The year was 1881 when these two sides first met. Many clubs had sprung up in and around the Manchester area. Ardwick City and Newton Heath were two such clubs and their matches held no importance. Both clubs however quickly started to grow in size and stature.
By the end of the decade their dominance started to show. By 1892 these two teams joined the football league. In 1894 Ardwick City changed its name to Manchester City. Newton Heath followed in 1902 and changed its name to Manchester United.
The very first match in their present guise was played in 1906 at the highest level of football in England, the first division. The gate receipt exceeded 1000 pounds, large sum of money for the time. Soon every match between the teams started to attract
widespread interest. The city was proud of its teams and it was common for people to support both clubs.
Things soon changed and a strong rivalry started to form between the two teams after World War 2. It became rather uncommon to support both teams and separate set of fans emerged for both sides. The war left old Trafford in poor condition and hence Maine
Road (City’s home from 1923-2003) became the home ground for both teams for eight years. During this time United recorded their highest league attendance at Maine Road in a match against Arsenal.
Sir Matt Busby, a former Manchester City player became manager of Manchester United after the war and he began to forge a team that was to win multiple titles making United a dominant force for the years to come. The team known as the ‘Busby Babes’ won the
first European championship by an English team. But disaster struck in 1958 when the Munich air disaster killed eight of United’s first team players. This resulted in calming the derby matches throughout the 60’s.
The 70’s on the other hand saw new vigour in the matches. The matches were full of rash tackles from players, some fair and many not. The 1973-74 season witnessed high drama. The first match was played at Maine Road, the game was full of bad tempered challenges
but the 0-0 derby draw saw two red cards being shown to Lou Macari (United) and Mike Doyle (City). Interestingly both players refused to leave the pitch. The referee had to call off play and took both teams to the dressing room; and the teams came back only
when both players agreed to honour the referee’s decision.
The second match was the match that City’s supporters remember as “the day Denis Law back-heeled United into the Second Division”. The match was dead until the 80th minute until the former United marksman back heeled the ball in the United net.
City fans and players were ecstatic, with the exception of Law. He walked with his head down and was substituted immediately. Later Law admitted that he was very disappointed and wished he had not scored.
After the arrival of the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantonna, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, the matches in recent history have been tilted towards the red side of Manchester. But City’s new found wealth and the arrival
of Carlos Tevez, Yahya Toure, David Silva and Koulo Toure have tilted the derby back into balance. The 1-0 win at city of Manchester and the 2-1 win at Old Trafford in 2007-08 was City’s first double over United after 38 years. Recently when Tevez was signed
by City after a two year spell at United, Manchester was filled with posters welcoming him.
It does not matter if the match is a classic like the 4-3 match at Old Trafford last season or the most recent encounter which ended in a 0-0 stalemate; Manchester Derbies have always been a special affair for either set of fans. The two Clubs form a big
part of the culture and history of Manchester. Last year the combined revenue of the two clubs was in excess of 400 million pounds making the city of Manchester one of the richest football cities.
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