FOOTY FAIR

5 Insults That Came Back to Bite the Person Who Said Them

2016-03-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Football might be nothing without fans, but it would be even duller if it wasn't for hilariously scathing insults.

But occasionally those insults come back to bite the person who said them. The following are five classic examples of when the insulted parties bit back:

The Clown

Prior to England's do or die World Cup qualifier with Poland at Wembley in the fall of 1973, the famously outspoken Brian Clough, who was doing some work for ITV, called Polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski a "clown". The so-called clown went on to have the game of his life in a 1-1 draw as he denied England a place at the 1974 World Cup, making save after save to keep Sir Alf Ramsay's men at bay. Cheers for that, Brian.

Mary Poppins

Loud mouth former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd, put the boots into record signing Alan Shearer when he labelled him "Boring" and stated that, "We call him Mary Poppins." Shearer went on to plunder a club record 206 goals in all competitions and although you could argue that he's a boring pundit, he's undoubtedly a Toon legend as well.

Stick It Up Your Bollocks!

The combustible Roy Keane, who was unhappy with Ireland's preparations for the 2002 World Cup tore into manager Mick McCarthy with one of the most memorable recorded outbursts in recent years. In a blazing row, Keano ranted, "You were a crap player and you're a crap manager. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country - and you're not even Irish, you English c**t. You can stick it up your bollocks!" Keane was banished from the squad and would never again play in a major tournament. McCarthy led Ireland through to the Round of 16 where they would agonizingly fall to Spain on penalties. McCarthy would later go on to have a good stints with both Sunderland and Wolves, where he led both into the Premier League. He is now trying to chase down a spot into the Championship promotion playoffs with Ipswich. The less said about Keane's managerial career though the better.

Hijo de Puta

Early on in his stint at Real Madrid, David Beckham was sent off for yelling “Hijo de puta" at a linesman. Claiming that he had no idea that it's a very offensive Spanish insult that loosely translates into "Son of a prostitute", Beckham was shocked to receive a red card. He said that it was something his teammates said all the time in training (hopefully not to him!) and he was clueless as to its meaning. Sure Becks, we believe you.

The Water Carrier

Old Trafford icon and French philosopher Eric Cantona said this of compatriot Didier Deschamps in 1996: "Deschamps gets by because he always gives 100 per cent, but he will never be anything more than a water carrier. You can find players like him on every street corner. " Apart from his Juventus side defeating Cantona's Manchester United twice in the fall of 1996, Deschamps went on to cap a brilliant club career where he won two European Cups, with winner's medals for France at World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000. Not bad for a water carrier.

5 Key Matches Involving Liverpool and Manchester United

2015-09-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

English football is filled with great rivalries, but surely none matches the intensity of Liverpool and Manchester United.

These two storied clubs have won a incredible 38 league titles between them and besides their battle for supremacy in England on the pitch over the years, the two sets of supporters simply despise each other.

So needless to say, the atmosphere will be electric today when these two sides meet up at Old Trafford. With the two rivals off to a slow start in the league this season, both will be hoping to kick-start their campaigns with a win.

The following are five key matches the clubs have played against each other in the past few decades:

Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1

FA Cup final, 21 May 1977

In 1999, as every United fan knows, the Red Devils won a historic League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League (aka European Cup) treble. They are still the only English side to accomplish this feat. Twenty-two years earlier Liverpool were on the verge of a treble themselves, as they romped to the league title and would eventually vanquish Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in the European Cup Final. But four days before that European triumph in Rome, Manchester United stunned Bob Paisley's side with a 2-1 win at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. Goals from Stuart Pearson and Jimmy Greenhoff, scored either side of a goal by Liverpool's Jimmy Case, saw United climb the old stadium's 39 famous steps to collect the cup.

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0

First Division, 26 Apr 1992

For much of the 1991-1992 season, Manchester United looked on course to finally win the league title after a 25 year wait. But after faltering down the home stretch, they were caught by a surging Leeds United side and it was none other than their old enemies Liverpool who put the final nails in their coffin. Goals from Ian Rush and Mark Walters at Anfield ended United's title dreams and sent the league trophy to Elland Road.

Manchester United 1 Liverpool 0

FA Cup Final, 11 May 1996

The 1996 FA Cup Final is perhaps the perfect example of what can happen when expectations are so high for both teams before a match that they end up cancelling each other out. After 85 dull minutes the match seemed to be staggering towards extra time, but as he had done for much of the season Eric Cantona conjured up a bit of magic. The mercurial Frenchman volleyed home a sublime late winner to leave the Merseysiders crestfallen. The team that a certain former Liverpool captain had said "Couldn't win anything with kids" had won a domestic League and Cup double.

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 2

Premier League, 5 May 1999

With Manchester United battling a terrific Arsenal side for the title heading into the last month of the 1998-1999 season they couldn't afford to drop any points at Anfield in this late season showdown with their old rivals. After going up 2-0 with goals through Dwight Yorke and a Denis Irwin penalty United seemed well on their way to an important away win. But then referee David Elleray awarded Liverpool a very questionable penalty that was converted by Jamie Redknapp and in the 75th minute Irwin was sent off for booting the ball away just after a whistle by Elleray, a second bookable offence, and Liverpool were in the ascendancy. Former United player Paul Ince, who had been labelled "a big time Charlie" by Red Devils boss Alex Ferguson, scored what appeared to be a title killing equalizer in the 88th minute. Despite being handed an advantage in the title race, Arsenal would lose their second last match of the campaign to Leeds United and Ferguson's side would not falter again on their way to winning the first part of their treble.

Manchester United 0 Liverpool 3

Premier League 16 March 2014

Led by an inspired Luis Suarez, Liverpool seemed on the verge of ending their 24 year wait for the title for much of the 2013-2014 season. United on the other hand were suffering through a disastrous post-Ferguson campaign under new boss David Moyes. Brendan Rodgers side were dominant at Old Trafford in March of that season as they tore apart a bedraggled home side. Steven Gerrard scored two penalties and missed one, while that man Suarez added a late third. After several poor displays over the course of his troubled season at United, this might have been the nadir for Moyes and it was only a matter of time before the former Everton man was sacked after this humiliating performance. Liverpool for their part continued their rich vein of form for another month before Gerrard's costly slip up against Chelsea and an implosion against Crystal Palace saw them pipped to the title by Manchester City.

Football Legends Illustrations by Al Power (Gallery)

2015-08-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

Al Power is a designer from Dublin, Ireland. In one of his recent projects Al created posters of some of our favorite football legends from the past including Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidan and of course being Irish he couldn't help himself but create one for Ireland national team legend and former Manchester United and Aston Villa center-back Paul McGrath. You can follow Al Power on twitter @alpower81

Dan Leydon's 4 Years of Drawing Cantona (Gallery)

2015-07-04T16:00:00.000-04:00

We have featured the work of Irish illustrator Dan Leydon in the past and now he has produced something new and very interesting. He has collected all of the drawings and doodles he has created of Manchester United French legend Eric Cantona; they are sorted in chronological order below.

To see Dan's other awesome projects you can visit him on his Facebook page and of course follow on twitter @danleydon

5 Eccentric Footballers

2015-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

A complaint many fans have about footballers is that they're boring, media trained robots and yet away from the pitch their only interests are fast cars and faster women.

