Exactly.
Exactly.
Not at all, but we're not talking about me - the cities of Manchester and Liverpool have always historically had a rivalry that transcends football. Do your homework on the reason the Manchester Ship canal was built and the respective roles of each city in the slave trade. When the debate was raging about the slave trade, the scousers ran the leading opponents out of Liverpool (it was very profitable for them) and refused to sign the petition, whilst the first major meeting to oppose the slave trade in Britain was in the collegiate church (now the cathedral) in Manchester - and it was packed. From a population of 75,000 at the time, Manchester produced 20,000 signatures.
I had a good discussion with NotIntaFells (Liverpool supporter) at the last Northern track league about this rivalry too. Banter between fans is fine but when a load of scousers are singing about Munich, then it's bang out of order (and where a lot of the hatred comes from). It took Hillsborough to stop that but there are still sick b*stards from each side who still sing about Munich / Hillsborough.
It's not a unique thing to have this inter-city rivalry in football - for Liverpool / Manchester read Barcelona / Madrid, Milan-Turin. The fact that they are the two most successful sides in English football is incidental.
What I really find funny is supporters of teams like Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Rochdale hating Utd. If that isn't jealousy, then what is?
I would say that most Rochdale, Bury supporters hate Man Utd for drawing locals to a team 10-20 miles away rather than the one on their doorstep.
I don't expect they are jealous of success, they're at a completely different level, where 'success' has a whole different meaning.
a genuine rivalry down here too
forest and derby
i love it
come on you rams
same as burnley and blackburn are even burnley and preston
Now if you knew your history you would know why Bolton hate utd.
All to do with the 58 cup final, the Bolton team where bricked and attacked going through salford on there journey back from wembley.
I have the newspaper cutting somewhere...
I don't hate utd, I just have a dislike for there supporters (it's very easy to support a winning team), would all these 1,000's be ssupporting them if they weren't one of the best teams in Europe, what if they had never won anything...
There are more people in Bolton that support Bolton, things like that I find veery sad.
Some of us support them whether they are doing well or not. It's same at all clubs.
Take Blackburn for instance never seen as many fans when they won the premiership.
Now they do well to get 20,000 on at ewood, so you get that at all clubs.
In the end of the day the supporters only want to see there team play good football
That happens everywhere, for that one story about Bolton fans being attacked I can tell you at least 10 just detailing the walk from Everton / Liverpool to Lime St Station.
Bolton have got 4 (yes four) firms - they're hardly angels are they? 43 of them were stopped from travelling to the world cup last year. I don't agree with it, but it's just one of those things. Utd fans aren't angels and Bolton's definitely aren't either.
For the record, I've been following FCUM - hardly one of the best teams in Europe, so I don't need anyone coming on here preaching what team I should support. Particularly as the nearest league club to me growing up was Man Utd anyway!
Utd wouldn't be so popular today without Munich - it's nothing to do with the recent successes, they've had the highest average attendance every year since the WW2 including in the old division 2 in the 70s.
I was referring to Hopey's assertion that we wouldn't support Utd if we weren't successful. My first game was a good few years before the Premier League even existed.
It was an exaggeration, but if I remember rightly the SE corner of Old Trafford was being redeveloped around that time. Liverpool's attendances also dropped below 40,000 and they were at the top of their game at that time.Originally Posted by fellhell
Just had a quick look and that season was the only time in the last 34 years that Utd didn't have the highest attendance. Given the long period of failure the club went through (including relegation in 74) between the late 60s and the late 80s, it's unfair to say 'would all these 1,000's be supporting them if they weren't one of the best teams in Europe, what if they had never won anything...'. When Utd were in the 2nd division, they averaged crowds of 48,000, that's 3000 more than anyone else.