Liverpool and Manchester United are two super-heavyweights of the English football. Between them the two have won 108 major trophies. The 'Reds' (Liverpool) have 58, while 'United' (Man Utd) have 50. They have played each other 148 times in competitive fixtures, one of the most played games in England. They also happen to be two of the best supported clubs in England. Manchester United have the largest club stadium in Britain with 76,000+ capacity while Liverpool are proposing a new stadium with a capacity of 60,000.
Famous United fans
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Here are some quotes from both sides that might help explain far better than I could.
manutdzone
For Manchester United fans there is no more hated team than
Liverpool Football Club AKA "The Scousers", "Mickey Mousers" or
as some might say "The Bin-dippers" or alternatively, "The
Grannystabbers". The team that dominated the late 70's and 80's
before the success disappeared up their arses in the 90's has a
long history of rivalry with Manchester United however the
cities of Manchester and Liverpool were rivals many lifetimes
before a ball was even kicked.
While Scousers are often renowned for having a fabulously funny
native wit and charm, Mancunians would strongly disagree (as
would 39 Juventus fans for that matter). Despite being just 30
miles apart they have always had totally different cultures and
attitudes. Liverpool was once a proud and wealthy port city
built on shipping, the slave trade and seamen.
Manchester was by contrast an industrial mecca of magnificent
mills and factories producing the goods that fuelled the British
Empire. The rivalry became tense with the building of the
Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 - a cunning attempt to outdo the
Liverpool docklands by bypassing them altogether!!!
As Liverpool's shipping industry collapsed in the mid 20th
Century, the city became a slum-ridden, crime-infested,
dole-skiving, festering boil on the arse of Britain. Meanwhile
hard-working Manchester continued to thrive. It became the hub
of the Northwest and today challenges Birmingham for the title
of being Britain's second city, after London obviously.
Bitter jealousy grew from the devastated Scouse hoardes but in
their darkest hour a Scotsman called Shankly planted the seed
than would spurt forth a most foul bush. The rest was history
and soon it was the turn of Mancunians to cast jealous eyes
Westwards as United floundered for decades. Until another Scot
called Ferguson knocked them off their perch....and so the cycle
of hatred never ends!!!
In the 1990's United really rubbed the Scousers noses in it by
winning relentlessly while "Pool" (as nobody calls them), sunk
into mediocrity. United became the biggest club in the world,
Liverpool could barely claim to be in the top 10. Scousers
resorted to endlessly whining about past glories and denied any
United's achievements because they "did not match what Liverpool
done in the 80's".
Their own laughable "Treble" in 2001 was hyped up to the point
of claiming the additional Charity shield and Euro Super Cup
amounted to an unprecedented five trophy haul!!!! They did of
course stun the planet with that baffling Champions League win
in 2005 to the utter disbelief of world football and themselves.
But even with that success they still come nowhere near
challenging Manchester United to be the biggest club in Britain.
The bitterness is based upon denial and jealousy, of course for
while Liverpool had all that success in the past who was still
the biggest club in England? Despite languishing in the old 2nd
division for a season and only winning 3 trophies between 1968
and 1990, who was the most supported, most famous the world
over? Manchester United!!! And why is this? Why did Liverpool
not take over from United as English football's top club despite
cleaning up home and abroad for nearly two decades?
The answer is, that when you get right down to it, football is
all about entertainment. Winning isn't everything and quality
counts more than quantity. Liverpool were/still are, a dull and
often cynical team to watch, whereas United have always tried to
play exciting, attacking football. It doesn't always work or
bring trophies but when it works.........well we all know what
its like to see Manchester United in full flow don't we?
Liverpool have never had the flying wingers of United like Best,
Giggs, Kanchelskis, Coppell, Hill and Ronaldo. They have never
had one player that could ever be described as a genius like
Best or Cantona, or a Wayne Rooney. Players that capture the
imagination of supporters the world over. The name "Manchester
United" conjures up images of exciting, stylish, magical
football, outrageous comebacks, drama and controversy.
The name "Liverpool" makes you think of crushingly dull success
in the 70/80's and their passing game but there's not a lot of
really inspiring stuff. Look at the disgracefully negative
attitude they had throughout the UEFA Cup in 2001 and Champions
League in 2005. They won it, but without style or flair that
will be remembered in 20 years time. In short they bored the
crap out of everybody and played to the lowest common
denominator, they dragged better teams down to their level.
In 1990 Liverpool were League champions and the 90's looked like
another great decade for them, yet within 3 years United were
champions and the rest is history. Success must never be taken
for granted and Fergie won't be around much longer to ensure the
pre-eminence of the Old Trafford empire. Football can be a
cruel, vicious monkey, it can throw its best friend out of the
tree while handing free banana's to its deadly rival. However,
United's wealth and world power is such that while Liverpool
might win a trophy every so often, the dark days of total
Liverpool domination are gone for good.....aren't they?
Liverpool fan
"Whilst there are several distinct dissimilarities between the two clubs, we also share many common characteristics, notably we have each experienced major disasters; the 1958 Munich air disaster in which nineteen people perished including eight members of Man United’s squad, and the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives. The more bitter elements of both clubs have countless songs celebrating both disasters. Both parties express such sentiment more frequently than many would believe, and have an array of chants that neither fan base should be proud of. Nothing could be any worse than that, and this is the type of factor that renders the Liverpool-Manchester rivalry more intense than any other in the country."
More.................
" Even with our famous witty vocal support, we do much of our
talking (at least the printable, tasteful sort) through our
world famous banners. The ‘Don’t bomb Iraq nuke Manchester’
flag and the ‘Hillman is a Scouser’ banner (the latter in
relation to the Mancunican-slaying character from Coronation
St), displayed at the league cup final last year, were but two
examples of typical Scouse humour, which is bettered by none.
Our banner ‘Forever in our shadow’ is another, which says it
all. We have won more trophies than United, and whatever is
said between fans of the two sides, it is always only a matter
of time before the conversation relates back to the contents of
the respective trophy cabinets. It is a football rivalry after
all."
