The Manchester Derby

The Manchester derby is the name given to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United. As with any major football rivalry, gloating and banter between the two sets of fans is commonplace.

HISTORY

The first meeting between the two teams occurred on 12 November 1881, when West Gorton (St. Marks) – who would later become Manchester City F.C. – hosted Newton Heath – who would later become Manchester United F.C.. The game finished 3–0 in favour of the Heathens (United), and was described by the Ashton Reporter as "a pleasant game". At this time, the clubs were just two of many fledgling sides in the Manchester area, and the fixture had no special significance. Both clubs grew in stature as the 1880s progressed, leading to their first meeting of the 1890s being billed as "a meeting of two local clubs, [Ardwick (City)] just rising to the highest standard in the football world whilst [Newton Heath] are nearly in the front rank". The pair became the dominant teams in the Manchester area; the winner of the Manchester Cup was either Newton Heath or Ardwick every year between 1888 and 1893. Both clubs made unsuccessful attempts to join the Football League in 1891, but succeeded the following year, Newton Heath joining the First Division and Ardwick the new Second Division.

The first Football League meeting between the teams came in the 1894–95 season, Newton Heath beating Manchester City 5–2 at Hyde Road. However, the two sides had previously met in the 1891–92 season in the Football Alliance, on 10 October 1891, with Newton Heath defeating Ardwick 3–1 in front of a crowd of 4,000 at North Road. The first meeting between the clubs to take place at the highest level of English football occurred in December 1906, a 3–0 City win in a First Division match for which the gate receipts exceeded £1,000, a very large figure for the time.

Before the Second World War, many football supporters in Manchester watched City one week and United the next. After the war, a stronger rivalry developed and following both teams became uncommon.

Floodlights

 The first floodlit Manchester derby was played on 26 February 1889 at the Belle Vue Athletic Ground. Wells electric lights were placed around the ground and a crowd of 10,000 watched Newton Heath defeat Ardwick 3–2. The match was played in aid of the Hyde Coal Mine disaster.

The first competitive floodlit derby was the Charity Shield match played in October 1956. The game was a break with tradition as Charity Shield games were typically played at the home ground of the League Champions, but as Old Trafford had yet to install lights, the game was played at Maine Road.

The 1970s

The Denis Law game

 The return fixture came at Old Trafford on the penultimate day of the season (United still had an away game to play at Stoke) with high stakes, United trying to avoid relegation with a win, although they were also relying on Norwich beating Birmingham that day for their result to matter. After 80 slow minutes with no score, Francis Lee played the ball towards former United player Denis Law, who was standing with his back to goal. Law instinctively back-heeled the ball past goalkeeper Alex Stepney and into the back of the net. As his City team-mates congratulated him, the stunned Law left the pitch head down as he realised the consequences for his former club. Law later said of the goal: "I have seldom felt so depressed in my life as I did that weekend. After 19 years of giving everything I had to score goals, I had finally scored one which I almost wished I hadn't." Law was immediately substituted, and never played league football again. In the closing minutes of the match, United supporters hit the pitch and forced abandonment. However, the result stood, and United's relegation was confirmed. Results subsequently revealed that United would have still been relegated if the match was drawn, but the match is still remembered among City supporters as "the day Denis Law back-heeled United into the Second Division". United would return to the First Division the next season.

Present

 Until recently, City's only success in recent years was the 5–1 win at Maine Road in September 1989, when City had just returned to the top flight after two years away, while United were still struggling to make a serious impact on the English game in three years since the appointment of Alex Ferguson as manager. The return game at Old Trafford in February brought an unremarkable 1–1 draw.

However, in the 1990s, United dominated the fixture, going unbeaten in derbies for the full decade. In 1990–91, with both Manchester clubs competing in the top half of the table but not looking like real title contenders, the Maine Road clash in October delivered a pulsating 3–3 draw, but the return match at Old Trafford in early May saw United win 1–0 and the only goal of the game came from 17-year-old winger Ryan Giggs, scoring for the first time in his career. The 1991–92 derbies were uneventful – a goalless draw at Maine Road in mid November and a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford in early April.

