Why I will feel sorry for Leeds fans should they end up facing Manchester United in the FA Cup

By Ian Winwood

Published 05:03 03/12/09

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Not for the first time in their history, Leeds United find themselves in a lose-lose situation. If the team from the West Riding of Yorkshire fail to beat Kettering Town in their FA Cup 2nd round replay at Elland Road next week then they will once more merely be the side that choked in the face of the knock-out challenge. But if they beat their non-league opponents their ‘prize’ is a fixture against Manchester United.

Younger readers might not realise this but it wasn’t so long ago that this rivalry, a footballing war of the roses, was as bitter, competitive and, yes, as meaningful as any on the calendar. Yorkshire was the birthplace of football; Lancashire its spiritual home. Both sides were by far the best their respective counties had to offer.

These days Manchester United versus Leeds is like a spat between the Ming Dynasty and Gerald Ratner.

Back when the two sides competed on a more or less level playing field – Man U always the bigger club, Leeds invariably the noisier, and often nastier – the two cities were playing not just for points but for the very soul of the north of England itself. And not just that, but the aspects of nothernness that the south finds most alarming. These people weren’t cuddly, like Geordies, or loveable, like Scousers. Both cities were grimy and foul. Manchester had Ian Brady and The Fall; Leeds boasted Peter Sutcliffe and The Wedding Present. Queens Park Rangers this was not.

It must be crushingly difficult for many Leeds fans who this week find themselves anticipating the prospect of meeting Manchester United once again. The circumstances could hardly be more different from those of the 1970s, ‘80s or even ‘90s. They will be there as day-trippers, winners in a lottery to get to see how the other half plays. It will be their Cup Final, something  that will mean more to them than to their opponents. What’s more, both sets of fans know this.

There is no shame to be had in the fact that Leeds United are today poor. There is only embarrassment for those fans who didn’t question what was happening before the bubble burst.

Similarly, there is no crime in the fact that Manchester United are rich. Instead there is unease, that and the heartwarming sight of those fans who, despite the success, or maybe even because of it, still haven’t taken the Glazer family to their hearts.

Leeds versus Manchester in four and a half weeks time – replays permitting – will be a spectacle of anger, hatred and history. It will be polished and hyped and broadcast to the nation: a transmission of what used to be, not long ago in terms of years but an age away in terms of how things are now.