Some players don't fit the mold however, and the following are five players you'd never describe as being dull:

Eric Cantona

The relatively brief, but brilliant career of a Manchester United legend Eric Cantona featured occasionally insightful, yet mainly bizarre Rimbaud inspired quotes, getting thrown off the French National Team for calling the manager a bag of shit and famously drop kicking a thuggish fan at Crystal Palace.

Mario Balotelli

What can you say about the mercurial Italian striker Mario Balotelli that hasn't already been said? If he's not setting fire to his house by letting off fireworks in the bathroom, he's driving into a women's prison to "take a look around" or getting into hot water for throwing darts at a youth team player. Jose Mourinho once called Balotelli "unmanageable" and his rather up and down career seems to confirm that.

Carlos Roa

A promising keeper for club and country, Carlos Roa derailed his career in 1999 when he quit football and went AWOL with his church, believing that the end of the world was coming. When we didn't all die in a fiery inferno he tried to get back into football with limited success.

René Higuita

Colombian goalkeeping legend René Higuita certainly added credence to the old assumption that goalkeepers aren't dealing from a full deck. Higuita, with his wild locks and crazy moustache, had a penchant for getting caught with the ball out of his box, invented a wild save called the 'scorpion kick' and did time in prison for getting caught up in a kidnapping scandal involving the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.

David Icke

Although David Icke did not enjoy the most illustrious of careers, playing only two seasons in goal for Hereford United in the 1970's, off the pitch he has carved out quite a reputation for his unusual beliefs. A follower of new-age spiritualism, Icke has written four novels on his belief that a secret group of reptilian humanoids called the Babylonian Brotherhood control most aspects of human life. He also believes that what most of us view as major unconnected events all happen for the reason of controlling the population. Although his reptilian theories are pretty outlandish, his concerns over world events and economies being shaped by a global elite isn't too far fetched in my book.

Five Wacky Premier League Moments

2015-03-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

As Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was shown a straight red after only 38 seconds on the pitch against Manchester United on Sunday, it was the latest example of the wildly unexpected moments we've come to love about the English Premier league.

Whether it's ridiculous red cards, hilarious rants, or colourful owners, there's never a dull moment in England's top flight.

The following are five wacky moments since the start of the Premier League in 1992/1993:

Cantona Kicks Off

With two time defending champions Manchester United embroiled in a title race with Blackburn Rover in 1994/1995 the Red Devils would be dealt a massive blow in late January when they lost their talismanic striker Eric Cantona to a long term suspension.

After seeing red against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, as the Frenchman made his way towards the players tunnel, Cantona was on the end of a stream of abuse from Palace fan Matthew Simmons. Simmons, who allegedly racially abused Cantona, didn't know what hit him though as the United player launched into his chest with a 'kung-fu' kick and a flurry of punches.

Cantona was suspended for eight months and United were pipped to the title by Blackburn on the final day of the season.

Kevin Keegan Loses the Plot

Newcastle United under manager Kevin Keegan had enjoyed a renaissance in the mid-1990's, as he led the club back to the top flight and after two seasons of consolidating their position in Premier League they were primed for an assault on the title in 1995/1996.

Playing some thrilling attacking football, the club at one point held a twelve point lead in the title race and seemed odds on to win their first league championship since 1926/1927.

However a young Manchester United side, galvanized by Eric Cantona, who had returned from his previously mentioned suspension, surged past them in the table and with Sir Alex Ferguson playing his famous mind games on his rival manager, the pressure began to tell on Keegan.

During a post match interview towards the tail end of the season, Keegan unleashed the following famous rant in response to Ferguson's opinion that club's wouldn't be trying as hard against Newcastle as they would against Manchester United:

"When you do that with footballers like he said about Leeds, and when you do things like that about a man like Stuart Pearce - I've kept really quiet, but I'll tell you something, he went down in my estimation when he said that - we have not resorted to that. But I'll tell ya - you can tell him now if you're watching it - we're still fighting for this title, and he's got to go to Middlesbrough and get something, and... and I tell you honestly, I will love it if we beat them, love it!"

Manchester United would go on to win the league on the last day of the season.

Delia Smith's Halftime Announcement

For those unfamiliar with Delia Smith, the Norwich City co-owner is a famous British celebrity chef who has sold over 21 million cookbooks and presented numerous television shows on cooking during her long career. If you like to dabble in the kitchen, I'd actually suggest looking up a few of her recipes as she's got a few great dishes in her arsenal.

Anyhow, on the football side of things she's most famous for an epic rant in February 2005 during half time of a Norwich home match against Manchester City. With her club in a relegation fight, an inebriated looking Smith made her way down to the pitch, grabbed the microphone and said the following:

"A message for the best football supporters in the world: we need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be 'avin' you! Come on!"

If I owned a football club, I'd probably do this every other week if I'm being honest. Despite Delia's encouragement Norwich lost the match 3-2 and were relegated at the end of the season.

Phil Brown's Team Talk

As his newly promoted Hull City side struggled through an awful first half against Manchester City in December 2008, manager Phil Brown resorted to desperate measures.

Brown, feeling the players weren't putting in enough effort, conducted his half time team talk on the pitch in front of the where the Hull supporters were sitting.

The furious Hull boss tore into his side, who were two down at the time, for three minutes in front of puzzled travelling supporters.

Brown, who would just about manage to keep Hull in the Premier League at the end of that season, had this to say of his team talk:

"It was unacceptable behaviour, an unacceptable performance from a Phil Brown side and I am bitterly disappointed."

[On his on-field half-time talk]: "I thought it was nice and cold and I thought I would keep the boys alive because they looked as if they were dead.

"Our 4,000 travelling fans deserved some kind of explanation for the first-half performance and it was difficult for me to do that from the confines of a changing room.

"We owed them an apology for the first-half performance."

Luis Suarez Bites Again

Biting an opponent once is awful, but we all make mistakes. But having three instances of biting in your career, sandwiched around a charge of racially abusing a fellow professional, doesn't mark you out as being a role model for young fans. After receiving a ban for biting an opponent when playing for Ajax, Luis Suarez's second instance of biting another player came towards the end of a 2-2 draw between his Liverpool side and Chelsea in April 2013 when he sank his gnashers into Branislav Ivanović.

The player was suspended for ten matches, but would later return in some style as he almost carried the Anfield club to the title the following season.

Unfortunately, he followed that up by biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during a first round match at the 2014 World Cup while playing for Uruguay. Some people never learn.

5 Players That Retired Too Early

2015-03-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

In an era when players try to extend their careers as much as they can, there are always those who rather leave the game while they are on top.

These players had the ability, quality and age to still remain at the top of the food chain for several years, but for personal reasons decided that it was time to move away from the game of football and perhaps find new passions in their lives.

The list could be a very long one, but I wanted to narrow down to five players that in my mind cut their careers too short, and robbed the fans of a few more years of enjoying their plays on the field.

Eric Cantona

French international and Manchester United star, Eric Cantona retired in 1997 at the age of 30. He walked away from the game at a period in time where he was at his peak. Not many players do it, and it should surprise anybody that Cantona did it. He always did what he wanted how he wanted.

He could have easily played for five more seasons, but he felt that it was the right time to leave a game he loves before he started to hate it.

Carlos Roa

Goalkeeper Carlos Roa, had an incredible 1998 World Cup for Argentina, which saw its peak during the penalty-shootout win against England.

He retired a year later from football at the age of 29 to dedicate himself to his religion.

