Leeds vs Man Utd rivalry: why it still matters

With Leeds away coming up next weekend, I wanted to write something about this rivalry, because I don't think people outside the two clubs really get it. Ask most people who United's rivals are and they'll say City and Liverpool, and fair enough, but there's something about Leeds that's different, and if you grew up round here you know it.

It's older than football

The thing is, it was never really about football to start with. People call it the Roses rivalry, Lancashire against Yorkshire, and you can trace that all the way back to the Wars of the Roses if you want to go full history teacher about it. Then you've got the industrial side, with Leeds built on wool and Manchester built on cotton, two big northern cities forever trying to outdo each other. By the time football came along, the needle was already there.

Revie's Leeds

My dad still talks about the Leeds side of the late 60s and early 70s like they were the pantomime villains of the whole country. Don Revie built a team that won the league in 1969 and again in 1974, and they were hard, proper hard, the kind of side that would kick you up in the air and then win the game anyway. United were in decline after the Busby years and Leeds were on top, and for a lot of United fans of that generation that was hard to take.

Cantona, the one that got away for them

If you want the moment that sums it all up, it's 1992. Leeds won the league that year, finishing four points ahead of us, and a few months later they sold us Eric Cantona for £1.2 million. I genuinely don't think there's a transfer in English football that's hurt a club more. He was the spark for everything Fergie built in the 90s, and Leeds fans have never forgiven their club for it, which, as a United fan, I find dead funny.

Then it went the other way again. Rio Ferdinand came from Leeds in 2002 for around £29 million, and Alan Smith followed in 2004, the summer Leeds went down. Smith going over is still the one they bring up, because he'd been one of their own, and I can sort of understand why they took it personally.

January 2010

I'm not going to pretend this one doesn't still sting. Leeds were in League One, 43 places below us, and they came to Old Trafford in the FA Cup third round and beat us 1-0, with Jermaine Beckford scoring. It was their first win at Old Trafford in more than 28 years, and I remember just staring at the telly thinking, how has this happened.

And now they've got the upper hand again

The worrying bit is that recent history is on their side. We drew 1-1 at Elland Road in January, which ended up being Amorim's last game in charge, and then in April they came to Old Trafford and won 2-1, their first league win there since 1981. Two games last season, and we didn't beat them once.

So when people tell me it's just another away game, it isn't. It never has been.

If you missed it, here's what I made of the Spurs draw, and here's what this blog is all about.

Dan's Verdict: City and Liverpool might be the bigger rivalries these days, but nobody enjoys beating us quite like Leeds do.

What's your worst memory against Leeds? Mine's still Beckford, and I don't think that'll ever change.