Our job, here at talkSPORT towers, is to rubbish the second half of that statement and explain it perfectly. Here goes…. Well, the rivalry bizarrely has its origins in the days of Tudor kings and William Shakespeare. The feeling between United and Leeds is a manifestation of the rivalry between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, established during the 15th century War of the Roses — a series of civil wars fought for the throne of England.
In fact, if you want to get really nerdy, much of the book content, specifically the War of the Five Kings, is actually based on the War of the Roses. Jump forward three centuries and the two cities were at it again, this time during the industrial revolution, as unprecedented economic growth saw them competing over who could construct the most impressive architecture.
There were more top-class thrills and spills in a away win for the Reds in but Leeds actually did their old foes a favour in the following year, when a superb strike by Mark Viduka at Highbury confirmed Arsenal could not catch Sir Alex's men in the title race. However, the Yorkshire side wildly celebrated a shock win at Old Trafford in when they were actually in the third tier.
It was the first time Leeds had been able to crow at the Theatre of Dreams since Due to the Whites' prolonged stint outside the Premier League, there has only been one more clash in the last nine years - a League Cup tie at Elland Road in , when Michael Owen scored twice in the Reds' success. That latest encounter showed the hostility remains as strong as ever and although the next one will be played thousands of miles away in Perth, Australia on 17 July, you can bet Leeds - who just missed out on Premier League promotion under Marco Bielsa last season - will approach it with extra relish.
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Skip to Main Navigation Skip to content. The story of our rivalry with Leeds. Share With email Copy Link. Games between the Uniteds, such as this FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, always draw in the crowds.
The War Of The Roses is often mentioned, but that was a year struggle for control of England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York rather than between two counties years ago. The 19 th- century industrial revolution brought a civic rivalry. Brash newcomer Manchester built its wealth on cotton, so much so that it was dubbed Cottonopolis — at the expense of the Yorkshire woollen industry.
In front of 65, at Hillsborough, Jack Charlton and Denis Law wrestled like two schoolboys swapping punches in a nil-nil draw which saw the referee, both managers and players all being panned for what happened that day.
The replay at Nottingham four days later was no better for the purists. There were punches thrown on the pitch and fighting on the terraces and outside. Some fans took a ducking in the River Trent. Leeds were triumphant on the day , but free from the distraction of the Cup, United concentrated on the League and took the title off Leeds in the narrowest of finishes. United were past their prime, but still took Leeds to two replays, the three hard-contested games, played at Hillsborough, Villa and Burnden Park watched by an astonishing , people.
The only goal was scored in the final game… by Leeds. United quickly sold out their allocation of 21,, but the 13, tickets assigned to Sheffield Wednesday for hosting the match were bought by enterprising Mancunian touts.
The following season when the two sides met, former hero McQueen was pelted with missiles and abuse before scoring the winner with his head. Leeds went down in and came up in , winning that league in with Eric Cantona their star. When Cantona came to Old Trafford, he was applauded by the hardcore Reds in K Stand — unheard of for an opposing player, let alone one from Leeds. To the pain of Leeds fans, he became the hero of Man United supporters.
United got their revenge by pipping Leeds to the title. Both clubs enjoyed similar success and failure throughout the late 60's and into the 's with the intense rivalry ignited further in when United signed two of Leeds' favourite players, Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen. The players were booed on their return to Elland Road and fans threw objects at McQueen when he scored a header.
Both sets of fans continued chanting abuse at each other, even during the 9 years Leeds spent in the lower divisions , both referring to each other as 'Scum' - something that always puzzled United fans as Leeds were the team with the reputation of racist hooligans, inflatable aeroplanes and sick songs about the Munich Air Crash and Bradford Fire Disaster, which claimed 60 lives.
On the same day, Leeds hooligans killed a Birmingham fan and they even went as far as setting a hot dog stall alight at Bradford's temporary home a year later.
In an ironic twist, a plane carrying the Leeds United team caught fire in Everybody survived and the songs of Munich continued. Leeds beat United to the title in , a success largely credited to the goals from a certain Eric Cantona, who would later join United to the disdain of the Leeds faithful.
Interestingly, many other former Leeds players who moved to Old Trafford including Cantona, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Smith have received vicious verbal abuse and even death threats, whilst players who have gone the other way Johnny Giles, Brian Greenhoff, Gordon Strachan, Lee Sharpe and Brian Kidd have still been welcomed back to Old Trafford as red legends.
Leeds fans refused to honour a minute silence following the death of Sir Matt Busby in and continued to taunt United fans with songs about the Munich Air Crash. United fans replied with equally sick chants in , following the deaths of two Leeds fans, stabbed to death following fights with Galatasary hooligans in Istanbul. In , Leeds fans also jeered during a minute's applause for George Best.
Whilst 'King Eric' and another former Leeds player, Denis Irwin, were key to United's dominance of English football in the 's, which has continued until today. Leeds meanwhile have gone into freefall, suffering financial difficulty and being relegated in , eventually dropping as low as League One. Despite being two divisions apart, both sets of supporters continue to sing abuse at each other during every single game. An obsession that has surely gone mad!. We were numb. I couldn't believe it was so organised and orchestrated.
When the players tried to stop it, they were told where to go. We all hate Leeds, Scum!
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