Hidetoshi Nakata

The Japanese midfielder retired from football in 2006 at the age of 29. It wasn’t because he found faith or because of an injury, instead he left football to pursue a career in modeling.

Emmanuel Petit

The French international and Arsenal legend, retired in 2004 at the age of 33. After winning the World Cup with France in 1998 and the double with Arsenal that same year, being part of the invincible’ s, he probably felt that there was nothing left for him to achieve.

Espen Baardsen

This former Tottenham goalkeeper retired from football at the age of 25. He claims that once you have played in the Premier League and World Cup that there wasn’t much left for him to achieve.

Instead, he wanted to travel the world. He currently works for an asset management fund.

Throwback Thursdays: Joga Bonito TV Commercials

2015-02-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

The year was 2006, and as the world was getting ready to welcome the World Cup, Nike launched what is currently considered the greatest collection of football commercials, Joga Bonito.

The commercials featured former Manchester United icon, Eric Cantona as the host and the videos included some of the greatest players of all time like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here is a video and the breakdown of all twelve Joga Bonito commercials for your enjoyment.

Commercial 1: 0:18 Cantona as the host shows us that when we are kids we play with freedom and without any worries and because of that we should never grow up. The example used is Ronaldinho, with video from his as a kid playing futsal and also of him as an adult.

Commercial 2: 1:16 Cantona breaks into a TV station to stop their broadcast, and show the world how football should be played.

Commercial 3: 3:53 Cantona telling all players to play the game the beautiful way featuring the Brazilian national team.

Commercial 4: 4:45 Cantona draws a smiley face on a football and tells the audience to make the ball happy. The video features Ronaldinho.

Commercial 5: 5:55 Perhaps one of the most famous ones. Ronaldinho is featured in this one, using a new pair of Nike cleats to play ping-pong with the crossbar.

Commercial 6: 8:55 This one is very similar to the 5th commercial, but this time is Ronaldo doing the incredible tricks. Both videos were digitally re-mastered, the players didn’t actually do what it shows them doing.

Commercial 7: 10:25 Rooney is featured in this one, and he is out to prove that he is the best in any position, even goalkeeper.

Commercial 8: 11:25 Another one featuring the Brazilian national team, this time playing with a ball in their locker room.

Commercial 9: 12:55 Battle between Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the end Cantona is not sure who the winner is. Considering their real battles on the field, I think Ronaldo has won.

Commercial 10: 13:55 Cantona takes the viewers to the streets where Thierry Henry shows off his street football skills.

Commercial 11: 14:58 Cantona returns to a TV station to show us Ronaldo in all his glory.

Commercial 12: 16:02 A look at which team plays the most beautiful football, Brazil or Argentina?

10 Best Eric Cantona Quotes

2015-01-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

Eric Cantona is an icon of French football and of Manchester United. It is very hard to think of either one without thinking of the other.

Cantona was a free spirit on and off the field, leaving everything he had inside the playing surface and always being outspoken about the game and its participants.

If you decide to look at what his best quotes are, some are football related and some are not, but all of them give you a glimpse into the man that he is. Eric Cantona has no equal for what he did and for who he is.

Here are ten of his best quotes.

"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea."

"Sometimes you surprise the goalkeeper and sometimes the goalkeeper surprises you. In my career, I tried to do more of the first than the second."

"When times are difficult, I tell myself, 'I'm just passing through.'"

"My best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan."

"It's my country but I don't want to know about France - I was born there but I feel English."

"The French have only negative things to say about everything and everyone."

"Often there are players who have only football as a way of expressing themselves and never develop other interests. And when they no longer play football, they no longer do anything; they no longer exist, or rather they have the sensation of no longer existing."

"Sometimes you get submerged by emotion. I think it's very important to express it - which doesn't necessarily mean hitting someone."

"The real fans of football come from the working class. Now they cannot afford to come and watch the game."

"I don't think we can be entirely happy seeing such misery around us."

The Day Cantona Kicked Off

2015-01-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

On January 25, 1994 Manchester United went into Selhurst Park knowing that a victory over Crystal Palace would propel them to the top of the table. Instead an incident happened that night that would not only derail their quest for a third straight league title, but would enter into English football folklore.

United's inspirational striker Eric Cantona came under the close attention of Palace defender Richard Shaw during this now notorious encounter and the mercurial striker was not too impressed.

He complained bitterly to referee Alan Wilkie about the treatment he received in the first half and United manager Alex Ferguson snapped at Wilkie, "Why don’t you do your fucking job!" as the teams came out for the second half.

In my years supporting United two of my favourite all time players were Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona. Where Robson was an all-action midfielder who inspired the side with his fearless displays, Cantona could often be anonymous at times, but then would pop up with a piece of jaw dropping brilliance to win a match. Both players though always stood their ground and backed down to no one.

As much as Cantona was capable of displays of genius he was also just as likely to descend into moments of madness if he felt he was being wronged. With Shaw continuing to pull his shirt and take little digs at him without punishment early in the second half, Cantona lost his cool and kicked out at the Palace player.

Wilkie wasted no time in brandishing a red card, but as Cantona made his way off the pitch he had one more moment of violence left in him that night.

Palace fan Matthew Simmons, a man who has since been convicted of assault himself, stormed down to the front of the stand Eric was passing, from his seat in the eleventh row, and shouted insults to the effect of "fuck off back to France, you French bastard!" at Cantona.

The man United fans still refer to as "Le Roi" flew into Simmons with a kung-fu kick and then started raining punches down on him before he was dragged away by the United kit man and several teammates.

At the time, and not knowing what Simmons had said, I was stunned by Cantona's actions and my first thought was, "He'll be suspended for ages and we'll lose the title."

One of my aunts, whose son worked for United back in those days, spoke to me a few hours after the match and said, "You should hear the things he gets called by fans at away grounds, every man has a breaking point."

Cantona himself said, “Millions of times people say these things, and then one day you don’t accept it. Why? It’s not about words. It’s about how you feel at that moment. One day you react, but the words are exactly the same as those you have heard a million times, so it is impossible to say why you react.”

United's number seven would be suspended for the remainder of the 1994/1995 season and for the first month of the following season. As I feared, United would narrowly miss out on that season's title to Blackburn Rovers.

In 1995/1996 though he would return in triumph and inspire a young United side to the club's second domestic league and cup double in three seasons.

As brilliant a player as he was, and on top of the trophies he brought to United, Eric is actually loved even more by United supporters because of this incident. He was someone who stood up for himself and his club, he didn't take any shit and had a fire that burned within him that was such a part of who he was as a footballer and a man.

To many of us he's still the King of Old Trafford.

Throwback Thursdays - England's 5 Greatest Transfers That Never Happened

2014-11-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

In an age where the top clubs have scouts eyeing up Under 6 matches in Outer Mongolia, few players fall through the cracks anymore.

The top teams, and even some of the perennial mid table sides, in Europe identify talent early and if they have the money they get their man.

But it wasn't always like that, particularly in England where clubs had much smaller, and localized, scouting networks and were particularly wary of splashing out huge sums on unknown foreign players.

