The
Liverpool F.C.–
Manchester United F.C. rivalry is a high profile inter-city rivalry between
English professional football clubs
Liverpool and
Manchester United. It is considered to be one of the biggest rivalries in the football world along with the Superclásico in
South America,
El Clásico in
Spain, and
Derby della Madonnina in
Italy, and is considered the most famous fixture in
English football .
Players, fans and the media alike often consider games between the two clubs to be their biggest rivalry, above even their own local derby competitions with
Everton and
Manchester City.
The rivalry has been fuelled by the proximity of the two major cities that they represent, their historic economic and industrial rivalry, significant periods of domestic footballing dominance and
European success, and their popularity at home and abroad, as two of the biggest-earning and widely supported football clubs in the world.
The cities of Liverpool and
Manchester are located in the north west of
England, 35 miles (56 km) apart. Since the industrial revolution there has been a consistent theme of rivalry between the two cities based around economic and industrial competition. Manchester through to the
18th century was the far more populous city, and held a position of significance and notability as representative of the north. By the late 18th century, Liverpool had grown as a major sea port – critical to the growth and success of the northern cotton mills. Over the next century, Liverpool grew to supersede Manchester and throughout the late 19th and early
20th century was often described as the
British Empire's second city.[16] The links between the two cities were strengthened with the construction of the
Bridgewater Canal, the
Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway for the transport of raw materials inland.
Manchester United's 26-year spell without a league title has been mirrored by Liverpool since
1990, when the
Reds clinched their last league title.
Meanwhile,
United's dominance since 1990 has seen them win 13 league titles, 21 domestic cups and six European trophies.
Once again, cup glories such as the
2003 League Cup and
2006 FA Cup allowed Liverpool some retribution against their rivals.
Despite their contrasting fortunes, though, only four times since
1972 have neither Liverpool nor United finished in the top two of the league table – in
1980–81, 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2014–15 – and even during three of those four campaigns, another piece of silverware was still taken home by one of the two clubs; Liverpool paraded the
European Cup and League Cup in
1981, while Manchester United lifted the
FA Community Shield and FA Cup in the 2004 season and Liverpool claimed the
Champions League in
2005.
Each club can now claim historical supremacy: United for their 20 league titles to Liverpool's 18 and Liverpool for being European champions five times to United's three. Manchester United hold more honours than Liverpool,[32][33] yet Liverpool lead United in so-called "major" trophies won. Both clubs use these differing counts to refer to each other as the most successful English football club .
- published: 06 Mar 2016
- views: 0