Manchester City vs Manchester United: Let The Games Begin
There is a storm brewing in Manchester right now.
No, this is not reference to the much maligned weather up in the North West. It relates instead to the steadily increasing tension between two tribes that dominate football in the great metropolitan borough that is Manchester: Manchester United and Manchester City.
It is a growing tension, one that is brewing fervently, and it threatens to boil furiously over if the two clubs become embroiled in a battle for honours heading into the 2009-2010 season.
Red Devils, Blue Moons
The rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City has always been heated, intense almost to the point of hatred. Forget the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, ask any United fan which teams they most enjoy getting one over and the answers will be Liverpool and Manchester City, without any doubt. You need not even ask City fans for whom they most reserve their antipathy.
However, despite the mutual dislike, over the past two decades in particular this conflict, while still hostile, has never really had the fire to match other inter-city rivalries around the globe. Sure, City have claimed some memorable victories – the double in 2007-2008, the last meeting at Maine Road, Shaun Goater, the four-fingers Fowler 4-1.
But in a period of English football history in which Manchester United have boasted almost unchallenged dominance, the battle for Manchester bragging rights has been too one-sided, too regularly claimed by the red half of town for the feud to really explode.
Until now.
In September 2008, Manchester City became the most cash-rich club in world football when the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) stepped in and took over. The signing of Robinho on transfer deadline day for a British record fee gave City fans hope, but when the season ended United again collected most of the prizes. Meanwhile City ended up empty-handed.
Now though, with a full summer to do business, Manchester City mean business. £55 million was splashed out on transfers almost without a thought. In come Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and, importantly, Carlos Tevez. This brings City’s total spending under ADUG ownership to £150 million in just 12 months. And it will not stop there.
It also comes at a time when United’s star has waned somewhat, at least on paper, with the sales of World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and, there’s that name again, Tevez.
Right now therefore, new emotions are sweeping through Manchester. City are optimistic; United defiant, pessimistic, on the defensive even.
The Tevez triangle
Carlos Tevez is extremely important in all this. Behold the new billboard doing the rounds in Manchester at the minute. (See above)
This has caused a big stir.
It pokes fun at United on many different levels. City imagine themselves as the people’s club in Manchester. Real football fans in Manchester support City, or so they like to believe. ‘Welcome to Manchester’ for a player who spent 2 years at United, plays cleverly on that idea.
Geographically, too. Old Trafford of course lies in the borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester. This is another example for City fans of their authenticity over their rivals; United are out of towners, celebrities, showmen. They’re not really from Manchester, supposedly. This is also an accusation levelled at United’s reputedly more cosmopolitan fanbase.
Since the posters appeared, the Manchester Evening News website has been inundated with comments on the subject from fans both red and blue:
‘Absolutely priceless! Someone in our marketing department has got a sense of humour. I bet the rags’ fans don’t see the funny side though. Hahahahahahahahahahah.’
mancitypj, Denton‘Get used to Manchester City Football Club blowing its own trumpet as it will get louder and louder-isnt that what youve been doing for 51 years anyway?’
The man with the stick, Manchester‘Absolutely pathetic. Smacks of small minded jealousy, “massive” inferiority complex, very unprofessional for a club who want to project a worldwide image. Typical of the attitude that has held City back for so long. All the money in the world and still the inferiority complex is alive and well.’
Stad, Manchester‘When I want a chuckle I just look at the United trophy cabinet, thats all I need to remind me who represents Manchester football wise.’
Mancunian&Proud;, Manchester
While the whole affair is mostly in jest, there is a deeper underlying issue here.
Manchester City have effectively just prised a key player away from United to play for them. A player reaching his prime. A fans’ favourite, whose name was sung most even on the day the Red Devils were crowned champions. In terms of one-upmanship this is a genuine coup for a club that considers itself ‘massive’. Tevez’s defection to Eastlands only adds fuel to a fire that looks like it might burn throughout next season.
Stirring new feelings
On some level Manchester City fans must feel a bit strange about all this. In the wilderness years (United won the treble the year City were in Division Two) City supporters clung desperately to their underdog status. When United win trophies they are ‘buying success’. City have long ridiculed their neighbours on three levels:
1, Their aristocratic wealth a
nd spending
nd spending
2, Their global appeal and the ensuing Disney-esque circus
3, Their worldwide fanbase (Cockneys and kids in Malaysia support United, not Mancunians, claim City fans).
Well, number one can no longer be applied without first swallowing a huge dose of hypocrisy. And as for 2 & 3, well, read the recent quotes from Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook ahead of their South African tour:
“Manchester City has a strong heritage in the world of football, particularly in England. We’ve become the focus of attention, most definitely in the past 12 months. The quality of players that we’re bringing to the club is showing the intent of our owners and our ambition continues to reach new heights. When you start to do that, that attention starts to develop a fan base around the world.“What this event in South Africa does for us is enable us to reach out to those fans and reach out to those new communities. Everybody likes to have fans around the world and not just in Manchester, so we hope we will become the darling of world football.”