Thanks to this cautiousness or outright naïveté several clubs missed out on some incredible talent. Here are five of the worst cases of clubs failing to pull the trigger on potential deals:

Michael Laudrup to Liverpool in 1983

With Liverpool at the peak of their powers at home and abroad, the addition of the supremely gifted Michael Laudrup to their ranks would have made a great side even better. After his standout displays for Brøndby, the player who many believe to be the finest Danish footballer ever, was on the verge of signing with the Anfield club before Liverpool's board thought better of the three year deal on the table and tried to change it to a four year deal instead. Laudrup was not interested and opted to sign for Juventus instead.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Arsenal in 2003

The young Sporting Lisbon star was on the verge of joining Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side just prior to a fateful friendly between Sporting and Manchester United in the summer of 2003. After tearing United to shred's Sir Alex Ferguson came in with a significant offer for the Portuguese winger and the rest is history.

Eric Cantona to Sheffield Wednesday in 1991

The mercurial Eric Cantona had actually announced his retirement in December of 1991 after his latest run in with the French Football Federation. Talked out of retiring by Gerard Houllier, who ultimately suggested a move to England, Cantona was offered a trial with Sheffield Wednesday. After one week on trial, Wednesday boss Trevor Francis wasn't convinced so he asked him back for a second week. Cantona refused and instead signed for Leeds United. After helping Leeds to the title that season he later joined Manchester United.

Zinedine Zidane to Blackburn Rovers AND Newcastle United in 1995

One of the finest players of his generation, the future World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, who was plying his trade at Bordeaux at the time, was the target of a transfer bid by then Blackburn Rovers boss Kenny Daglish in 1995. With Daglish set to bring Zidane and fellow French international Christophe Dugarry to Ewood Park, Rovers owner Jack Walker killed the deal and infamously said, "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"

Part way into the 1995/1996 season, Zidane was then reportedly offered to Newcastle United for the reasonable sum of £1.2 million. Unfortunately for Magpies fans, the club turned down Bordeaux's offer as they believed the player was not good enough for the Premier League. Zidane eventually wound up at Juventus and went on to glory for both club and country.

Diego Maradona to Sheffield United in 1982

The greatest of all 'what if's' is that of Argentine legend Diego Maradona's potential move from Argentinos Juniors to Sheffield United in 1978. After Blade's manager Harry Haslam had worked out a £600,000 deal to bring Maradona to South Yorkshire, the club pulled the plug on the deal due to a lack of funds. Diego would stay with Argentinos Junior for another three years before joining his beloved Boca Juniors for a season prior to heading off to Europe with Barcelona.

Football's Mavericks - Eric Cantona

2014-11-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

Can a maverick footballer, on the verge of his career ending early in furious defiance, get a second chance to become a hero who leads a club to glory?
The two word answer to that question is Eric Cantona.

Whereas many outrageously gifted, but what could best be described as unique individuals, tend to infuriate as much as they excite and often times end their careers unfulfilled, Cantona did no such thing.

The reason that his career didn't spiral into that typical narrative is his decision to leave his native France and head to England, eventually finding a club and a manager that gave him his platform to shine.

Born in Marseille in 1966 to Albert Cantona, a painter and nurse, and Éléonore Raurich, a dressmaker, his was a close knit family of immigrants. His mothers parents had been Catalan separatists who had fought in the bloody Spanish Civil War against the forces of General Franco, escaping to France after the conflict, and his fathers parents had come to Marseille from Sardinia.

The future star's rebellious spirit, his outlook and sense of justice were more than likely derived from his upbringing.

On the football side, Cantona in later years recalled crying his eyes out as a youngster when West Germany defeated the brilliant 'Total Football' Netherlands side in the 1974 World Cup Final. The style and swagger of that team, and in particular the majestic skill of Johan Cruyff captured his imagination and would have a strong influence on how he later thought football should be played.

Despite growing up as a Marseille fan, Éric Daniel Pierre Cantona started his professional career under the legendary Guy Roux at Auxerre. A club that was famous for giving opportunities to young players was the perfect place for him to begin his career.

After making his breakthrough into the first team, it was apparent that Cantona was a player of some ability and he received his first full cap for France just after his 21st birthday.

Unfortunately, the dark side of his game also began to surface around that time as he drew a fine for punching teammate Bruno Martini in the face after a dispute. Shortly after this indiscretion, he made headlines for the wrong reasons again after an X-Rated challenge on Nantes' Michael Der Zakarian drew a two month suspension.

After helping France to a European U21 Championship in 1988, Eric got his dream move to his hometown club Marseille, but things were about to take a turn for the worse for him in his native land.

Banned from the French national team for calling coach Henri Michel "a bag of shit" on national TV, he found himself in trouble at club level after reacting angrily to a substitution in a friendly against Torpedo Moscow. After kicking a ball into the crowd, then ripping off and throwing away his shirt, the club banned him for a month.

Struggling to settle in at Marseille, Cantona was loaned out to Montpellier where he was again at the heart of a fiery incident.

After a dispute in training over where the team's problems lay, his teammate Jean-Claude Lemoult had the temerity to blame the forwards, so Eric responded by smashing his boots into the midfielders face.

With six of his teammates demanding he be sacked, it was only the intervention of Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama that convinced the club to keep him on and as a result he later helped them win the French Cup.

After another stint at Marseilles, he was transferred to Nimes where his career in France effectively ended. During a league match in December of 1991 he threw the ball at a referee, he perceived to be having a poor match, and was called before the French Football Federation for a hearing.

Strolling into the hearing, Cantona walked up to each person on the panel individually and said, "Idiote!" in each of their faces.

This predictably did not go over well with the FFF and he was banned for two months. A frustrated Cantona announced his retirement from football on December 16, 1991 at only 25 years of age.

On the advice of Gerard Houllier though, he decided to restart his career in England and after an unsuccessful trial at Sheffield Wednesday, he eventually joined Leeds United.

In the final season before the Premier League, Leeds were fighting tooth and nail with old rivals Manchester United for the 1991/1992 First Division title. The introduction of the mercurial Frenchman into the Yorkshire side pushed what was already a strong squad over the top and as they won their first league championship since 1974.

One of the main reasons that United had stumbled in their bid to win their first league title in 26 long years was the lack of options upfront and it was with this in mind that United boss Alex Ferguson, rather cheekily, asked about the availability of Cantona, when Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson made an inquiry about Denis Irwin.

Incredibly, Wilkinson allowed Cantona to join Manchester United for £1.2 million and made his debut for the club as a substitute against Manchester City in December of 1992.

Coming to a club that had had some success in the domestic cup competitions and had triumphed in European Cup Winners' Cup in 1991, the one thing lacking in the Old Trafford trophy room for two and half decades was the league title.

That difficult period of being unable to land the top prize in England was made worse by the fact that United's bitterest of rivals, Liverpool, had virtually made the league championship their own in the 1970's and 1980's.

From a personal perspective, I was 15 years old when 'King Eric' joined United and at the age where you begin to admire anti-heroes and anti-authoritarian types and that's what he was.

Right away I recognized him as a unique player who was unlike any I had ever seen at the club.

Unlike a lot of new signings, Cantona wasn't overawed by United and in fact seemed to grow in stature under Ferguson. The Frenchman pushed up his collar, puffed out his chest and played with a flair that made United a joy to watch.

With his movement, personality, and yes, flashes of brutality, he was like a matador striding across the pitch. Instead of his a red cape he wore a red shirt and his killing blows were crucial goals or brilliant assists.

Even when he didn't appear to be doing that much, you simply couldn't take your eyes off of him. The man was so damn cool and there aren't many footballers you can legitimately say that about.

