The Life of a Mancunian on Derby Day

I would like to start off by apologising for my sudden disappearance from Bleacher Report. Personal and health issues meant I had to take a little time out from my beloved writing.

However, I'm back now, and I can't see any reason why I won't be here again. I was asked by a good friend to write an article detailing what it is like to be a football fan on Derby day, and this is my first piece since returning so please, be gentle !

Imagine life without pairings: salt without pepper, cannon without ball or how about football without derbies?

Being Mancunian, it is the Manchester derby I'm going to be focusing on in this piece. I would like to point out that in Manchester, every day is derby day for both Reds and Blues all over the city.

From the day the new season fixture list is printed, there is only one event on the calendar that a Mancunian's eye looks for, and that is the home and away ties at Old Trafford and Eastlands. 

Forget the big rivalry matches against Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea. This is the biggest game of the year for any Mancunian football fan.

The atmosphere of the Manchester derby is created some months before the actual fixture. Workplaces become verbal battlegrounds, with the sounds of blue and red workmates winding each other up and chanting their teams songs, all in good nature of course!

As the big day draws closer, public houses advertise the big game on banners and chalk boards deepen the hunger to see your team stick one to your local rivals and of course your friends.

The shirts and scarves are out ready; you come home from work and touch the badge, hoping it is your derby day the coming weekend.

It is like being a child again, as you cannot sleep the night before the game. A bit like waiting for Christmas is how I would describe the feeling: you know your going to be tired the next day but you can't get it out of your head.

Saturday morning arrives , you see daylight through your curtains and you bounce out of bed as if you have scooped the lottery.

You receive tons of messages from friends on both sides of the city, your blue friends having a bit of banter to set the mood, your fellow red devils asking where you are watching the game.

You're so engrossed in the upcoming game you skip breakfast and head straight for the front door and to the nearest pub or the ground.

Cars pass you in the street, beeping their horns with their teams colours hanging from the windows. It's almost like a carnival without the fancy costumes and carriages. Families are divided into three: Red, Blue, and Neutral.

The city centre, pubs and bars are awash with blue, white, black, and red as kickoff draws nearer, best mates become enemies for the next three hours as bragging rights are up for grabs.

It feels so good to be able to wind family and friends up who are from the opposing side when and if you win.

I will tell you an instance of the highs and lows of Derby Day madness from experience. In 2004, Manchester City beat Man United 4-1 at the City of Manchester stadium.

I was in the pub that day with all my mates, some blue and the rest red devils. I was heartbroken. Robbie Fowler crushed us with a stunner, followed by Wright-Phillips and the rest was history.

All the City fans in the pub were chanting across the pub "You're not singing anymore" as the final whistle sounded. The usual banter followed, so I decided I'd had enough and me and the girlfriend went back to my Nanna and Grandad's house.

Of course my Grandad and Auntie are Blues. and as soon as I walked through the door I heard that laugh echo from the living room. My grandad couldn't wait for me to get home to give me the old "you may be champions but..." speech .

Then on the other side of the coin there is the joys of a Derby Day, like in 2006, where Manchester United beat City 3-1 at Old Trafford. This time it was our turn to do the chanting and the mandatory banter.

I couldn't wait to get home to stick the proverbial two fingers up at the blue half of my family. The form book simply doesn't exist in these games.

They call Manchester the city that never sleeps. That is true. It is also the city where the derby rivalry never sleeps. The passion is always burning even when it is the off-season the banter still floats about.

Sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it's like marrying the most beautiful woman alive being a Mancunian football fan, but I would not change it for anything in the world nor would I pick the other side if I had the choice.

Forget the Merseyside, London, Madrid, or Milan derbies, for the Manchester derby is the best and most passionate derby in the world, and that has only intensified and increased since Sheik Mansour has piled his billions into our bitter rivals. Our hunger to show our rivals that money can't buy trophies is that little bit greater.

You can ask a United fan what they think of City fans, and they will say we hate each other and vice versa but that is not entirely true, because it is friends and family who support the opposition, so hate will never be a factor.

Ask me if I hate a City fan, and I will tell you it's more of a love-hate relationship, a bit like having a girlfriend. You can't live with them, but you can't live without them, either, as they are 50 percent of a magnificent occasion.

It is just pure passion and hunger that it boils down to and it is mainly laughs and jokes. All this is why I consider the Manchester derby to be the greatest derby in the world.

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