It’s no secret that the two most successful clubs in English Football, Liverpool and Manchester
United absolutely hate each other. But is there a specific reason why?
Believe it or not, the start of the rivalry has nothing to do with football.
History lesson; 19th Century and the industrial revolution. Both cities were thriving economically,
with Manchester having the biggest cotton industry in the world and Liverpool had the
biggest port at the time. To make profit on their respective industries, they had to form
a truce with each other. In order for Manchester to import and export its cotton, and for Liverpool
to operate profitably as a port. Liverpool tried to raise the fees levied against
Manchester after the great depression, which Manchester wasn’t too happy with.
In retaliation, Manchester decided to build its own ship canal so that goods could go
directly to and from the city bypassing Liverpool completely.
This didn’t go down too well with the folks in Liverpool, who lost trade, money and jobs
as a result. This is why both Manchester Clubs have the
emblem of a ship in their logos. Officially it’s to recognise the Manchester Ship Canal
as an important part of the city, but unofficially, it’s a big ‘f*ck you’ to the city of
Liverpool. So that’s the reason why they hate each
other? Well that’s how it started, but that’s
not the reason why they hate each other. Fast forward to 1958 and the Munich Air Disaster.
Manchester United had become a successful club, but their players were accidentally
killed in a plane crash. A horrific accident that was met with sympathy from the entire
country … except for Liverpool. Liverpool’s fans proceeded to taunt Manchester
United for its dead players. The sick chants and utter disrespect from
Liverpool’s fans carried on for years, much to the anger of Manchester United and their
fans. During this time, Liverpool became a powerhouse
in World Football, (winning 11 League titles and 4 European Cups from 1972-1990). They
were arguably the most powerful CLUB in all of Europe, whilst Manchester United really
didn’t win that much in comparison. Liverpool’s success coupled with the taunts about Munich,
brewed strong resentment with the people of Manchester. But there was seemingly nothing
that they could do about it … until one day, they did.
1989 Hillsborough Disaster – a stadium disaster where 96 Liverpool fans got crushed to death.
Much of the country was sympathetic – but not Manchester United. Their fans didn’t
hesitate to celebrate the death of Liverpool’s fans, issuing complete disrespect in retaliation
to the Munich chants. Something which Liverpool and their fans didn’t appreciate.
During the 90’s, with the hiring of Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the greatest manager
of all time– Manchester United now became the most successful club in the world, with
13 league titles in 20 years. Liverpool didn’t win much in comparison. The roles had now
reversed, and it’s now Liverpool that have reasons to resent Manchester United.
Each set of fans are as bad as each other. And with every passing year, there seems to
be a new reason to hate one other. From racist players, outspoken players, outspoken managers,
on field incidents, fans fighting each other. There’s no love lost between these two.
And matches between them are often physical. Very physical.
They dislike each other so much that no player has transferred directly between the two clubs
since 1964, as they generally refuse to deal with each other. Only a handful of players
have ever played for both clubs since 1964, and even then the transfer was never made
directly. So why don’t the other two teams hate each
other? Whilst Manchester City generally don’t like
the teams on Merseyside, and Everton generally don’t like the teams in Manchester, in reality
they actually hate their neighbours more. Manchester City hates Manchester United due
to their success and arrogance, and claim that Manchester United fans don’t actually
come from Manchester. The Blue half of the city claim that real inhabitants of Manchester
support Manchester City, a theory that has been woefully disproven by the Manchester
Evening News. Everton hates Liverpool for their success
and arrogance, and for adopting the Liverpool name when they weren’t even the first team
in Liverpool. That was Everton by the way. And they weren’t even the first team to
play at Anfield Stadium, which surprise surprise, was originally owned by Everton.
So will the hate ever go away? Never. Each clubs fans have disrespected each
other to the point whereby it cannot be forgiven. They will never like each other, they will
never deal with each other. And as the years go by, there are new reasons for each set
of fans to hate the other team. Kids growing up in these cities are brought up to despise
each other, and fans consider this to be the most bloodthirsty fixture in the league. All
this fuels the fire that is the biggest rivalry in all of English football.
Ninh Ly - www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK