchester United signed one of their greatest ever players, Eric Cantona in this season which he then led them onto their first title since 1967. That league win spurred on a longer dominance period than Liverpool’s prior, as United were the top dogs for the next 20 years. Sir Alex would then bring the club 13 titles in this period (1993,1994,1996,1997,1999,2000,2001,2003,2007,2008,2009,2011 and 2013) and won 4 FA Cups in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004. United also won 2 European titles in 2008 and the treble winning season in 1999.
However, this period wasn’t that dull for Liverpool as they won the FA Cup on 3 occasions and the League cup on 4 occasions (1995, 2001,2003 and 2012. They added another Champions League title in 2005 with Rafa Benitez. As this was their 5th European title they were allowed to keep the real trophy which is a iconic feat for the club in a period of dominance by their rivals.
In February 2017, United equalled Liverpool’s 41 major trophies before winning the Europa league months later and overtaking their rivals. The animosity between fans intensified as Liverpool had always been ahead in major trophies and Liverpool no longer had the bragging rights after seemingly looking like they couldn’t be caught.
Man United’s Decline
Since the retirement of Sir Alex, United struggled with many managers and haven’t won a title since. David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho all tried and failed to bring United back to the very top. In recent years, Liverpool have vastly improved under Jurgen Klopp and won their 6th European title in 2019 as they look to take their turn in the everchanging swing of dominance.
Manchester United and Liverpools Hatred
The true grit between these two clubs is shared by the sheer hatred between both players and fans, regardless if the action is on or off the pitch, the two groups end in fireworks.
The real hatred stems from crossing the line with some antics in order to antagonise one another, with United fans singing about the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters, whilst Liverpool fans have also sung about the Munich air disaster, fueling genuine hatred to one another and spicing up every encounter.
Players also add to the fire between the clubs with Gary Neville infamously celebrating in front of the Liverpool fans which resulted in a fine and a 2 match ban. However, he has since said he regrets none of it which will not sit well with the Liverpool faithful as it shows the extent, he will go to rumble the fan base. Probably more infamously, Neil Ruddock broke both of Andy Cole’s legs in a match once and stated that he only meant to break one leg instead of both, causing major uproar and sheer hatred from every United fan and player every time they played Liverpool. The stadium would erupt in boos anytime he would take a touch.
In more recent years, Liverpools talisman Luis Suarez was banned for 8 matches after racially abusing Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, resulting in Suarez ignoring Evras handshake pre-match and Evra purposefully running to Suarez to celebrate after United won 2-1 in February 2012.
One of the most famous quotes that epitomises the hatred in this rivalry, is when Sir Alex stated “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f****** perch. And you can print that.”
Off the pitch affairs such as the police operations needed to be put in place to facilitate the match and make sure fights don’t break out on the streets and the stadium itself. Hooliganism is hardly the issue it was nowadays compared to past years but this matchup would entice violence at any given opportunity with many incidents between the two sets of fans occurring in the past.
United fans will argue that they are a bigger club than Liverpool due to their recent year’s success, whilst Liverpool will boast their 6 European titles as the reason why they’re on top. Regardless of who is the bigger club, this rivalry will always be huge due to the success of both clubs, and it’ll continue for the distant future.
Football Club Rivalries 