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Manchester United v Liverpool Debate: Which club is the greatest? Fans set out their case
Lancashire giants share illustrious past
19 Mar 2010 07:39:00
By Matt Monaghan & Neil Jones
Manchester United and Liverpool's rivalry can be seen on the pitch and heard on the terraces. There are few rivalries which can compare in modern football.
Years of history, tonnes of trophies and millions of supporters provide the backdrop for Sunday's Premier League battle royale. As the two most widely-decorated outfits in England - with 18 top flight titles each - heated discussions have gone on for years about who is the greatest.
Goal.com UK spoke to a noted fan from each side and heard their argument for why their club is the finest in the land.
Pete Boyle has been a Manchester United fan all his life, attending his first match at Old Trafford in 1975 and going to nearly every away game since 1982. The majority of the songs that boom from the Stretford End are his creation, with the Withington-born diehard releasing five compilation albums full of the anthems.
You're talking about the best two teams in the land, but from a bragging point of view, United have always won the trophies and won them in a very attractive way.
Liverpool had some great teams in the 1970s and 1980s, and you don't win that many trophies without being a great team. I would say they were more like a machine, where as United's philosophy through Matt Busby was always to play attractive football.
Without a doubt, with the way things have gone in the last 20 years, Liverpool are living in the past. We joke at United how they've been turning that corner all that that time.
Ultimately, Liverpool are living off having such a great history. I think that's why they've found it so difficult.
They thought that league was theirs. United fans called it the 'Holy Grail' in 1993, but for Liverpool fans it was more than that as it was virtually their trophy the old First Division.
Without a doubt they're living in the past and if we overtake them with the most league titles it'll just be unbelievable.
You've got to respect Liverpool, even though as a child I hated them and I remember going to Wembley in 1977 to watch us beat them in the FA Cup final to stop them doing the treble.
I've never liked Liverpool, like [United captain] Gary Neville, because as a United fan they are our biggest rival. Everton and Manchester City fans don't like it, but to the majority of match-going Liverpool and United fans it's each other we care about most.
It's not nice to lose to any of your local rivals, be it City or Liverpool, but it's certainly harder for me to take against Liverpool than any one else.
Another bragging point is that if you look through the statistics of attendances of all those years of Liverpool's dominance, United still had the largest crowds. I think that really riled Liverpool, as even when United got relegated to Division Two, we still had the highest average crowd in the land.
Also, in many ways we've always been perceived as the 'glamour' club even when we weren't winning that much. We always made as many headlines, if not more, than Liverpool who were sweeping all before them.
I'm sure it's going to be a great game at the weekend and we've got one new song for it: 'Liverpool beat us 4-1, the Scousers they did beam. But, it doesn't matter, because we've still won 18'.
Jerome Brissett is a lifelong Red, and a leading member of Liverpool FC's New York Supporters' Club.
Yes, Liverpool Football Club is the finest football club in England. I am not just saying so because I’m a Liverpool fan but because they’ve left their imprint on so many facets of English culture.
I know Manchester United have caught up to us in the number of league titles but what makes us a great team is not just winning the 18 championships.
We are the finest team in English football because, along with the trophies, the club has still managed to maintain the close ties to it supporters. The team’s anthem 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' personifies the connection between the club and its followers. This is a tradition that was cemented under the great Bill Shankly, continued under the stewardship of fellow greats like Bob Paisley, and personified by Kenny Dalglish.
This bond was never more evident than during the worst tragedy in the club’s history; the crush at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989. The manager and his players went to the funerals of all the victims who died on the Leppings Lane terrace, something that will never be forgotten.
Another thing that makes Liverpool Football Club the finest in English football is our knack for being involved in some of the most thrilling finals in recent history. Whenever someone mentions Istanbul in relation to the Champions League, the rollercoaster that is the life of a football fan comes to mind. Reds fans were taken from the depth of despair the utmost heights of elation one of the most thrilling 120 minutes of football.
Manchester United and Liverpool's rivalry can be seen on the pitch and heard on the terraces. There are few rivalries which can compare in modern football.
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Years of history, tonnes of trophies and millions of supporters provide the backdrop for Sunday's Premier League battle royale. As the two most widely-decorated outfits in England - with 18 top flight titles each - heated discussions have gone on for years about who is the greatest.
Goal.com UK spoke to a noted fan from each side and heard their argument for why their club is the finest in the land.
