Leeds vs. Manchester United: How important is the rivalry?

In his best-selling autobiography Managing My Life, Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about his feelings about a trip to Elland Road.

“The public always gives us the impression that lynching would be a very good thing for us,” he said.

After winning the League Cup there in 2011, Ferguson also made this observation.

He added: “I have always said that Liverpool and Manchester United’s matches are fierce in many aspects.”

“But he never reached Leeds United levels. Never.”

Leeds have already hosted two historic rivals in December, beating Chelsea 3-1 at home and producing an epic fight to snatch a point in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool.

But visiting Manchester United is something else.

Gary Edwards, a lifelong Leeds fan, said: “I have a decor company and for 40 years we’ve had a slogan that we won’t use red paint.”

“We would paint red for free. That continues to this day. It’s on all our business cards and letterheads.”

It is difficult to determine the actual assets of the competition.

Many feel that it dates back to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century, although this is perhaps too simplistic given that the duchy and duchy of the Houses of York and Lancaster had little to do with the cities themselves and the Duchy of Lancaster had lands and offices in Yorkshire.

Others believe that the rivalry has its origins in the Industrial Revolution which corresponds, at least in part, with the emergence of football as an organized sport – even if neither club, whether originally as Leeds City and Newton Heath, or their current names, came to prominence until after World War II.

The reverence in which the Busby Babes were held in the 1950s and later compared to the negativity surrounding Don Revie’s in the 1960s and 1970s is likely a factor.

It is another thing to know that key players – Johnny Giles, Gordon Strachan, Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Denis Irwin and Eric Cantona – have left one club to become an integral part of the success of another. The proximity of the best supported teams from the two largest cities is in two neighboring counties, geographically separated by the Pennines.

Whatever the case, the rivalry is real and despite the early kick-off at 12:30 GMT, Elland Road is sure to be a cauldron as Leeds search for their first home win over Manchester United in the Premier League since 2002, when Harry Kewell scored the winner.

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson was in goal for Leeds that day and told BBC Sport: “It’s 100 per cent different.

“You arrive at the stadium two hours before kick-off and certain areas are isolated. There are police here, you can’t drive there. This road is closed, this road is closed.

“It’s as exciting as any derby you want to call it in this country – and it’s not friendly.

“I grew up as a kid in the Leeds academy and was a ball boy at some of the games. The away section was in the cheese wedge on the corner of Elland Road. For most of the season, no one wanted to be a ball boy in that corner. But when Manchester United came to town, everyone wanted to be in that corner, for whatever reason.

“It was just a different game and a different experience.”

Neither coach had been part of a Leeds-Manchester United match before.

Leeds coach Daniel Farke knows it is a match that means a lot to his club’s fans and talks about making “dreams” come true.

Manchester United’s Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim was at the heart of the Lisbon derby, both as a player for Benfica and as a coach at Lisbon rivals Sporting.

He’s not sure the comparison is particularly useful.

“I heard it’s a big competition and a big derby,” Amorim said.

“It’s difficult to compare different cultures, different derbies and different histories. It’s a game in a hostile environment and that will be difficult for any player. But when you play for Manchester United, you have to be prepared for everything.”

Leeds’ final title-winning campaign in 1992 was made all the more satisfying because they won it at the expense of Manchester United, who were in control of their own destiny until a run of three successive defeats in the space of seven days at the end of the season allowed Howard Wilkinson’s side to qualify.

Sadly for Leeds, the next text came the following November, when chief executive Bill Fotherby called his Manchester United counterpart Martin Edwards to ask about the chances of bringing full-back Irwin back to the club.

Ferguson was in the room and said no to Irwin leaving, but asked Edwards to mention the availability of French striker Cantona. It was a call-up that changed the course of English football history.

“I never forgave Bill for that,” Gary Edwards says.

Perhaps one of the reasons the Leeds-Manchester United rivalry doesn’t come to mind in the same way as others in England is the relative rarity of it happening.

Aside from a 14-year spell that began with Leeds’ promotion to the First Division in 1990 and relegation in 2004, the two clubs have met just eight times in the other 30 years from 1982. Leeds have won once in 2010, as a League One side at Old Trafford, in the FA Cup, losing on five occasions.

But the fans of both clubs do not forget.

Robinson, who spent six years at Leeds before joining Tottenham in 2004, said: “Even when Leeds were in League One and the Championship, Manchester United were still singing a song about teams they didn’t like and putting a ‘Leeds’ tag on them.

“Week after week, no matter what league they play in or who they play against, Leeds fans take great pride week in and week out in describing their hatred of Manchester United.”

Leeds go into the game on a positive note, having added a goalless draw on New Year’s Day at Anfield to their home comeback against Arne Slott’s men to take their current unbeaten record to six games and seven points clear of relegation in 16th place. It is their best Premier League form since April 2021, when Marcelo Bielsa was coach.

By contrast, sixth-placed Manchester United have managed just three wins since the end of October, and on 30 December failed to beat a Wolves side who have picked up just three points all season.

Regardless, Robinson believes there are some Leeds fans whose successful season this time around would be to finish 17th and beat Manchester United.

“That already exists,” Gary Edwards said. “I’m not exactly like that, but 100% there are fans who think that way.

“I feel like it’s as good a time as any to play them because we’ve turned the corner.

“We have kept the same formation and the same players who looked bad at the start of the season are now confident and confident.

“It will make the game interesting. Very interesting.”