Of course on Saturday, Manchester United travel to Anfield to face Liverpool, where they will be looking to secure their first win at the home of their biggest rivals for the first time since 2007. With that in mind it’s worth looking at these 6 individuals who have spent time at United and the Scousers in their careers.
Sir Matt Busby
United’s most successful manager before Sir Alex Ferguson, incredibly played for not only Manchester City but Liverpool as well. Busby a useful inside forward, even captained the Scousers and would later go onto form a close friendship with future Liverpool manager Bob Paisley at the end of his playing career which was sadly cut short by the Second World War.
Despite being offered a coaching role back at Anfield after the war, Sir Matt took over at Old Trafford and immediately got United playing a successful brand of football. Three league titles were won before the Munich Disaster in 1958, but the Scot kept going and led a side 10 years later to European Cup success.
Peter Beardsley
There are not too many players who have played for both Merseyside and Manchester clubs but Beardsley is one of them. It’s easy to forget that arguably one of the best wingers in the 1980’s played just the once for United after signing from Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps under Ron Atkinson in a League Cup tie in 1982.
Surprisingly Atkinson failed to see Peter’s talent and his time at Old Trafford was cut short as he would return back to Vancouver. After that the rest is history as Peter signed for Newcastle United in 1983 before becoming a household name for Liverpool, Everton and England before returning back to St James’s Park. He had a short spell with Bolton in 1997 in the twilight of his career.
Phil Chisnall
One of the trademarks of the aforementioned Sir Matt Bubsy’s spell in charge at Old Trafford was that he gave young players a chance. Chisnall was a skilful inside forward who was given the opportunity to impress but disappointingly he could not quite do enough to make the shirt his own. Perhaps he suffered with the pressure of playing for United. Maybe though he just wasn’t good enough.
Phil remains the last player to be transferred directly between United and Liverpool, but only made 8 appearances at Anfield under Bill Shankley before moving onto Southend United whom he made over 140 appearances for in the space of three seasons before retiring after a season at Stockport. He remains one of the less well-known Busby Babes but should by no means be forgotten.
Paul Ince
Arguably one of the best midfielders in European football in his prime, Ince started his career at West Ham where he impressed, despite suffering relegation to the second division in 1989. He was now very much a wanted man by all of the top clubs in the country who all knew he was a player of great ability who would thrive on the bigger occasion.
Paul signed for United in 1989 and after forming a partnership in midfield with Bryan Robson rose to stardom, becoming a first choice for both club and country. Surprisingly he was sold to Inter Milan in 1995 and enjoyed two seasons in Serie A before returning to English shores to sign for Liverpool who he famously scored for against United in the unforgettable treble-winning season run-in.
Michael Owen
Very few young players have caught the eye as much as Owen did when he broke into Liverpool’s team in 1997. A talented England schoolboy International, the speedy striker ended his first season as a professional with a call-up into Glen Hoddle’s World Cup squad in France 1998. There he scored one of the best World Cup goals ever against Argentina and he became a star overnight.
Sadly for Michael despite winning 9 major honours in his career, his career has been curtailed by injuries and without them he would at 31 probably be England’s record-goalscorer ahead of United legend Sir Bobby Charlton. His pace may have gone but he’s still a great pro and has done all that can be asked of him since his move to Old Trafford from Newcastle United in 2009.
Scott Wootton
The last name on this list is probably an unknown to United fans outside of England but former Tranmere Rovers Centre of Excellence star Wootton is certainly a name for the future. The now 20 year old showed ‘maturity and guts’ at 16 when he turned down a scholarship offer from Liverpool where he was an Under-16 to join United.
Scott’s reasons for leaving Anfield was that he felt his path way to the Liverpool first team was blocked by the club’s academy having too many foreigners. United quickly signed him up and he has impressed in the U18’s and Reserve teams. He has been given opportunity to impress at Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough United on-loan for the first half of the season.
Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87
