Manchester United and Liverpool Rivalry

The Liverpool - Manchester United fixture is one of the most significant sporting rivalries in the world. Both clubs hail from the North West of England, they are also the two most successful teams in England, between them they have won 72 major trophies. The fixture is usually played at midday, due to both media interest and to discourage fans from drinking before the game. Long-term Manchester United player Ryan Giggs says that Liverpoool against Manchester United is "the most famous fixture in English football".

The Liverpool-Manchester football rivalry started in the late 1950's but was originally between Everton and Manchester United, with the clubs two of the most successful and best supported in the country. However with Everton's decline in the 1970's and the dominance of Liverpool, Manchester United attention changed to the red half of Merseyside.

Both clubs claim the title of 'the Greatest English Football Club', with Liverpool winning a total of 40 major trophies, while Manchester United have 32. Liverpool dominated English football during the 1970s and 1980s, winning the European Cup four times during that period. Manchester United have been the most successful English team of the 1990s and early 2000s, winning a treble (of the European Cup, the Premiership and the FA Cup) in 1999.

As well as competing on the football pitch, both teams are also two of the biggest-earning clubs in the world, based on revenue. The two also have among the largest fanbases in England and internationally. Manchester United are widely regarded as the most popular sports club in the world.

The rivalry between the two clubs has become so intense that since the 1964 transfer of Phil Chisnall from United to Liverpool, no player has been transferred since. Some players however have played for both clubs, but having played elsewhere between each tenure, such as Paul Ince. In 2007 there was an attempted transfer of Gabriel Heinze from United to Liverpool, but United refused to allow him to join their biggest rivals because it was agreed he would only join a foreign club. Heinze eventually joined Real Madrid instead.

Keano - Born Leader

Roy Keane is an Irish former professional footballer and the current manager of English Premier League club Sunderland.A dominating central-midfielder, Keane has been hailed as one of the greatest players to grace the game in the modern era. In a highly successful 17-year career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in Ireland, Nottingham Forest and, most notably, Manchester United (both in England), before ending his career with a brief spell at Celtic in Scotland.

Keane was noted for his aggressive and highly-competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005. Keane helped United achieve a period of unprecedented success in more than 12 years at the club, during which he established himself as one of the greatest players in the club's history.

He played at international level for much of his career, representing the Republic of Ireland over a period of fourteen years, most of which he spent as captain. In the 1994 FIFA World Cup he played in every game although he was sent home from the 2002 World Cup after an argument with national coach Mick McCarthy.

During his first season as Sunderland manager, he took the club from twenty-third position in the Coca-Cola Championship to win the league and gain promotion to the Premier League. Keane's arrival has been largely attributed as the catalyst for Sunderland's remarkable recovery.

After Eric Cantona's unexpected retirement, Keane took over as club captain, although he missed most of the 1997-98 season because of a cruciate ligament injury caused by an attempt to tackle Leeds United player Alf-Inge Håland which went horribly wrong for Keane. As Keane lay prone on the ground, Håland stood over Keane, accusing the injured United captain of having tried to hurt him and of feigning injury to escape punishment; an allegation which would lead to an infamous dispute between the two players four years later. Keane had been injured in the ninth game of the season, and did not return to competitive football that campaign. He watched from the sidelines as United squandered an eleven-point lead over Arsenal to miss out on the Premiership title. Many pundits cited Keane's absence as a crucial factor in the team's surrender of the league trophy. He initially expressed doubts as to whether he would play again due to the severity of his injury, but he recovered in time to begin pre-season training for the new campaign.

"It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt it was an honour to be associated with such a player."Sir Alex Ferguson on Keane's performance against Juventus in 1999.

Any fears that Keane's injury may have reduced his effectiveness as a player were dispelled in the 1998-99 season, when he returned to captain the side to an unprecedented treble of the FA Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League. One of his finest performances in this campaign was an inspirational display against Juventus in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, when he helped haul his team back from two goals down to win 3–2, a game regarded around Europe as one of the best performances on a football field in the modern era of European football. He scored from a header to start United's comeback and continually drove the team forwards at every opportunity. His performance in Turin has been described as his finest hour as a footballer. Earlier in the match, however, Keane had received a yellow card that ruled him out of the final after a trip on Zinedine Zidane. In the final, United defeated Bayern Munich 2-1 at Nou Camp, but Keane had mixed emotions about the victory due to his suspension.

