Classic City Cup games

The boss and the late Alan Ball watch United's dogged 2-1 win in 1996

Reds vs Blues

To whet your appetite for Saturday's derby, here's a look at four memorable FA Cup clashes against our Blue neighbours.

This weekend's Wembley blockbuster will only be the eighth time United and City have met in the FA Cup (once in a qualifying round). You’ve got to go back to pre-decimalisation days to find the last time we were short-changed by the neighbours, in the 1954/55 season. The overall count stands at five wins to two in our favour as we go head-to-head this time round. To help you prepare, we’ve picked out four cross-town Cup classics…

1925/26
United 0 City 3
Semi-final, Bramall Lane, 27.03.26No semi-final pairing of heavyweights, this one, but the first meeting with the neighbours in a shirt bearing a United crest. The Reds, managed by John Chapman, had adjusted comfortably to top-flight life again following promotion, with City nailed to the bottom of the rack. A gimme for United, surely? Wrong. Here lies an early lesson that the bigger the favourites you are, the more you have to watch your back. The formbook was torn up and tossed violently out of the
window as City, weathering an early storm, took the lead on the quarter-hour mark through Tommy Browell. Though Clatworthy (call me Charlie) Rennox and Harry Thomas went close for United, sending efforts over the bar, there was no way through and, as United chased the game, Browell grabbed a crucial second goal. United’s misery – and still our worst defeat in a Cup semi-final – was complete when George Hicks’ shot went in via keeper Alf Steward and the post. There was a happy ending, of sorts. City lost to Bolton in the final and went down. So if history should repeat on 16 April, fingers crossed Bolton overcome Stoke. Though surely even City can’t manage relegation from here…

1969/70
United 3 City 0
Fourth round, Old Trafford, 24.01.70Beware the wounded beast. December’s League Cup semi-final exit at City’s hands was still firmly in the mind as the age of feather cuts, acrylic and polyester hovered into view. This was an opportunity to heal that smarting sore and show that despite Sir Matt’s move to the boardroom, an ageing squad and distinctly iffy league form, the old order could still prevail. While City’s Malcolm
Allison, ever the man in search of the psychological edge, made merry in the preamble, United were ready and waiting. And, if this was not Wilf McGuinness’ finest hour in the hotseat – he was still chief coach at this stage – then we’ve got a frightfully poor memory. The hero of the hour? Brian Kidd – now Roberto Mancini’s right-hand man at Eastlands, then the goalscoring veteran of 1968’s European Cup win and still just 21. Collyhurst-born Kidd bagged two in front of a crowd of close on 63,500, with Willie Morgan adding the other. The deservedly ecstatic McGuinness had a derby day to savour, and George Best was about to make club history by hitting Northampton Town for six in the next round.

1986/87
United 1 City 0
Third round, Old Trafford, 10.01.87It looks tight. In truth, it wasn’t. This was Alex Ferguson’s first close-up look at the neighbours, and the pattern of dominance we’ve come to know and love in the 24 years since was swiftly established. For Ferguson, a Cup exit to the Blues, just two months into his post, was simply not an option. On a bone-hard surface – hot-air machines were
brought in to defrost frozen sections of the pitch due to the under-soil heating malfunction – United probed and poked, growing in confidence after a quiet start. Finally, Norman Whiteside’s smartly taken finish, midway through the second half, beat the sterling Perry Suckling to end City’s resistance. Looking back at old team-sheets is the starkest reminder of just how much water has flowed under the bridge on the manager’s watch since. We know ours inside out, of course; names like Strachan, Whiteside, Duxbury, Olsen and Stapleton are all present. But City? Well, apart from Mick McCarthy, now Wolves’ manager, that list mostly reads like a history primer, ghostly names floating up from a long-ago past. The Blues included John Gidman – once of the Reds – Imre Varadi, Kenny Clements, Tony Grealish, Neil McNab and David White.

1995/96
United 2 City 1
Fifth round, Old Trafford, 18.02.96The trick of true champions is to win while not playing that well. And to do so when taking on your local rivals, vying for a spot in the last eight of the Cup and a second Double in three years, that’s just a masterstroke. Much was made of the penalty (surprise, surprise) that cancelled out Uwe Rosler’s early opener. But once Eric Cantona got up after a spot of grappling with Michael Frontzeck to send Eike Immel the wrong way, there was only likely to be one winner. While onlookers worked themselves into a froth ("a disgrace" – Mr A Hansen, Liverpool) over referee Alan Wilkie’s decision, United went about business, creating wave after wave of chances following the interval. Ryan Giggs, Lee Sharpe and Roy Keane all went close, before finally, with 13 minutes left, the pressure told. Giggs adroitly drew the defence to send Phil Neville clear down the left, he whipped the ball back and Lee Sharpe crashed in the volley. Game – and a highly tempestuous one at that – over. The double Double was coming together. Alan Ball, City, and their 8,000 stunned supporters, meanwhile, were heading for the top-flight trap-door. Again.

Previous FA Cup meetings
1891/92 Newton Heath 5 Manchester City 1 (first qualifying round)
1925/26 United 0 City 3 (semi-final)
1954/55 City 2 United 0 (fourth round)
1969/70 United 3 City 0 (fourth round)
1986/87 United 1 City 0 (third round)
1995/96 United 2 City 1 (fifth round)
2003/04 United 4 City 2 (fifth round)