The first Manchester derby following the creation of the Premier League for the 1992–93 season was a 2–1 win for United at Old Trafford on 6 December 1992. Making his United debut on that day was new signing Eric Cantona, who would go on to score eight goals in Manchester derbies over the next four seasons – the first in the return match at Maine Road that March which ended in a 1–1 draw. 1993–94 saw one of the finest Manchester derbies ever, when United overturned a 2–0 deficit at Maine Road to win 3–2, with Eric Cantona scoring twice. Cantona scored a double on St George's Day as United won 2–0 at Old Trafford. Cantona was on target again in the next Manchester derby in November 1994, though it was Andrei Kanchelskis who stole the show with a hat-trick in a 5–0 win. United won the return game 3–0 at Maine Road three months later. 1995–96 was the last season of the millennium which brought a Manchester derby, as City were relegated at the end of the season. The first derby of the season came at Old Trafford in mid-October with a 1–0 win for United in which Paul Scholes, still only 20, scored the only goal of the game and only a string of superb saves from United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel prevented City from gaining a surprise win. The return game in early April saw United win 3–2 at Maine Road, with yet another goal from Cantona, who had netted a highly controversial penalty after Uwe Rosler had put City 1-0 FA Cup fifth round two months earlier, which United went onto win 2-1.

The first Old Trafford derby of the new millennium saw the culmination of a long standing feud between Roy Keane and Alf-Inge Håland. The feud started in 1998, when United captain Keane suffered a cruciate ligament injury when clean through on goal, being chased down by Håland (then playing for Leeds, a team that also have an unpleasant rivalry with United). As Keane lay on the ground, Håland accused him of feigning injury. Three years later, in the derby match of April 2001, late in the game, Keane made a knee-high tackle on Håland, for which he received a red card. In his autobiography, published in 2002, Keane admitted that the challenge was a premeditated attempt to injure, an admission which resulted in a £150,000 fine and a five-match ban. Subsequent to the incident, Håland had a long struggle with knee problems and retired in 2002. Håland initially stated that his injury problems were not related to the challenge, but later received medical advice which suggested the challenge aggravated an earlier injury.

On November 9, 2002, City, managed by Kevin Keegan, won the last ever derby at Maine Road 3-1, with Shaun Goater scoring his 100th and 101st goals for the club, and Nicolas Anelka scoring the other. This was City's first win over United since the 5-1 victory in 1989, ending a 13-year barren run for the blue half of Manchester. City would later go on to draw at Old Trafford in the same season 1–1, Shaun Goater again scoring the goal. Goater also had a second goal disallowed for handball, which would have handed City their first derby double over United since 1970. City followed this up by winning the first ever derby match at their new stadium, the City of Manchester Stadium, 4–1, with goals from Robbie Fowler, Jon Macken, Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

In 2005–06, City kept up their good form against their rivals with a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford in September, followed by a 3–1 victory at Eastlands in January 2006.

During the 2006–07 season, United beat City 3–1 at Old Trafford and then won 1–0 at the City of Manchester Stadium (the game that ultimately led to United winning the title).

The 2007–08 derby games were both won by Manchester City, 1–0 at the City of Manchester Stadium on 19 August 2007, and 2–1 at Old Trafford on 10 February 2008 (just four days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster – a well-observed one minute silence preceded the match). Darius Vassell and Benjani Mwaruwari scored for City in the 24th and 45th minutes respectively. Michael Carrick scored for United in the 90th minute. It was the first time since April 1974 that City had beaten United in the league at Old Trafford and the first time they had won both league derby games since the 1969–70 season. United prevented City from winning a third consecutive derby match in the first derby of the 2008–09 season, Wayne Rooney scoring the game's only goal. Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off in the same game for a bizarre handball.

Alex Ferguson proclaimed the 2009–10 Manchester derby at Old Trafford as "probably […] the best derby of all time". Manchester United won this game 4–3 after Manchester City had equalised three times only for Michael Owen to score the winning goal after 95 minutes. In the same season, the sides were drawn against each other in the Carling Cup semi-finals. City won the first leg 2-1 after overturning a 1-0 deficit made by Ryan Giggs with goals from former United player Carlos Tévez. United went 2-0 up in the second leg via Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick before Tévez made it 2-1, levelling the tie and setting the game up for extra time. However, Rooney scored a stoppage time header which won the tie for United and took them to their second consecuetive Carling Cup final. On 17 April 2010, United beat City by a Paul Scholes' header in the last minute of injury time to keep their title hopes alive. It was the third time in the season that United won the derby in stoppage time.

