For March 26th I'm going back 38 years to 1983 and another Milk Cup Final. Yesterday's edition was from 1984. Barring the odd day, today's Liverpool v Manchester United Final came one year earlier in 1983.
This is an inter-City rivalry rather than a derby game. Both teams have their own local derby rivals in Everton and Manchester City respectively, but the outcome of games between Liverpool and United has frequently carried greater importance than derby bragging rights. The two Cities are only 35 miles apart and yet local accents are distinctly different. There has been an economic and industrial rivalry between the two places more or less from the beginnings of industrialisation. The building of the Manchester Ship Canal, funded by Manchester merchants and opposed by Liverpool politicians, was completed in 1894 before these two football teams played each other for the first time and was another source of tension between the two cities.
If anything, the rivalry between the two Reds, Liverpool and Manchester United seems to have grown fiercer over the last 40 years. That's not to say that it used to be tame. I think that Liverpool's amazing 9 title winning run of the late 70's and throughout the 80's created a resentment amongst United followers which was eventually supplanted by jealousy from Liverpool fans who watched on as Alex Ferguson's sides achieved 13 League titles in the 21 years between 1992 and 2013. United fans will tell you about their record 20 league titles (compared to Liverpool's 19) whereas Liverpool's will point to their 6 European Cups (compared to United's 3). Irrespective, these 2 club's are the two most successful English clubs ever and any clash between them is always the coming together of two behemoths.
One harbinger of the top flight football of the future was the low number of English players on show that day. Of the 24 players appearing, only 10 were technically English and two of these were Gary Bailey (United's South-African reared goal-keeper) and Craig Johnston (Liverpool's Australian but South African born forward). Scotland was well represented however with 6 players and Ireland had 5 players including the 17 year-old Norman Whiteside who opened the scoring for United. Liverpool full-back Alan Kennedy, who always seemed to notch important goals, got their equaliser and, with the game going to extra time, Ronnie Whelan scored in the Final for the second year in a row with a sublime curling winner. In a break with tradition it was left to Liverpool manager Bob Paisley to go up the steps to the Royal Box and collect the trophy on this, his last occasion bringing a side to Wembley.
CRB Match No. 238
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