United would win the league championship in 1992/1993 and follow it up with the club's first league and cup double in 1993/1994, playing some of the most exciting football seen in years.

Despite his and the club's success, his time at United wasn't without controversy as he was fined for spitting at a Leeds fan during his first visit back to Elland Road, and then banned for five matches after back to back sending off's against Swindon and Arsenal in 1994 after two brutal challenges.

The most notorious incident of his time with United, and his entire career, came in January of 1995 as he was sent off at Crystal Palace for kicking defender Richard Shaw. As he made his way to the tunnel, Palace fan Matthew Simmons ran to the front of the stand to yell racist abuse at the United number seven. Brushing off such abuse was not in Eric's character and he launched a flying 'kung-fu' kick into Simmons chest and followed that up with a few punches.

The English Football Association subsequently banned Cantona for eight months, while FIFA extended his ban to include international football. He was stripped of the French captaincy and would never represent his country again.

With Inter Milan and other big clubs trying to pry Cantona away from English football during his ban, Ferguson convinced him to stay at Old Trafford and his faith would be richly rewarded.

Returning against Liverpool in October of 1995, he scored the equalizer on his return to English football and after shaking off the rust of not playing for two thirds of a year, he inspired to a ten-match winning run and eventually overhauling league leaders Newcastle to win another Premier League crown.

In the FA Cup, his form was equally impressive as he led United to another Final and scored a late winner against Liverpool. As he climbed the famous 39 steps at the old Wembley and then lifted the FA Cup aloft, he began the first player born outside of the British Isles to accept the cup as captain.

Installed as the permanent captain in the following season, after Steve Bruce's departure to Birmingham City, Cantona again led United to the title and helped them to the Semi-Final of the Champions League where they would come up short against eventual champions Borussia Dortmund.

Despite being only 30 years old, Cantona decided to end his career on a high and promptly retired at the end of the 1996/1997 season.

Over the years several reasons have been given for Cantona's early retirement, with it suggested that he didn't think the club was doing enough to compete in Europe, that age was catching up to him and he wasn't as sharp, or that he was growing frustrated with the hyper commercialization of Manchester United.

The man himself has since said though that although he's had second thoughts about retiring so young, he was ready to move on with his life and was tired of going to bed early, training religiously and not being able to drink and socialize the way non-footballers can.

Although it came as a disappointment to United fans when he did retire, with four titles and two FA Cup's in five glorious seasons, along with some magical moments, Cantona is a true legend at club and people still sing his name.

While older Reds fans will chatter their teeth about Bobby Charlton or George Best being the greatest United players ever, or younger fans will point out the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, my favourite player will always be King Eric. His impact on the club can't be measured by stats alone. He was a maverick who finally found a suitable home and helped kick start two decades of success for Manchester United.

Football Illustrations by David Flanagan (Gallery)

2014-10-09T21:00:00.000-04:00

David Flanagan is a very talented illustrator from Preston. Lucky for all of us, he also loves football and dedicates a lot of his work to creating pieces inspired by the beautiful game. Below is just some of his work. To see more visit his Behance site by clicking here and you can follow him on twitter @daveflanagan

Throwback Thursday - 1992/1993 - Marseilles

2014-10-02T15:00:00.000-04:00

For the 38th edition of the European Cup, the tournament was re-branded as the UEFA Champions League and the competition we know today began to take shape.

Although, Group Stage matches had been introduced the year before, they were fully embraced for the 1992/1993 season and would eventually be expanded in the coming years.

In the first year of the Champions League, the European Champions would come from France for the first, and so far only, time and would not come from Paris.

The Olympic Marseilles side that season, in which they would win the 'Cup with the big ears', contained players such as Didier Deschamps, Alen Bokšić, Rudi Völler, Abedi Pelé, Marcel Desailly and Fabien Barthez, and is undoubtedly one of the finest Ligue 1 sides that has ever graced European competition.

Under colourful owner Bernard Tapie, the club won five French League titles in a row and had reached the final of the 1991 European Cup before falling on penalties to a wonderful Red Star Belgrade side.

Two years later though, they would finally bring the trophy back to the country that had played such an important role in the formation of the European Cup though.

The Champions League in the 1992/1993 season consisted of 36 teams, a larger number than had been in the European Cup previously, in order to accommodate the new countries formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia and also first time entrants from Israel and the Faroe Islands.

After a Preliminary Round had reduced the number of sides to an even 32, the first round proper consisted of two legged home and away ties to determine which clubs would advance to the second round, which was also a two leg knockout affair.

One of the more memorable clashes in the knockout stages was the second round clash between English Champions Leeds United and the reigning Scottish Champions Glasgow Rangers, who were in the midst of a record equaling run of nine league titles in a row.

Over the course of two epic 'Battle of Britain' encounters, Rangers defeated Leeds 4-2 on aggregate after beating the Yorkshire club by a score of 2-1 in both legs. Interestingly enough, Leeds lone goal in the second leg was scored by the mercurial Frenchman, Eric Cantona, who would leave the club soon after and subsequently become a legend at rivals Manchester United.

After the conclusion of the second round, the remaining eight sides were drawn into two groups of four, with the group winners advancing to the final.

As expected the powerhouse AC Milan side, who were in the midst of a golden period of success, powered to a perfect record in their group with home and away wins over IFK Goteborg, Porto and PSV Eindhoven.

In the other group, Olympic Marseilles just edged out Rangers by a point and advanced to the final, as they topped a group also containing Club Brugge and CSKA Moscow.

Going into the final in Munich, the Italians were heavy favourites and were expected to add to their recent European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.

Before the final, Marseilles had defeated Valenciennes to wrap up the French title in a match that would later have dire consequences for the club. They were well rested as they took on Fabio Capello's side and were quietly confident of victory.

Milan, with Marco van Basten and Paolo Maldini among their ranks, started well and had great chances to score through Van Basten and Daniele Massaro. Eventually though, they were undone by a 43rd minute header by Ivorian-born French international Basil Boli and despite a few threatening attacks in the second half, Milan were unable to score and fell 1-0.

This wonderful triumph over the biggest side in Europe at that time, was later overshadowed by allegations that Tapie had paid several Valenciennes players to take it easy against his side, in order for Marseilles to be well rested and ready for the final.

The club were subsequently banned from European competition for the following season, stripped of their 1992/1993 French League title and relegated to the second division.

They did however get to keep the European Cup, despite allegations over the years of wrong doing in a few of their Champions League matches leading up to the final. In particular, their 1-0 over Brugge came under investigation for potential match fixing and the 6-0 drubbing of CSKA has also come under suspicion.

No evidence of wrong doing on the part of Marseilles that year has ever been proven though and their name remains on the list of Champions League winners.

That Cantona is a Work of Art (Gallery)

2014-09-30T21:00:00.000-04:00

Love him or hate him Eric Cantona will forever be ingrained in the history of football. The french bad boy who became a Manchester United hero is also a favorite with some artists. Here are some of the best Cantona work of art from around the web.

Manchester United's Best Starting XI

2014-08-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

As I watched Manchester United successfully complete their pre-season tour of America, with a 3-1 victory over rivals Liverpool, I saw a lot to be positive about.
Although the squad still has a few pressing needs, like the signing of a dominant center back, I think there's some great attacking talent at new manager Louis van Gaal's disposal and the club heads into the season with an optimism that was lacking during David Moyes' disastrous reign.

