The rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United has become almost
unique in its intensity since the Premier League's balance of power
shifted from Merseyside along the M62 in the early 1990s.
The two cities do not simply share a sporting rivalry
but also a cultural and industrial one - something mirrored most starkly
in the relationship between two of world football's greatest clubs.
Liverpool and Man Utd honours
|
Competition
|
Liverpool
|
United
|
League titles
|
18
|
19
|
FA Cups
|
7
|
11
|
League Cups
|
8
|
4
|
Community Shield
|
15
|
19
|
European Cup/Champions League
|
5
|
3
|
Cup-Winners' Cup
|
0
|
1
|
Uefa Cup
|
3
|
0
|
Uefa Super Cup
|
3
|
1
|
Intercontinental Cup
|
0
|
1
|
Club World Cup
|
0
|
1
|
Total
|
59
|
60
|
Covering one of my first
meetings between Liverpool and United at Anfield in 1988 I got a close
up view of then manager Kenny Dalglish carrying his six-week old
daughter Lauren in his arms while enraging counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson
in the tunnel by suggesting a radio interviewer might get more sense
interrogating the baby than his fellow Scot.
It was a snapshot of the fierce competition that has
always existed between Liverpool and United but the incident now falls
into the category of mild banter given what has become, and few would
dispute this, an increasingly poisonous relationship between the
supporters in recent years.
Tension has built as United have amassed league titles - eventually eclipsing Liverpool's 18 top-flight trophies
with their 19th in 2011.
The rivalry has led to concerns that what should be an
occasion for remembrance, emotion and sympathy when they meet in the
Premier League at Anfield on Sunday - as Liverpool play at home for the
first time since the
release of the Hillsborough files
- might be hijacked by a small minority intent on ill-feeling as opposed to empathy.
Continue reading the main story
“United and Liverpool have suffered great tragedies as clubs so there should be empathy between them”
Mark Lawrenson, who played 356 times for Liverpool between 1981-88
And yet the actions of both
clubs in the build-up to Sunday's game suggests this day could yet be a
watershed in that fractious relationship between fans, a day when the
unity that has been shown within football following the disclosure of
the Hillsborough documents relating to the 1989 disaster could heal
long-standing wounds.
This will be the wish of the overwhelming majority of
Liverpool and United supporters inside and outside Anfield, and those in
the boardrooms, at these two English and European superpowers.
As those who died at the FA Cup semi-final between
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989 are remembered on Sunday, the
occasion has the potential to become a turning point, a force for good
in forging a new bond between the clubs' followers.
BBC Sport football pundit
Mark Lawrenson,
who played in many Liverpool-Manchester United matches, says the eyes of the sporting world will be on Anfield on Sunday.
"This is Liverpool's first game at home since the
release of the Hillsborough files and no-one wants anything to detract
from the meaning of this occasion followed by the importance of a
showpiece Premier League game," he said.
"Concerns have been expressed after a
small number of United fans sang anti-Liverpool songs
during last week's win against Wigan but I fully expect this to be a
day reflecting the mood of so many decent supporters on both sides.
"Liverpool fans have been guilty themselves in the past
of singing songs about the Munich air crash but Hillsborough rises
above club loyalties.
"I also think anyone who is tempted to try to mar the
occasion will find themselves being embarrassed by their fellow
supporters.
Liverpool v Man Utd head-to-head record in all competitions
Played
|
185
|
Liverpool wins
|
62
|
Man Utd wins
|
72
|
Draws
|
51
|
"And with plans for opposing
captains Steven Gerrard and Nemanja Vidic to release 96 balloons
before kick-off in memory of those who died in 1989, I am convinced
it will be a day that will do everyone inside Anfield enormous credit.
"It may even be the time when fractures in the relationship between the two sets of supporters are repaired.
"United and Liverpool have suffered great tragedies as
clubs so there should be empathy between them. It is these tragic events
and how they have handled them that contribute to their greatness. They
are part of these clubs' history so there should be that mutual
respect.
"Sir Alex Ferguson has very publicly offered United's
support to Liverpool. He will stand alongside Liverpool because this is
not an issue of club loyalty or a time for rivalries. Hillsborough goes
beyond that."
Ferguson's record vs Liverpool
P 61
|
W 28
|
D 14
|
L 19
|
F 80
|
A 72
|
Manchester United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson, who will take charge of his 62nd match against Liverpool
on Sunday, admits that the rivalry between the cities goes back a long
way further than football.
The building of the Manchester ship canal in the 1880s
is often cited as the source of that historic discontent. The canal
bypassed the Port of Liverpool, leading to job losses on Merseyside and
disgruntlement with the new competition - it is mentioned still on the
Mersey Ferry tour.
Ferguson said: "The thing about us and Liverpool is the rivalry. They are the most fantastic games.
"They're unparalleled in British history in terms of
the success of both clubs and that's why we need each other. From an
industrial point of view, the way industry changed when they opened the
ship canal - [the rivalry] is all to do with it."
The building of the Manchester ship canal in the 1880s bypassed the Port of Liverpool
Football is so important in north-west daily life that the broader culture can be infected.
Music is an example of that - while the Beatles struck
the first telling blow for Liverpool, Manchester hit back with the likes
of Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Oasis. And
yet this is a rivalry that lives in football and was fuelled by modern
success, first Liverpool's, then United's.
It is striking that Phil Chisnall, who left Old
Trafford for Anfield in 1964, remains the last player to be transferred
directly between the clubs. As with music, civic and cultural
achievements, success in football has been cyclical from the moment
United won the European Cup in 1968.
At the time, the Liverpool Echo wrote: "British
football can be proud of the United team who gave their all to give Matt
Busby the cup he cherishes above all else. It's been a long, long drive
for United to reach the top in Europe - no-one will begrudge them being
the first English club to make it."
How times change. In 2005, when the Manchester Evening
News reported Liverpool's Champions League triumph in Istanbul with the
headline "Beyond Belief", the paper was inundated with complaints.
The eyes of the footballing world will be on Anfield on Sunday. Hopefully, the rivalry can be a respectful one.