Pete Boyle has been a Manchester United fan all his life, attending his first match at Old Trafford in 1975 and going to nearly every away game since 1982. The majority of the songs that boom from the Stretford End are his creation, with the Withington-born diehard releasing five compilation albums full of the anthems.
You're talking about the best two teams in the land, but from a bragging point of view, United have always won the trophies and won them in a very attractive way.
Liverpool had some great teams in the 1970s and 1980s, and you don't win that many trophies without being a great team. I would say they were more like a machine, where as United's philosophy through Matt Busby was always to play attractive football.
Without a doubt, with the way things have gone in the last 20 years, Liverpool are living in the past. We joke at United how they've been turning that corner all that that time.
Little devils | United want 19th league title
Ultimately, Liverpool are living off having such a great history. I think that's why they've found it so difficult.
They thought that league was theirs. United fans called it the 'Holy Grail' in 1993, but for Liverpool fans it was more than that as it was virtually their trophy the old First Division.
Without a doubt they're living in the past and if we overtake them with the most league titles it'll just be unbelievable.
You've got to respect Liverpool, even though as a child I hated them and I remember going to Wembley in 1977 to watch us beat them in the FA Cup final to stop them doing the treble.
I've never liked Liverpool, like [United captain] Gary Neville, because as a United fan they are our biggest rival. Everton and Manchester City fans don't like it, but to the majority of match-going Liverpool and United fans it's each other we care about most.
It's not nice to lose to any of your local rivals, be it City or Liverpool, but it's certainly harder for me to take against Liverpool than any one else.
Another bragging point is that if you look through the statistics of attendances of all those years of Liverpool's dominance, United still had the largest crowds. I think that really riled Liverpool, as even when United got relegated to Division Two, we still had the highest average crowd in the land.
Also, in many ways we've always been perceived as the 'glamour' club even when we weren't winning that much. We always made as many headlines, if not more, than Liverpool who were sweeping all before them.
I'm sure it's going to be a great game at the weekend and we've got one new song for it: 'Liverpool beat us 4-1, the Scousers they did beam. But, it doesn't matter, because we've still won 18'.
Jerome Brissett is a lifelong Red, and a leading member of Liverpool FC's New York Supporters' Club.
Yes, Liverpool Football Club is the finest football club in England. I am not just saying so because I’m a Liverpool fan but because they’ve left their imprint on so many facets of English culture.
I know Manchester United have caught up to us in the number of league titles but what makes us a great team is not just winning the 18 championships.
We are the finest team in English football because, along with the trophies, the club has still managed to maintain the close ties to it supporters. The team’s anthem 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' personifies the connection between the club and its followers. This is a tradition that was cemented under the great Bill Shankly, continued under the stewardship of fellow greats like Bob Paisley, and personified by Kenny Dalglish.
This bond was never more evident than during the worst tragedy in the club’s history; the crush at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989. The manager and his players went to the funerals of all the victims who died on the Leppings Lane terrace, something that will never be forgotten.
Another thing that makes Liverpool Football Club the finest in English football is our knack for being involved in some of the most thrilling finals in recent history. Whenever someone mentions Istanbul in relation to the Champions League, the rollercoaster that is the life of a football fan comes to mind. Reds fans were taken from the depth of despair the utmost heights of elation one of the most thrilling 120 minutes of football.
Continental kings | Reds won five European cups
After going behind by three goals the Mighty Reds turned the game on its head by scoring three goals in a six minutes span, and then went on to win in a penalty shoot out. This victory brought the fifth of our European cups.
Then there is the 2006 FA Cup final - also known as the Steven Gerrard final - with time running out and the game seemingly lost, Gerrard scored with a thunderbolt. It was one of the best goals ever seen in a cup final to send the game into extra-time which we finally won in a penalty shoot out. When there is drama and history to be made, Liverpool are inevitably there.
Finally, something that differentiates Liverpool Football Club from the rest is our association with the greatest band ever to come from England - The Beatles. Liverpool FC is the only football club that can claim to have had one of its players grace a Beatles album cover; Liverpool legend Albert Stubbins was part of the featured in the cover art for the album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. It is little wonder that the Kop is widely recognised as the world's greatest football stand.
These are just some of the reason why Liverpool Football Club is the best football club in England, as they will prove on Sunday!"
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