THE MANCUNIAN DERBY

It won't be a very nice day in Manchester today unless you happen to be a United or City supporter, in which case you may be feeling relieved about gaining another point, rather than losing 3 in yesterday's Premier League, Mancunian Derby. These two clubs have won 92 top flight honours; United 66, City 26.

Yesterday's clash, was the 183rd "Derby" of which United has won 76, City 54 and Drawn 53. The first Derby was played in 1881, when the two clubs, only 4 miles apart, met at West Gorton, the home of St Marks (City) FC. City hosted Newton  Heath (Utd), a game won by United 0-3. St Mark's was a "church side", formed by the vicar's daughter Anna Connell for "social association". A cricket team was the origin attraction for a gathering of these young men.

Big Derby scores include Utd 1-6 City 1926, Utd 0-5 City 1955, Utd 5-0 City 1994 and Utd 1-6 City 2011.

The teams met in the Football Alliance, a league formed in 1889-90, but it only lasted three seasons. In 1891, Newton Heath (below) was in the Football Alliance First Division (pre Football League) and Ardwick in Division Two. They eventually met in 1894-5 in the Football League with Newton Heath winning 5-2 at Hyde Road.

The first floodlit game was held in 1926-7 at Belle Vue Athletic Ground, with 10,000 attending to see this spectacle and Newton Heath won 3-2. This match raised money for the Hyde Coal Mine disaster. The first competitive top level match was as late as 1956 when United as League Champions played City as Cup Winners in the FA Charity Shield.

In 1894 there was a financial scandal involving the City club, which caused 17 players to be suspended or banned. The club reformed as Manchester City and adopted the Cambridge Blue kit. In 1904 City won the FA Cup and came second in the First Division.  In 1907, four City players transferred to United, including Bill Meredith (see below), Jimmy Bannister, Herbert Burgess and Sandy Turnbull, the first player to be sent off in the derby, however, United won the League title the following season.

Other notable "Derby" incidents include: Dec 12th 1970 George Best broke Glyn Pardoe's leg and medical complications meant that the leg could not be saved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g39fuJzNUEo This is worth a look especially for the REF late on on thre game!

In a 3-3 draw in November 6th 1971, Francis Lee mimmicked George Best's "dive" during the 3-3 draw. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_KgV5f55Qg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W49Ljx3VMc

In 1973-4 Mike Doyle and Lou Macari refused to leave the pitch having both been sent off. It was 0-0 at Maine Road and the referee abandoned the match. 

At the end of that season, Denis Law backheeled a winning goal past Aex Stepney, a goal that caused a pitch invasion. Law retired from football, on the strength of that and United were relegated (but would have been without this "drama"). The next Derby will be on March 6th 2021. all being well.

0-0 seems a gentle coming together.