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WHY LIVERPOOL AND UNITED NEED EACH OTHER Peter Hooton 15 September 2005
	Peter Hooton raises a five-fingered salute to our friends from the wrong end of the East Lancs Road and argues that life just wouldn't be the same without the intense rivalry that accompanies any meeting between the Reds of Merseyside and Manchester.
If Man United didn't exist you'd have to invent them. Basically, we need clubs like United because everyone loves a fierce rivalry. It's healthy and I think if it weren't there you'd miss it. There has always been a municipal jealousy between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, and given their close proximity it is not surprising. But I don't think this is the main reason for the rivalry between Liverpool and United. Manchester City, for example, have never been big rivals of ours. Liverpool fans have never deemed City a threat, even when they were doing well in the late sixties/early seventies. Manchester United have always been the benchmark. And I'm sure United would say the same about Everton. At the start of every season there are only two fixtures that Liverpudlians really look out for and they are Manchester United and Everton. Talk of any rivalry with Arsenal or Chelsea is rubbish. That is all media manufactured. Locally, Liverpool and Everton will always be a big deal, but on a global scale Liverpool versus Manchester United is still THE biggest fixture in English football calendar. What other game will get fans from all corners of the world out of their beds and in front of their television screens at some godforsaken hour in the morning? Hooton on LFC v MUFC At the start of every season there are only two fixtures that Liverpudlians really look out for and they are Manchester United and Everton. Talk of any rivalry with Arsenal or Chelsea is rubbish. That is all media manufactured. Locally, Liverpool and Everton will always be a big deal, but on a global scale Liverpool versus Manchester United is still THE biggest fixture in English football calendar. Given the recent success of Chelsea some people may say I am deluded but I honestly believe this. There is just so much more to Liverpool versus Manchester United, it's not only about the 90 minutes of football. It's about dominance. It's about success. If you delve deeper and analyse the rivalry more, I think it exists because both clubs are so similar. Both have unique histories. Both are from working class cities. Both play in red and both had Scottish managers who dragged them from mediocrity into the modern era. When I talk of the modern era I mean the sixties, when European football became a regular part of the season, and there's no doubt that Shankly and Busby were two of the most influential men in the game during this time. There's also no doubt that they were great friends. There was a mutual respect between them. But that didn't show itself on the terraces whenever Liverpool and Manchester United clashed. Even when they dropped into the Second Division in 1974, and I've always said this, the rivalry remained just as intense, the most intense of any rivalry I have ever known. When they came back up the following year it was like they'd never been away. The followers of both clubs' have always viewed their club as the 'bigger club'. When Liverpool were successful in the seventies and eighties, United would always manage to raise their game against us. They seemed to have the Indian sign over us, especially in cup games. The 1977 FA Cup Final being a perfect example of this. Of course, United have enjoyed the greater success in recent times. That's a fact we can't ignore. One of their most popular terrace chants of the past few years when we've played them is 'You're Not Famous Anymore'. Well they can't sing that now can they? Because of our most recent European Cup win Liverpool Football Club are back on the map and I know that must really grate with them. This something that will always get under their skin, the fact United have failed to dominate in Europe like we have done. I said in an interview with the 'United We Stand' fanzine a couple of years back that you can't be regarded as a truly successful team until you've won the European Cup regularly over a five-year period. That kind of talk gets to them all the time. In their heart of hearts they know this is true. They may view our success in 2005 as a flash in a pan, and it might be, but the record books show that Liverpool Football Club are the champions of Europe for a fifth time. No-one can take that away from us. Under Alex Ferguson, United have been trying to emulate us for years but have only won it once and since that terrible night in 1999 they've never really looked like doing it again. What it's taken Fergie 19 years to achieve, Rafa Benitez did in one! Liverpool winning the Champions League last season will only increase the intensity of this famous rivalry and ensure it remains bigger and better than that of anything else. Up until last season Liverpool fans had been paranoid about how United are catching us up with regards our massive trophy haul. Then suddenly, out of the blue, against all the odds, we win the Champions League and it's a big relief. The reaction in the red half of Manchester to our night of glory in Istanbul will no doubt have been one of jealousy and hatred. And I'd expect nothing else. There's an old Greek or Roman saying that goes 'They Hate Who They Fear', and I think this sums up the relationship between the North West's two biggest clubs. It's the same on both sides and I'm sure Liverpool fans reacted in the same way when United fluked the European Cup in 1999! We fear them. They fear us. And I wouldn't want it any other way.