In fairness to Moyes, taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson, after his trophy laden time at the helm, was going to be difficult for anyone though. Besides his gift for intimidating anyone who opposed him, Ferguson was also able to successfully build at least three dominant squads in his time in the Old Trafford hot seat.

Before assessing this years squad I decided to take a moment to look back at the players that contributed to United's success during the past two decades and put together a fantasy XI. I'm guessing that there'll be some debate on a few of my choices, so feel free to add your thoughts in the comments below.

The criteria for my lineup is that I could only include United players from the past 25 years.
Let me know what you think.

Goalkeeper - Peter Schmeichel

This one was a toss up for me between the Great Dane or the brilliant Edwin van der Sar. Both were terrific for United and contributed to numerous triumphs, but I've gone for Schmeichel as he was at the club in his prime. In eight seasons at Old Trafford, he won five FA Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. After his breakout season in 1992/1993, when he kept an astounding 22 clean sheets as United won the title, the imposing red nosed stopper helped kickstart the clubs two decades of success.

Right Back: Gary Neville

Every Scousers favourite former England International, made 400 league appearances for the club between 1992 and 2011, and is rightly considered to be the best English right back of his generation. Coming through the clubs youth setup, Neville epitomized the spirit of the lauded “Class of 92” generation with his fierce will to win and dedication to his craft. Over the course of his career he won a staggering 8 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, 2 Football League Cups, 2 UEFA Champions League titles, an Intercontinental Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. Although he has moved into a successful career in the media, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back at the club in some coaching capacity at some point.

Center Back – Rio Ferdinand

Although his shameless self promotion, embarrassing TV gag shows, missed drugs test and contract disputes leave a bitter taste in the mouth for some Reds, there’s no denying that at his peak Ferdinand was one of the finest defenders that have ever played for United. The quick and stylish center back was imperious at times for the club and a major part of their success during his twelve years at Old Trafford. His partnership with Nemanja Vidic was the bedrock upon which the clubs success was built for several seasons and it will be strange to see both of them playing elsewhere this season.

Center Back - Nemanja Vidic

Ferdinand’s defensive partner Nemanja Vidic was the perfect foil. Hard as nails, positionally sound and strong in the air, the Serbian defender provided the steel in this terrific partnership and although I was a big fan of Jaap Stam, I have to include Vidic ahead of him as he played for the club for more seasons and was perhaps more consistently excellent. Together with Ferdinand, Vidic helped form Ferguson’s third great side and besides their five Premier League titles together, they also captured the UEFA Champions League crown on a rainy night in Moscow in 2008.

Left Back – Denis Irwin

Although Patrice Evra has been a great player for the club in more recent seasons, I had to go for the reliable Irish International Denis Irwin who was always terrific for United. Besides his excellent defensive play, Irwin provided a cutting thrust with his overlapping runs down the left hand side and even chipped in with occasional goals from free kicks. Irwin made 296 Premier League appearances for United, winning seven Premier League title medals, as well as three FA Cups, a League Cup, a UEFA Champions League medal and a Cup Winners' Cup.

Right Wing – Cristiano Ronaldo

Love him or hate him, there’s few that can argue that Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to have ever graced Old Trafford. Arriving as a flashy, yet skinny teenager from Sporting Lisbon, the Portuguese winger would go on to transform himself through hard work into one of the best players in the world. His 42 goals in all competitions in the 2007/2008 season went a long way towards helping the club secure a Premier League and UEFA Champions League double. With Ronaldo leaving for Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, before he had arguably reached his peak, it leaves a lot of Reds wondering if they could have added to that European triumph in the subsequent years.

Central Midfield - Roy Keane

If you needed a crucial goal, a game changing tackle, a defense splitting pass or a fight, the fiery Irishman was the man for the job. In this team he would undoubtedly be the captain, as he is one of the finest ones United have had. The driving force behind some of United’s success, Keane was so much more than the tough guy he’s remembered as. He was also a fine footballer and a leader of men. It’s unfortunate that his relationship with Ferguson and the club ended badly, but there was an inevitability about that when you consider his character.

Central Midfield – Paul Scholes

Another member of United’s Class of92, the brilliant Scholes is one of the finest passers English football has seen in the past two decades. Besides his range of passing, that was widely admired by such contemporaries as Zinedine Zidane and Xavi, the Ginger Ninja also scored many crucial and spectacular goals over the years that went some way towards helping the club land 11 Premier League titles and various other trophies. Not afraid to mix it up when the going got tough, Scholes was the complete midfield package and a player that United have struggled to replace.

Left Wing – Ryan Giggs

Who else but Giggsy would you expect to see manning the left wing for a dream United XI? Amassing an incredible 963 appearances in all competitions for the club, Giggs would an incredible 13 Premier League titles and thrilled the Old Trafford faithful for 24 years. Keeping himself fit through a strict training regime, which included yoga, Giggs was still an effective player for the club up until his retirement this year at the age of 40. One of the best players that have ever played for United, it’ll be strange to see him on the outside looking in this season.

Forward – Eric Cantona

In the forward positions is likely where most of the arguments with this lineup will come from. Although a strong case could be made for Ruud van Nistelrooy or perhaps Andy Cole to grab one of these spots, I’m going with Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney as my front two. What can you say about the mercurial Frenchman? Baseball legend Reggie Jackson once called himself “the straw the stirs the drink” when his arrival in New York led the Yankees to back to back World Series titles in the late ‘70s and Cantona had a similar effect for the Red Devils. After narrowly missing out on the title in 1991/1992 to Cantona’s Leeds United, Ferguson was unbelievably able to pry him away from Elland Road and with his collar pushed up the man nicknamed “Le Roi” led United to back to back titles. Inspiring a generation of young players and fans, his impact on the club cannot be measured by stats alone. His style and swagger transformed the club.

Forward - Wayne Rooney

From the outside looking in, it’s funny that one of the highest scorers in United’s history divides opinions so much. But thanks to his contract squabbles and threats of leaving on a couple of occasions, Rooney is a divisive presence in the pantheon of United greats. Despite the off-the-pitch shenanigans of the follicly challenged Scouser and his agent, Rooney has been a terrific player for the club and served as the talisman for a lot of their recent success. Although there’s the perception of Rooney not fulfilling the promise of his youth, he has scored an impressive 216 goals in 442 appearances in all competitions for the club despite not always playing as the main striker and has won 5 Premier League titles.

My 5 Favourite Manchester United Kits

2014-07-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

With the new Premier League season only 30 days away and with most clubs releasing new kits this month, I took a moment to look back at my favourite kits put out by Manchester United, the club I support.

97/98-99/00 European Kit

I remember when this kit came out and my immediate reaction was, “Another red home kit that’s specifically for Europe? Those greedy bastards!” But I have to admit that I like it so much more than the domestic red home kits that came out during this era. It has a great pattern in the background of the shirt that gives a tip of the cap to the Champions League, a nice simple collar, and a nice shield-like United crest. Which United fan doesn’t look at this kit and immediately think of Ole Gunnar Solskjær breaking German hearts?

86/87-87/88 Third Kit

In the risk of appearing to be a football hipster, I simply must include this gorgeous and extremely rare blue kit from Adidas in my list. Used only a few times, this kit has a terrific collar, a vibrant colour with a nice pattern in it, and a perfectly sized club logo. When you think of some of the garbage Nike has put out in the past decade, they would have been wise to study this kit and perhaps bring its genius of a designer on board to recreate a similar effort. This terrific retro number brings back memories of Bryan Robson leading the charge for United in the 1980’s.