Recalling his thoughts before the game, Keane said: "Although I was putting a brave face on it, this was just about the worst experience I'd had in football." Later that year, Keane scored the only goal in the finals of the Intercontinental Cup, as United defeated Palmeiras.

Keane caused controversy in December 2000, when he criticised sections of United supporters after the Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev at Old Trafford. He complained about the lack of vocal support given by some fans when Kiev were dominating the game, stating: "Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell 'football', never mind understand it." Keane's rant started a debate in England about the changing atmosphere in football grounds.

He made headlines again in the 2001 Manchester Derby, a game in which Alf-Inge Håland played. Five minutes from the final whistle, he was sent off for a blatant knee-high foul on the Norwegian in what was seen by many as an act of revenge. He initially received a three game suspension and a £5,000 fine from the FA, but further punishment was to follow after the release of Keane's autobiography in August 2002, in which he stated that he intended "to hurt" Håland. Keane's account of the incident was as follows:

I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you cunt. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.

An admission that the tackle was in fact a premeditated assault, it left the FA with no choice but to charge Keane with bringing the game into disrepute. He was banned for a further five matches and fined £150,000 in the ensuing investigation. Despite widespread condemnation, he later maintained in his autobiography that he had no regrets about the incident: "My attitude was, fuck him. What goes around comes around. He got his just rewards. He fucked me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye." Håland briefly considered taking legal action against Keane, but after both legal and medical advice he later decided otherwise. The Norwegian retired from football shortly afterwards, stating on his website that it was a recurring problem in his other leg that was causing him pain, rather than an injury resulting from Keane's tackle.

Throughout the 2000s, Keane maintained a healthy rivalry with Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. The most notable incident between the two took place at Highbury in 2005 at the height of an extreme period of bad blood between United and Arsenal. Vieira was seen confronting United defender Gary Neville in the tunnel before the game over his fouling of Jose Antonio Reyes in the previous encounter between the two sides , prompting Keane to verbally confront the Arsenal captain. The incident was broadcast live on Sky Sports, with Keane clearly heard imploring match referee Graham Poll to "Tell him [Vieira] to shut his fucking mouth!" After the game, which United won 4-2, Keane controversially criticised Viera's decision to play internationally for France instead of his birthplace of Senegal. However, Vieira later suggested that having walked out on his National team in the World Cup finals Keane was not in a good position to comment on such matters. Referee Poll later revealed that he should have sent off both players before the match had begun, though was under pressure not to do so.

Overall, Keane would lead United to 9 major honours, making him the most successful captain in the club's history. Keane scored his 50th goal for Manchester United on 5 February 2005 in a league game against Birmingham City. His appearance in the 2005 FA Cup final, which United lost to Arsenal in a penalty shootout, was his seventh such game, an all-time record in English football at the time. Keane also jointly holds the record for the most red cards received in English football, being dismissed a total of 13 times in his career. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his undoubted impact on the English game, and became the only Irish player to be selected into the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers picked by Pelé.

Maradona "good" Pele "better" George "best"

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish football player best known for his years with Manchester United. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.In 1968, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year. When fit, he was an automatic choice for the Northern Ireland team, but he was unable to lead them to the World Cup qualification, despite being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals.

In 1999 he was voted 11th, behind Marco van Basten, at the IFFHS European Player of the Century election and 16th, behind Lothar Matthäus, in the World Player of the Century election. In his native Northern Ireland the admiration for him is summed up by the local saying: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best".

He was one of the first celebrity footballers, but his extravagant lifestyle led to problems with alcoholism which curtailed his playing career and eventually led to his death in November 2005 at the age of 59. His cause of death was a kidney infection, a side-effect of the immuno-suppressive drugs he was required to take after a liver transplant.

At the age of 15, Best was discovered in Belfast by Manchester United scout Bob Bishop, whose telegram to United manager Matt Busby read: "I think I've found you a genius." His local club Glentoran had previously rejected him for being "too small and light".Best was subsequently given a trial and signed up by chief scout Joe Armstrong.

Best made his Manchester United debut, aged 17, on 14 September 1963 against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in a 1-0 victory. Two weeks later Best scored his first goal against Burnley. By the close of the season Best had six goals, and Manchester United finished second, behind champions Liverpool.

In his second season, 1964-65, Best and Manchester United claimed the league title.Best hit the headlines the age of twenty when he scored two goals in a European Cup quarter-final match against Benfica in 1966.

