Flashback: Remembering the first-ever Manchester derby and the roots of its clubs
After many years of hurt, United's supporters are arguably looking forward to the Manchester derby more than their sky-blue neighbours. We don't know what the next Manchester derby will hold but we do know how the very first one, which took place 143 years ago, played out.
The first Manchester derby
Nowadays, derby matches between Manchester United and Manchester City are fixtures that receive worldwide attention but that wasn’t the case when the clubs faced each other for the first time. Their first meeting was a friendly match that took place on November 12th, 1881.
At the time, they were both young clubs, two of many that were emerging in a quickly industrialising Manchester. The two clubs existed under completely different names and used different colours.
The predecessor club of today's United were the team called 'Newton Heath', City were formed from a club called 'St. Mark's'. The first match between the two at St. Mark's ground was won by the visitors, Newton Heath, 3-0.
Newton Heath as well as St. Mark's progressed and both joined the Football League in the 1892/93 season although Newton Heath joined the First Division and (the then already named) Manchester City started out in the Second Division.
St. Mark's had become Ardwick at first and then, in 1894, Manchester City. That's why the Cityzens have this year in their badge.
It wasn't until Newton Heath were relegated to the Second Division after two seasons that the clubs met for the first time in a proper league match. That match was played on November 3rd, 1894, and it was another victory for Manchester-United-to-be: Newton Heath beat Manchester City 5-2.
Let's have a look at the roots of both teams. What is the history of Newton Heath, from which Manchester United were formed in 1902? And what is the story of St. Mark's, the cornerstone on which today's Manchester City stands?
A railroad workers' club
The full name of Manchester United's predecessor was Newton Heath LYR Football Club. The team were founded in 1878 as a Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) employees' club in Newton Heath, the north-eastern part of Manchester. The club's first colours were, following the colours of the railway company, green and yellow (or gold).
In 1902, the club found themselves in deep financial trouble and headed towards demise. However, team captain Harry Stafford convinced four local businessmen (including John Henry Davies, later the club president) to help pay off their debts. Thanks to the help of these investors, Manchester United were created on April 24th, 1902.
A parish team
In the 1870s, members of the parish of St Mark's Anglican Church in West Gorton, south-east of Manchester city centre, decided to set up a sports club to help combat local gang violence and divert the parish community from troubles. One of these problems was alcoholism, which was mainly caused by the high unemployment that Manchester suffered at that time.
The first sports club that the parishioners started in 1875 was a cricket team. That club was supposed to offer mainly young local men a healthier way of spending their time. However, during the winter months, it was not possible to play cricket, so in 1880, a church football team called 'St. Mark’s' (or sometimes 'West Gorton', according to the name of the area) was established.
The year 1880 is thus considered to be the founding year of the club we know today as 'Manchester City'.
In addition to the patronage of St. Mark's Church, the club was also connected to the local ironworks. There, the church officials from the vicarage and at the same time the key founders of the club, William Beastow and Thomas Goodbehere, were also active.
As for club colours and symbols, St. Mark's, in connection with their parish activities, used a simple white cross as a symbol. The players played in black shirts with a white cross on their chest.
In 1887, the team had to change grounds and move from West Gorton to Ardwick, thus changing their name. As Ardwick, however, the club operated only until 1894, when financial difficulties caught up with them.
The club were helped, similar to the case of Manchester United and many other English clubs of that era, by local businessmen. Since then, from the aforementioned year of 1894, the team was known under a new name - 'Manchester City'.
The Manchester derby has been played almost 200 times in history, and that's only taking official matches into account. The clubs' next clash will take place in roughly a month, on December 15th.
Will Amorim beat Guardiola once again or will City overcome their current crisis and win the derby at home? One thing is for sure, it will be as riveting as ever!