Man City vs Man United Gets Ugly

Fan Rivalry Could Taint Munich Memorial

Are Manchester City fans being scapegoated by the media in the wake of the Munich anniversary? This Sunday, Manchester City and Manchester United will meet in the 149th Manchester Derby>, three days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich Disaster,when eight of Manchester United’s players died when their plane crashed on the runway at Munich airport. Before the kick-off, United will impose a minute of silence in memory of the dead.

As the week leading up to this derby runs out, the amount of speculation and anxiety over whether the silence will be properly observed is growing, and the respective martyr/lout archetypes of United and City propagated in the language of most media. Words like “idiots”, “thugs”, and “mindless morons” are being used to effectively tar City fans in advance.

City supporters tend to view United as pompous, arrogant, and hypocritical. United, from a City perspective, are the rich kid bullies of the Premiership League. City, on the other hand, are looked down by their powerful rivals as being poor, losers, and under-achievers.

A Never-Ending Rivalry

United’s website described City’s victory in August at the last derby as a “smash and grab”, likening the team to thieves robbing a shop window. A banner at United’s Old Trafford stadium, where Sunday’s match will take place, mocks City’s “lack of silverware”, or modest success in recent decades. Every year that City fails to win the league or FA Cup, the number on the banner goes up. Of course this breeds resentment, and resentment breeds trouble.

Remembering Munich

Already the similarly planned minute’s of silence at the international match between England and Switzerland on Wednesday was “spoiled” by “raised voiced from the Wembley (Stadium) crowd.” The referee, fearing that the situation could only get worse, blew his whistle, cutting the minute of silence down to about thirty seconds. Many see the disruption at Wembley as a kind of preview of what will happen at Old Trafford on Sunday, except, should it happen there, severe repercussions could ensue, perhaps even a riot.

Some of the concern about City’s conduct is coming from within. Kevin Parker, president of the Manchester City Supporters Club, has written to United, urging them to mark the commemoration with a minute’s applause instead of silence.

Said Parker, “Although there is some friendly rivalry between supporters of the two clubs, there is also a great deal of hatred and there will be some City fans who will not want to go along with the recognition of the disaster.” United’s rejection of this plea, for many City fans, indicates that they secretly want the silence to be disrupted in order to generate sympathy, pr, and sales. Furthermore, the potential media backlash against Man City would be immense, psychologically pushing them farther away from the top half of the league table.

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Erikkson and captain Richard Dunne have co-signed a letter to be distributed among supporters at Sunday’s derby. “Many supporters will already be aware that Manchester City lost one of our own in the tragedy, (former) goalkeeper Frank Swift.

Twenty-two other players, staff and journalists also lost their lives. We ask that all supporters uphold the good name of Manchester City and respectfully support the commemorations which will also be attended by the friends and family of the victims including Frank Swift’s family.” In addition, City players on derby day will wear special uniforms sans corporate logos and branded with a black armband of remembrance. These kits will not be available for sale after the game.

The vast majority of City fans will choose to go along with the commemoration, but they will likely want to do so in their own way, rather than be dictated to by their bitterest rivals. One thread on another message board, generating much agreement and comment, suggested that City fans observe the silence while at the same time turning their backs to United.