This Saturday (14), we will have another Manchester Derby between City and United, the two great rivals of the city and who fight at the top of the current Premier League.
The Manchester Derby is one of the most important classics in England, which was born in the 19th century, when football was still in its infancy in the country. Today we’re going to tell a little more about Derby’s history and how this rivalry came about.
Who was born first was Manchester United, founded in 1878, still as Newton Heath Football. For those who don’t know, Newton Heath is an important part of Greater Manchester. The club was founded by workers of a railway company, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and would only change its name in April 1902, when it became known as Manchester United. The famous Old Trafford stadium would only be inaugurated in 1910, after the club bought land in a neighborhood of Manchester that bears the same name.
Manchester City officially appears in 1880, still as St Mark’s, name of a church in the West Gorton region. The club would only change its name to Manchester City in 1894. The first official stadium for the Blues was the Hyde Road Football Stadium, the club’s home for 32 years, whose main stand was destroyed by a fire in 1920. Three years later, the historic stadium Maine Road opened, where City played their games for 100 years, until 2003 when they moved to the current Etihad Stadium.
The rivalry between the teams really intensified after the 1950s. Before that, many people who lived in Manchester watched both teams play, and ended up supporting both City and United. In the 60s, football begins to develop more in England and in the following years the famous hooligans appear. Thus, the city of Manchester becomes more divided between the blue side, City, and the red side, United.
With a history of almost 130 years, there is no shortage of interesting numbers. The first official game recorded between the two rivals is on November 3, 1894, when United still carried the name of Newton Heath. On the occasion, City was defeated by the score of 5 to 2. The first victory of the Cityzens would come on December 7, 1895, for the then second division of England, when City beat the rival by 2 to 1, at home. Since then, City and United have met 187 times, with City winning 58, drawing 53 and losing 76.
The player who most wore City’s shirt against Manchester United was goalkeeper Joe Corrigan, who played for the club for 16 seasons, between 1968 and 1983, participating in 25 derbys. Fernandinho is also the Brazilian who played the most against his rival, with 17 matches. The top scorer in the match, on the blue side, is midfielder Francis Lee, who defended City in the 60s and 70s, scoring 10 goals in the classic.
Pep Guardiola he also holds the vice-leadership as a coach who most commanded Manchester City in Derby, with 17 matches. With a renewed contract with the club until 2025, he has the chance to become the record holder, thus surpassing Les McDowall, a Scottish coach who spent 13 seasons at City between 1951 and 1963 and faced his rival on 26 occasions.
In Old Trafford, stage of this Saturday’s Derby, 86 official games were played between City and United, with 28 wins for the Blues, 22 draws and 36 defeats. For the Premier League, the Pep Guardiola won eight times in 25 home matches. Of the current cast, the Portuguese Bernardo Silva has scored the most goals for United at Old Trafford, with three goals, including scoring on our last visit there, when we beat our rivals 2-0 in November 2021.