92/93-93/94 Away Kit

Fifteen years or so before the green and gold campaign to protest the Glazers, but a hundred years after United forerunners Newton Heath FC originally donned these colours we had the absolute wonder of this particular kit. With a fabulous collar, complete with retro lacing, a big and bold badge, with black trim this is a beautiful kit. I picture a fresh faced Ryan Giggs, with his curly mop of black hair, bamboozling defenders when I see this one.

1990/1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final Kit

It could be the lack of a sponsorship on the front, or just simply the memory of Sparky slamming home the second goal against Barcelona from a tight angle that makes me love this kit. But I think it’s more than that. I mean, just look at that United crest, the retro Adidas logo, the two subtle black stripes and the truly wonderful collar. This is a truly remarkable kit. I don’t want to lower the tone of this article, but I will probably make a mess in my pants if Adidas come out with something even close to this when they take over as our kit supplier next season.

93/94-94/95 Away Kit

At number one is a jersey that was reportedly woven on Mount Olympus by Zeus himself and simply handed down to Umbro. This black with gold and blue trim masterpiece brings to mind visions of Eric Cantona performing acts of wonder on the pitch and even taking time out to dropkick a racist thug up in the stands. This kit sets the standard for all future releases and it’s tough to see it ever being matched. It’ll be hard to recreate a kit of such beauty and power as this one.

I still have this black United away kit that I got for Christmas back in 1994, and although it’s seen better days due to a lot of wear, you’d have to tear it from my cold dead hands to see me part with it. In fact, to hell with it I’m going to get it framed for my basement. Problem solved.

The Art of Football - 15 Wonderful Portraits

2014-05-31T15:00:00.000-04:00

In a recent rant post I raged against the evils of crappy football Photoshop jobs, but once in a while a talented graphic and/or fine artist will take on football as a subject and the results can be stunning.

The following are some of the best pieces I've seen in the past few months:

George Best by Stan Chow - @stan_chow

Carlos Valderrama by SAKIROO - @sakiroo

Toronto FC's 3 DPs by Michael Marsicano - @MMillo

Andres Iniesta by Gonza Rodriguez - @_GonzaRodriguez

Roberto Baggio by Steve Welsh - @miniboro_dotcom

Eusebio by Dave Merrell - @DaveMerrell

Eric Cantona by Zoran Lucic - @zoranlucic

Hand of God by Richard Swarbrick - @RikkiLeaks

Lionel Messi by OTTO LI - http://www.galleryec.com/artist/otto-li

Ramon Diaz of Yokohama F. Marinos by Aki Enu - @aki_enu

El Clasico for Howler Radio by Noah MacMillan - @NoahMacMillan

Zamora Sends QPR Up by Art of Football - @Art_of_Football

The Last Painting of Ninian Park by Philip Watkins http://www.axisweb.org/p/philipwatkins/

Arsene Wenger by 11 cannons - @11cannons

Stiliyan Petrov by Daniel Nyari - @danielnyari

Best of the FA Cup Final (Gallery)

2014-05-16T16:12:00.001-04:00

As Hull City and Arsenal take to the pitch at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 17, 2014, it will mark the final of the 133rd season of the FA Cup. The Football Association Challenge Cup, it's full title, is the oldest knock-out cup competition in world football.

To mark this special date on the football calendar, we here at FootyFair have put together a gallery of memorable images celebrating the winners, losers and supporters that have played a role in the FA Cup Final through the years.

Fanning the Flames - Best Football Rivalries - Manchester United vs Liverpool

2014-05-12T14:52:00.001-04:00

Every single professional football league in the world shares one commonality and that is the existence of bitter rivalries between certain clubs. Although these rivalries are often shaped by geography and the relative size of the sides involved, other factors such as politics, religion and economics can also play a significant role.

In this series we will look at the most heated rivalries around the world, focusing on the origins of the clubs long standing feuds, the players involved and some of their classic encounters.

In this week’s edition we’ll look at the English North West Derby between Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC.

The North West Derby: Manchester United vs. Liverpool

In the aftermath of Sunday's final day of EPL action, I couldn't help but be struck by the gleeful nature in which Manchester United supporters were celebrating the failure of Liverpool to capture their first title in 24 years. Tweets such as “Chadwick 1 – Gerrard 0” were all the rage on Sunday, as United’s supporters drew attention to the fact that their toothy former fringe player, Luke Chadwick, still had one more Premiership winners medal in his trophy cabinet than Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

The fact that Manchester United fans were in a sense celebrating a title won by Manchester City should tell you who United fans view as their biggest rivals. When the shoe has been on the other foot, as it was in 1995 when Liverpool fans celebrated with their Blackburn counterparts at Anfield as Rovers beat United to the title, the Liverpool faithful have proven to be very much in the “Anyone But United” camp. Like Liverpool’s 2-0 win over a United at Anfield in April 1992, that virtually assured Leeds United of the title, the red half of Merseyside celebrated as if the title was theirs.

To understand the animosity between the two clubs you have to consider the historic rivalry between these two northern cities. During the Industrial Revolution, Liverpool’s ports drove its economy, while Manchester was famous at the time for its booming manufacturing industry. With the opening of the ambitious Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, at the time the largest ship canal in the world, ships could bypass Liverpool and transport goods directly into Manchester. Predictably this resulted in job losses in Liverpool and a deep resentment towards their near neighbours.

Coincidently, the two football clubs met for the first time on the 28^th of April, 1894 with Liverpool emerging as 2-0 winners over Newton Heath, as Manchester United were named at the time.

Matches between the two clubs in the first fifty years of league football were often close affairs, but neither club truly had sustained periods of success during these decades.

It was in the post-World War 2 era, that both sides began to emerge as the two major powers in the English game. After the two clubs battled with Leeds United for major domestic honours in the 1960’s, Liverpool then went on to dominate the 1970’s and 1980’s, winning 11 League titles and 4 European Cups during that period.

The traditional rivalries between the two clubs and their respective cities also intensified from the 1970’s onwards. With the growing problem of football hooliganism in England, many of the matches between the two sides were marred by incidents of violence between the two sets of supporters. Although their matches today are much more tightly controlled by the police, and therefore the number of violent confrontations have decreased, the two sets of supporters still despise each other. It’s not uncommon to hear disgusting chants about the Munich Air Disaster and the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster at matches between the two sides.

The rivalries between the two sets of supporters have been also been fueled by the attitudes of some of the players and managers involved. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who led United to 13 League Titles and 2 Champions League wins between 1993 and 2013, said that his “greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f**king perch”. Current United striker Wayne Rooney has admitted to growing up “hating the Reds”, whereas Steven Gerrard has swapped jerseys with players from all over the world, but has said that he’d never have a United kit in his house. Gerrard’s camera kissing hijinks after scoring against United have also not gone down that well with the Old Trafford faithful. On the other side of the great English Football divide, former United right back, Gary Neville made himself few friends on Merseyside when he kissed his badge and taunted the away fans after a late winner against Liverpool in 2006.

Of course no piece on the recent animosity between these two sides is complete without mentioning the Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra incident. After being found guilty of racially abusing Evra during a meeting at Anfield early in the 2011-2012 season, Suarez refused to apologize to the French left back and wouldn’t shake his hand when his Liverpool side came to Old Trafford later in the season. Suarez’s subsequent actions and the misguided support offered to him by former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish appeared to have made a tense situation even worse.