Peter Schmeichel, who played for both United and City, can claim an unbeaten record in derby games – United were unbeaten during his nine years at Old Trafford, while in his single season at Maine Road, City beat United at home and picked up a point at Old Trafford.

STATISTICS

Manchester United and Manchester City league positionsAs of 17 April 2010, there have been 156 competitive meetings between the teams. United have won 65 and City 42, the remaining 49 games finishing as draws.

The biggest victory was 6–1 to City on 23 January 1926. Both teams have won 5–0 once (City in 1955, United in 1994). The largest attendance for a Manchester derby was 78,000 on 20 September 1947, a time when both clubs were playing at Maine Road, as Old Trafford was being repaired following damage sustained in the Second World War.

Competition                      City wins         Draws              United wins

League                                    37                   48                            57

FA Cup                                      2                     0                            5

League Cup                              3                    1                             2

Community Shield                  0                    0                            1

Total                                         42                 49                          65

Top goalscorers

Player                                                                                                        Goals

Joe Hayes, Francis Lee                                                                              10

Bobby Charlton                                                                                           9

Colin Bell, Eric Cantona, Brian Kidd, Joe Spence                                   8

Paul Scholes, Dennis Viollet                                                                      7

(all statistics exclude the abandoned match from the 1960–61 season)

NON-COMPETITIVE DERBIES

A large number of non-competitive Manchester derbies have taken place. The majority of these occurred during the Second World War, when a total of 44 matches were played between the teams. In recent years, non-competitive matches between the teams have generally been testimonials, such as those for Paul Lake and Denis Irwin. In 1978, for Colin Bell's testimonial, players from City and United lined up side by side against a combined Liverpool and Everton team in a Manchester v Merseyside fixture.

Matches between non-first team sides representing the Manchester clubs also have an element of rivalry, with occasions when the reserve teams meet sometimes referred to as "mini-derbies". This term is also used in reference to when supporters' offshoot clubs (Maine Road F.C. and F.C. United of Manchester) meet.

SHARED PLAYER HISTORY

Players who have played for both clubs[/subsection]

The first transfers of note between the clubs occurred in 1906. During the 1905–06 season City became embroiled in a financial scandal, which resulted in the suspension of seventeen players, including more or less the whole of the team that had won the 1904 FA Cup Final. United signed four of these players: Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull, Herbert Burgess and Jimmy Bannister. All four were subsequently part of the team which won United's first major trophy, the 1908 league championship.

In recent years, direct transfers between the clubs have been rare. Carlos Tévez joined City in 2009 having spent the previous two seasons on loan at United. City then produced billboard posters featuring Tévez and the slogan "Welcome to Manchester".

Played for one, managed the other

Matt Busby played for Manchester City and managed Manchester UnitedMatt Busby made more than 200 appearances for Manchester City in the 1920s and 1930s, winning an FA Cup medal in 1934. Immediately after the Second World War, Busby became Manchester United manager, completely transforming the club in a 24 year tenure. With United he won a European Cup, five league titles and two FA Cups, and rebuilt the team after seven players were killed in the Munich air disaster in 1958.

Steve Coppell played over 300 games as a right winger for United, winning the FA Cup in 1977. He became City manager in 1996, but resigned after only 32 days,[21] becoming the shortest serving manager in the club's history.

Managers who worked at both clubs

Ernest Mangnall is the only man to have managed both clubs. He oversaw United's first national trophy wins, gaining two league titles and one FA Cup.[23] In September 1912 Mangnall agreed to join City, but remained in charge of United for two more games. His final match in charge of United was a derby, which his new employers City won 1–0.[24] He signed Billy Meredith for United from City in 1906, and did the same again in 1921, but in the opposite direction. Off the field, he played an important role in both United's move to Old Trafford in 1910 and City's move to Maine Road in 1923.