Best's talent and showmanship made him a crowd and media favourite. He was dubbed "the fifth Beatle" for his long hair, good looks and extravagant celebrity lifestyle, and even appeared on Top of the Pops in 1965.

The 1966-67 season was again successful as Manchester United claimed the league title by four points. The following season Best became a European Cup winner after scoring in the final against Benfica. United won 4-1 and Best was later crowned European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year; after that began a steady decline.

He opened two nightclubs in Manchester, in the late 1960s, Oscar's and the other called Slack Alice's (which later became 42nd Street Nightclub). He also owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with Mike Summerbee of Manchester City. However, he developed problems with gambling, womanising and alcoholism.

In 1974, aged 27, Best quit United. His last competitive game for the club was on 1 January 1974 against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

In total Best made 466 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions from 1963 to 1974, and scored 178 goals (including six in one game against fourth division Northampton Town). He was the club's top scorer for six consecutive seasons, and was the First Division's top scorer in the 1967-68 season.

Munich Air Disaster - Lest We Forget

The Munich air disaster took place on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with a number of supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster.

Manchester United lost eight of their player's the so called "Busby Babes" in that crash, which included Duncard Edwards one of the greatest footballers of all time coated by Sir Bobby Charlton. Here are the names :
Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards (survived the crash, but died in hospital 15 days later), Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam 'Billy' Whelan.

On 10 February 2008, at the derby match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, both teams were led onto the pitch by a lone bagpiper, and the managers Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson each laid a wreath in the centre circle. This was followed by a minute silence which, despite previous concerns, was respected by all the fans. United played in 1950s-style strips with no advertising or players names and numbered 1-11; whilst City removed shirt manufacturers and sponsors logos from their kit; both teams wore black armbands in tribute to the victims of the Munich disaster.

The Busby Babes

The Busby Babes were a group of Manchester United players, recruited and trained by Assistant Manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under Sir Matt Busby's management.

The Busby Babes were notable not only for being young and gifted but for being developed by the club itself, rather than bought from other clubs as was then more customary. The term, supposedly coined by Manchester

Evening News journalist Tom Jackson, usually refers to the players who won the league championship in seasons 1955-56 and 1956-57 with an average age of 21 and 22 respectively.

Eight of the Busby Babes died in the Munich air disaster in 1958 including potentially the greatest of them all, Duncan Edwards. The last remaining player from the pre-Munich side, Sir Bobby Charlton, retired from playing in 1975.

The Treble - Moment of Glory

The 1998–99 season for Manchester United was the most successful season in English club football history as they became the first and only English team to win The Treble — winning the Premiership, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season. After a very tense Premier League season, Manchester United won the title on the final day beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1, whilst Arsenal won 1–0 against Aston Villa. Winning the Premiership was the first part of the Treble in place, the one part that manager Alex Ferguson described as the hardest. In the FA Cup Final United faced Newcastle United and won 2–0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. In the final match of that season, the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final they defeated Bayern Munich in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks ever witnessed, losing going into injury time and scoring twice to win 2–1.Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football. Rounding out that record breaking year, Manchester United also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Palmeiras 1–0 in Tokyo.

The Return of The Red Devilz

This is My Club..This is Old Trafford..This is..Manchester United..In The Early 90's United Entered Into an Era...An Era of...Total Domination...Which Saw Them Winning..Eight League Titles...Four FA Cup Titles & One Champions League Title...English Football Was never Dominated..This Way Before...And Never Will Be..Manchester United..The Red Devils...Times Were Changing..at Old Trafford..And The Sky was Falling Apart..The Time Had Come...for The New Revolution..Stamford Bridge...LONDON..He Came...They Conquered...A New Power...Was Dominating English Football...Chelsea Were Taking Over..
Chelsea vs Man Utd...For The Title..1-0 Chelsea..OUT PLAYED...2-0 Chelsea...OUT CLASSED...3-0 Chelsea..OUT PERFORMED..Champions Again..Chelsea Had Arrived....
But a New Era ....Has Begun at OLD TRAFFORD..An Era That Promises so Much...THE RED DEVILS...are coming....coming to get their pride back....No one can stop Now..No more lies..... No more lies..... No more lies..... No more lies...MY HEART...MY SOUL..MY LOVE..FOREVER MANUTD...MANCHESTER UNITED..A matter of life and death....THE RED DEVILS