In another sign of the rivalry between the two clubs, since the 1964 sale of Phil Chisnall from United to Liverpool, no player has been transferred between the two sides. Although a few players, such as Paul Ince, have played for both clubs in their careers there has not been a direct transfer between the two in fifty years.

Despite the many differences between the two clubs the one thing they do have in common is a bulging trophy cabinet. Between the two of them they have won 38 League Championships, with 18 for Liverpool and 20 for Manchester United. They have also dominated the domestic cup competitions with 11 FA Cups and 4 League Cups for United, against 7 FA Cups and 8 League Cups for Liverpool. They have also been England’s most successful representatives on the European stage with Liverpool winning 5 European Cups and Manchester United winning 3 of their own.

In terms of fans, besides their huge respective local supporters these two giants of the English game have millions of fans around the world and many dedicated fan groups behind them. Both clubs often conduct their pre-season training and matches around the globe, drawing massive numbers wherever they go.

Over the years there have been some classic encounters between the two sides and here are four of the best:

1983 League Cup Final: Liverpool 2 – Manchester United 1
Winners of the 1983 FA Cup Final, Manchester United were 15 minutes away from a domestic cup double after a Norman Whiteside 12^th minute goal. However, Alan Kennedy struck for the Merseysiders to level the score and then Ronnie Whelan won it for Liverpool with a curling shot in extra time. The League Cup win added to the League Championship that Bob Paisley’s side would later collect in what was his final season with the club.

1994 FA Premier League: Liverpool 3 – Manchester United 3
After going ahead 3-0 through goals by Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs and Denis Irwin in the opening 25 minutes, Manchester United seemed to be in complete control over their bitter rivals at Anfield. However, two goals from Nigel Clough and a goal from Neil Ruddock assured United of what we can only presume was an angry lecture from Fergie after fulltime.

1996 FA Cup Final: Manchester United 1 – Liverpool 0
Definitely not one for the purists, this tense stalemate meant more to Manchester United in terms of its context in their history. The late winner from Eric Cantona capped a remarkable comeback from the Frenchman, who had been suspended for eight months for attacking a Crystal Palace supporter the season before. It also completed a major domestic league and cup double for a young United side that had been written off at the beginning of the season.

1999 FA Cup 4^th Round: Manchester United 2 – Liverpool 1
In a season where Manchester United went on to win an unprecedented League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, the turning point for many United fans is when the club fought back from a 2^nd minute goal by Liverpool’s Michael Owen, with two goals at the death by Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Four of the Worst Title Defenses in English Football History

2014-05-08T07:40:00.000-04:00

As I sat blissfully sipping my coffee and trying not to stare at the hot moms in yoga pants who were strolling by with their lattes, an old man stopped at my table. He pointed at the crest on my jacket and said, in what I think was a Croatian accent, "United not so good this year, eh?"

As his Bond villain like laughter filled the shop, I started to reply but stopped myself. What could I say really? Our season had gone about as well as a Lindsay Lohan rehab attempt. We have been shit.

Due to a lack of investment from the Glazers, an aging squad of prima donna's and a manager in David Moyes who was clearly out of his depth, the team who finished first by 11 points last term had tumbled down to 7th place. This led me into thinking about some of the other poor title defences in English football history and these were the four that I came up with:

Manchester City - 1937/1938:

To find the Grandaddy of disastrous title defences you have to go all the way back to the pre-Ryan Giggs era of the late 1930's. In the days when clubs could shout down the nearest mine shaft to find a ball playing magician, Manchester City had one hell of a season in 1936/1937, as they took the clubs first title. Under the management of the incredibly named Wilf Wild, City did not lose after Christmas Day and scored an incredible 107 goals in 42 matches.

That year also saw rivals Manchester United relegated into the old Second Division.

The following season, despite leading the old First Division in scoring again, The Wild Men, as no one probably called them, couldn’t keep the ball out of their own net as they dropped to 21st place and were relegated. In doing so, Manchester City became the only team to have been relegated the season after winning the league title and also the only team to be relegated from the top division despite being the leading scorers.

I think Noel Gallagher wrote a B-Side about this turn of events, but you shouldn't quote me on that.

Ipswich Town 1962-1963:

Under the management of Alf Ramsey, and in no small part thanks to the high scoring duo of Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips, the Suffolk club won an unlikely League Championship in 1961-1962 in their first season in the top flight. Ramsey put together a side of solid, but largely unspectacular players, got them to fit his system and caught the big dogs of the old First Division by surprise.

Unfortunately for Ipswich, but fortunate for the writers of the mid-90’s classic Three Lions, the English Football Association came sniffing around after their manager and in the spring of 1963 appointed Alf Ramsey as the new National Team boss. With perhaps Ramsey’s eyes already on the England job and the goals drying up for Crawford and Phillips, Ipswich sunk to 17th place in the league and were knocked out of the European Cup by eventual winners AC Milan in the second round.

As for Ramsey, he went on to give English Football its greatest ever moment on July 30, 1966. Did the third goal cross the line? Of course it did, a Soviet linesman told us so and if you can't trust a hard line Communist who can you trust?

Jules Rimet is still gleaming and all that by the way.

Leeds United - 1992/1993:

The fact that Leeds United won the 1991/1992 Championship in the final year before the start of the Premiership seemed so bizarre at the time. Manchester United seemingly had one hand on the trophy that spring before badly faltering in April and handing the title to Howard Wilkinson's side. Wilkinson always seemed, to me at least, to be the sort of manager who would bore players to tears with a bunch of x's, o's, and complicated arrows on a blackboard. But in fairness he did some great work in rebuilding a side that had been in terminal decline since the Don Revie era. The Leeds midfield of Gordon Strachan, Gary Speed, Gary McCallister and the combative David Batty was quite formidable and with the mercurial talent of Eric Cantona ahead of them it becomes clearer how they won the league that year.

But like the chart success of the early '90s dance pop duo 2 Unlimited, Leeds reign at the top was short lived. They finished a shocking 17th in 1992/1993, didn't win a single away match all season, barely avoided the drop and crashed out of the Champions League over two legs to Glasgow Rangers in the second round.

Wilkinson also sold a certain Eric Cantona to Manchester United a few months into the season, and the rest as they say is history.

Blackburn Rovers - 1995/1996:

Backed by Jack Walker's millions and the goals of Alan Shearer, Kenny Daglish's side pipped Manchester United to the title on the last day of the 1994/1995 season. Sure, Cantona's lengthy suspension for drop kicking a thug at Crystal Palace had certainly helped, but this was a wonderful achievement for an unfashionable side. However, with Daglish's move upstairs after the season and the sale of Shearer to Newcastle, you knew there was more chance of Jimmy Hoffa serving you breakfast at Burger King next Tuesday than of Blackburn retaining the title. Without Shearer's goals the club finished a disappointing 7th under new manager Ray Harford.

Rovers ill fated Champions League appearance is best remembered for a farce of the highest order against Spartak Moscow. Graeme Le Saux, attempting to presumably kickstart Blackburn's campaign, took a moment during the match to suggest to David Batty that Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris had more artistic merit than the live action Flintstones reboot with Rick Moranis that Batty loved. Predictably it all ended in horrible violence in the Moscow snow, but oh how we laughed.*

(*Editors Note: This may not have happened quite like this.)