With those words, the club’s intentions disintegrate almost every last stick for City fans with which to beat their neighbours. Cook may as well have said: ‘We want to be like United.’
For Manchester United supporters it is also a new sensation. Losing such a great player to the blue half hasn’t happened perhaps since Denis Law.
And while United can still easily brush off any City giddiness with a brief look at last season’s table, with every £20+ million player City buy no doubt comes a nervous feeling for Reds that the banner up in Old Trafford’s Stretford End reminding everybody how many years have passed since City last won a major trophy might not be around too much longer. (It’s currently 33 and counting).
For English football all this can only be a good thing. The United-City rivalry means a lot more if the two are fighting it out up at the top, and it will add much needed spice to a league who’s star is slipping thanks to Ronaldo’s departure, a 50p tax rate and an absence of glamour arrivals.
As the billboard reads: Welcome to Manchester. It’s about to get interesting.
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City, the REAL Manchester club. Theres only one team in Manchester CITY CITY.
Lovely post…….very very well done…….atleast for a non manchester fan….rare to se such a good article!!!! very rare…
If you actually bothered to research it you discover That law was a blue before he was a red
According to opta index statistics in 2004 Manchester United had more season ticket holders with a Manchester postcode than City had season ticket holders. That added to the fact that city had just moved their ground into Tameside when the Manchester boroughs changed slightly. Then just to add a little spice the majority of season ticket holders at City have SK (Stockport) postcodes
Postcodes, this is because the majority of postcodes in Salford, Trafford and Sale are "M" postcodes, whereas hyde, dukinfield, and the northern estates are either SK or OL. Salford is not Manchester, it is a city in its own right. However there is no "S" postcode, because this would be where Old Trafford is. City, the ONLY football team to come from Manchester
i only hope that the manchester council,grant city a parade when we win the quadruple in 2 years time!!!!!!!!!
The clown who wrote this must be a London based red, its a sly little article with no local understanding of the background.
The only Premier Club in the Manchester area for a 100 years is damned with feint praise.
Biased information gathered from pro red media and web sites.
So what do we as fans of the richest club on earth care about this media red biased crap ?
Nothing to be honest the fool is only just realising that we are well funded and with an attitude, intending to carry on this local media campagain.
The poor London fool thinks this is a one off, suggest he researches the promotion over the last two years.
We really could not give a toss what southern clowns think or say.
I'd like to know where the poster above gets their 'Opta Index' postcode stats from! Are you sure you're not thinking of the University research, which showed that United had a higher number of ST holders from 'M' postcode areas than City? Of course, 'M' postcodes cover Salford & Trafford too, you know!
And, Tameside??? Don't think so! Tameside was created in 1974 and I'm pretty sure we were in Moss Side at the time!! We started in Gorton, which was then outside the Manchester boundary, and moved to Ardwick, Manchester, in 1887. This was 3 years BEFORE Newton Heath became part of Manchester in 1890. As United moved to Stretford in 1910 they were a Manchester club for only 20 years. City, on the other hand, have been here for 122 years!!
Sorry to disappoint you guys but the guy who wrote the 'opta stats' article is a manchester city council worker that has lived in this glorious City all his life. London has never appealled to me except for maybe bringing a bit of tourism to this country. I have to accept though that yes i am a Manchester United fan. Sorry if this goes against the grain of any fans of City but never mind I'm sure that Mark Hughes will leave the talking to the pitch where he plied his trade and Carlitos no doubt will enjoy coming to the Theatre of dreams to see the fans he says he loves so much. Oh by the way S postcodes are in Stoke aren't they..?
Forget your postcodes. I think the amount of motor-way congestion on the M6 North bound from London when United play at home in Trafford and the hoards of genuine Manchester United fans who spill off the Piccadilly platforms, vacating the Euston to Piccadilly train tell you all you need to know about the geography of you fan base.
I'm a Blue…..and I think the article is spot on.
Can't wait for the new season to start.
Tevez 90th minute winner at Trafford Park anyone?
Probably the best thing that can happen to a club is to be bought by a rich company and then buy players so that they can catch up with the rivals.
PS I hope you don't mind that I used this billboard picture on my blog also.
another great post with info that a non-fan (of the clubs in question) would have never known. i had seen the pics of the billboards but now it makes so much more sense; i really hope that the marketing team at city can do things smartly and build on the momentum that billboards like these are creating. one of the best things about futbol are the bragging rights that fans get after a match, anyone see a derby win by city with a goal by tevez in the near future???
Some good debate going on here.
Briefly, @Anonymous #1 – Denis Law spent 1 year at City before spending 11 years at United via Torino. It is quite clear where the best days of his career took place.
When he joined City he was a young player full of promise, but unproven. By the time he left United to go back to City he had won the European Cup as well as European Footballer of the Year.
It would be churlish to suggest Law was truly a great player when he left City for Italy after just one year. Far less so when talking about his subsequent move post-United.
Tevez rules!!!!
greetings from Argentina.
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http://futbolenlascalles.blogspot.com/