Filed under: Shout Out
Long ago before Adam fornicated with Eve, the orginal trio who formed the AVB laid out the ground rules by which we had sworn to abide by. One of these is that there would be NO FOOTBLL RELATED POSTS ON HERE. Well, fuck that. With the scousers hosting Manchester United at Anfield come Saturday, I felt a strong urge to come out with this entrée as precursor to the match that would showcase the greatest rivalry in English football.
This post will not be written from a biased perspective of a Manchester united fan that yours truly has been for the best part of a quarter of a century of existence. This effectively means I will refrain from using terms like ‘Scouse Bastards’, ‘Bin Dippers’, ‘Murderers’,‘Anfailed’ etc which I’m normally prone to, understandably so. I beseech Man United supporters who read this entree to not be alarmed by this supposed misguided display of respect towards the scousers. I assure you that contrary to popular belief that I have yet to mellow with age, and that my hatred for the vermin, sorry I meant our friendly northern neighbours, is well and truly alive and has by no means waned. As the old cliché goes, I will not like it any less than to see the scousers get hammered and humiliated in their own backyard. But alas, The AVB is formed of certain individuals who bear an allegiance to the enemy, and I have an obligation not to offend them by any overzealous bantering that might put our cordial relationship at risk. Thus I will attempt to the best of my abilities to remain neutral. If I do unwittingly stray into the forbidden territory of partiality, I would like to be handed the benefit of the doubt that it is by no means intentional.
The hatred shared between Mancs and Scousers is anything but solely attributed to football. In fact it transcends mere football rivalry altogether and is deeply rooted in cultural differences. This bitter antagonism between the two cities which are just 40 miles apart has been in the making for over a century. In the wake of the industrial revolution Manchester had become the world’s first industrial city. Cotton which was the most essential raw material for Manchester’s textile mills had to be imported via the port of Liverpool. The situation became a little awry when the “shrewd” denizens of Liverpool decided to impose tax on this shipment of cotton. This led to Manchester retaliating by building a canal of its own in 1894 conquering the need to be subjected to Liverpool’s imposed levy. Thus began the never ending saga of 2 cities continually striving to outdo each other in all matters of interest.
Liverpool & Manchester
The Beatles are probably Britain’s biggest ever exports (or most overrated depending on who you want to beleive)and the pride of Liverpool. They were primarily responsible for turning Scouse city into a cultural center in the 60s. It was a golden period for the thriving Merseyside music scene with acts such as The Searchers, Cilla Black and Gary and the Pace Makers. The Manchester music scene, very much like their football team (as in the red half) would in the 2 decades following, languished in the shadow of Liverpool. Then in the late seventies the Manchester scene emerged from this shadow with acts ranging from luminaries such as Joy Division , New Order and The Smiths to latter day acts like The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Simply Red firmly establishing itself as Britain’s leading rock center.
The Beatles
It is a universally regarded opinion that Scousers have a disposition to be more sentimental because of their Irish roots, with great emphasis on fostering close family and community ties. This is reflected in their music which is often described to be ‘melodic, melancholic and yearning’ as evident in bands like The Beatles. The Mancs on the other end reputedly descended from immigrants who did not care much for sentiments preferring to get on with their lives, focused and driven towards rapid progress at the expense of the rest of the northwest. This is apparently characterised by their music as defined by the likes of Joy Division which tended to be bleak, industrial and edgier in comparison to their Scouse neighbours. Contemporary acts which hail from Liverpool are such bands like Echo and The Bunnymen, Space and The Lightning Seeds while Manchester can lay claim to the likes of The Verve, Oasis, Chemical Brothers and The Charlatans. With both cities still producing some of the biggest names in world music, with Manchester arguably having the edge, the fight for supremacy continues.
Joy Division
To be continued
– WUMmy
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the anti V brigade 