Manchester City and Manchester United: The Story Behind Manchester’s Two Teams [2024 ] (2024)

Manchester is a city that deeply loves sports—particularly football— and it’s one of the things that unifies Mancunians! Whether it’s a professional match or a casual game among friends, the ball game simply never stops here.

In fact, Manchester is home to two of the most prominent football clubs in history: Manchester City and Manchester United. But what’s up with this city having two teams?

If you’re also wondering about this and you can’t decide which colours to wear on the big game, read on! In this article, we’re going to explore Manchester’s affinity for football and why they have two major teams under their belt.

What’s the difference between Manchester City and Manchester United?

While both Manchester City and Manchester United hail from Manchester, they are two fierce rivals that are vying for the top spots in Premier League.

Despite only being 5.6 miles away from each other, these teams have distinct characteristics that make them unique. Hence, they also have two separate fan bases that cheer them on through all of their games.

Here is a rundown of the differences between Manchester City and Manchester United:

Stadiums

While both of the stadiums are located in Manchester, the Old Trafford Stadium is nearer the city centre at around a 40-minute drive away.

Apart from this, Old Trafford is also about a year older than the Etihad Stadium. Despite this, it has a bigger capacity of 26% compared to the latter.

Since Etihad Stadium is a newer facility with modern architecture, the construction significantly costs more at £112 million, compared to the £90,000 it took to make Old Trafford.

When converted to today’s currency, this amount is approximately £11 million — which still makes the Etihad Stadium 91% more expensive.

Despite this, the Old Trafford Stadium offers around 20,000 more in terms of seating capacity since it comfortably fits 74,000+ people, compared to the 55,000+ capacity of Etihad Stadium.

Nevertheless, both of these stadiums are always packed — especially during big and crucial matches.

Team Colours

Whenever they are on the field, fans can easily tell one team from the other because of their colours.

Manchester City sports a lighter shade with a combination of sky blue, white, and navy blue. On the other hand, Manchester United dawns a red, black, and white combination.

The two teams are also backed by popular sports brands that are in charge of manufacturing their sports goods. Puma partnered with Manchester City, while Adidas works with Manchester United.

Aside from this, the team also have their own crests such as a shield featuring a ship, three diagonal stripes, and a golden eagle for Manchester City.

On the other hand, Manchester United has a shield featuring a red devil holding a pitchfork.

Manchester City and Manchester United are two loved football teams from the same city. Manchester has two teams simply because the sport is deeply embedded in its history and its people have a strong affinity for it.

We’ll discuss more of this in the next section.

History of Football in Manchester

The first football club in Manchester was founded in 1878. It was called the Newton Heath Football Club, which dawned green and gold uniforms.

Fun fact, these colours are now associated with fans who oppose the club owners of Manchester United. The protest is even called the “Green and Gold” movement.

It played its first games on a field at North Road, a former local cricket club. The team was led by stars like Billy Meredith, Harry Stafford, and Jack Powell.

The team was received well by fans, although it struggled to perform especially during its final years.

Unfortunately, in 1901, the club was on the brink of bankruptcy. In order to save the team, a group of local businessmen took over.

The team was then rebranded as Manchester United in 1902.

History of Manchester City

Manchester City was founded in 1880. Initially, it was called St. Mark’s, then Ardwick Association Football Club, until it was rebranded to its current name.

During its early years, the team enjoyed early successes. In fact, they won the Second Division title in their first year in the league.

By 2008, the team received heavy investment from the Abu Dhabi United Group, which had taken over management. With this, they were able to secure good players, training, and equipment.

With this, it is not surprising that the team was able to establish itself as one of the most decorated clubs in various leagues.

So far, the team has won three Premier League, as well as championships in FA Cup and League Cup. They also have a strong fan base internationally.

History of Manchester United

Manchester United has been playing for over 140 years. Since 1902, the team has been sporting their iconic red and white colours.

During their first few years as a team, they were able to secure their first major trophy, which is the FA cup. After this, they went on to win two title leagues under the management of Ernest Mangnall.

Unfortunately, the team struggled later on and was moved to Second Division in 1831.

Eventually, the management was passed to Matt Busby. During this time, they built a team that was known as “Busby Babies”.

They were successful and won two league titles in the 1950s.Busby survived the crash and focused on rebuilding the team afterwards.

Unfortunately, in 1958, a plane carrying eight of its players crashed.

After this, the team went on a series of winning and losing phases. Fast forward to today, it is known as one of the most popular and loved football clubs with a fan base that spans across the world.