The rivalry between Leeds United and Manchester United, sometimes nicknamed the Roses rivalry, is a footballing rivalry played between the Northern English clubs Leeds United and Manchester United. The rivalry originates from the strong rivalry between the historic counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, which is popularly believed to have its origins in the Wars of the Roses of the 15th century. Although the cities of Leeds and Manchester lie over apart, the tradition is upheld and this strong feeling can still be seen between the two clubs. Independent research by the Football Fans Census has shown that, within English football, both Leeds and Manchester United are ranked within the top three clubs based on the number of clubs that consider them to be their rivals.
In the past, rivalry between the two clubs has gone beyond the action on the field at Old Trafford and Elland Road. Hostility became more intense over the years and during the 1970s, when British football hooliganism was at its height, fights between the Leeds United Service Crew and Manchester United's Red Army, the club's respective hooligan firms, were commonplace and became known as some of the most violent clashes in British football. Many people were injured in these encounters but violence between fans of the clubs has declined sharply since the 1970s for a number of reasons, mainly due to the general reduction in hooliganism. As recently as January 2010, prior to the two clubs meeting in the FA Cup 3rd round, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson described the matches as "fantastic, feisty occasions" with an "electric" atmosphere. The rivalry has also been labelled by The Daily Telegraph as "English football's most intense – and inexplicable – rivalry".
These encounters have been particularly scarce since 1982, the year that Leeds were relegated to the Second Division. Hooliganism was still rife among fans of English league clubs at this stage, and by the time Leeds returned to the top flight in 1990 the problem was less severe and has remained a lesser problem since. The rivalry and the hooliganism have been effectively curtailed since 2004, when Leeds were relegated from the Premier League. The teams met only twice between 2004 and 2020, and while polling showed Leeds fans still considered Manchester United to be their main rivals, Manchester United fans considered Liverpool to be their main rivals, followed by Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal. The rivalry was renewed in the 2020–21 Premier League season, following Leeds United's promotion after winning the 2019–20 EFL Championship, with the sides' first encounter thereafter ending 6–2 to Manchester United. In terms of trophies won, the rivalry has been heavily in favour of Manchester United, who have won 68 trophies to Leeds United's nine.
Roots
Wars of the Roses
The rivalry is considered to be a sporting manifestation of the established rivalry between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, which can loosely be traced back to the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the rival Plantagenet royal houses of York and Lancaster for the throne of England during the 15th century. The battles contested during the wars were particularly bloody, especially the Battle of Towton, which took place just away from Leeds and is described as "England's bloodiest ever battle".
The colours of each football team's home shirts fittingly correspond to the respective rose representing their historic county – Leeds with a white kit, resembling the Yorkshire rose and Manchester United with a red shirt, like the Lancashire rose. However, Manchester United's colours have not always been red and Leeds only adopted their white kit in the 1960s, inspired by Real Madrid. There is a similar rivalry in the sport of cricket, in which matches are contested on a county basis. In this case, the Roses Match is the name given to games played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Although the clubs cover the larger county region, Yorkshire are based in Leeds and play at the Headingley Cricket Ground, while Lancashire play at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester, close to the football stadium of the same name. Manchester is now in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, while Leeds is now in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.
Industrial Revolution
A direct rivalry between the cities of Leeds and Manchester sprang up during the Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries. The entire country was going through an unprecedented phase of economic growth and Leeds' economy had grown rapidly thanks to the woollen industry. Meanwhile, to the west in Manchester, the cotton industry began to flourish, with factories fuelled by the transportation of cheap coal down the Bridgewater Canal.
During the mid-19th century, Leeds had constructed the impressive Grade I listed Leeds Town Hall, though the wealth which Manchester had acquired allowed them to retort by constructing striking architectural works of their own, such as the Grade I listed Manchester Town Hall. This served to establish the rivalry between the two cities even further.
Football
Earliest meetings Manchester United were the first side to emerge, despite club football itself first originating in Yorkshire. The club was founded in 1878 as Newton Heath L&YR by employees of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, with the company – as the name suggests – covering both historic counties. The club's new owners later changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. Leeds had traditionally been a rugby league city so it was a while before the attraction of football finally appealed to the local people. An association football club was finally made though in 1904, when Leeds City emerged. The two sides clashed for the first time in the Second Division at Manchester United's Bank Street stadium on 15 January 1906 in front of 6,000 fans. Leeds City won the game 3–0, but United won the return game at Elland Road 3–1 on 21 April.
These matches proved to be both the first and the last times that the two clubs met, as Manchester United were promoted to the First Division at the end of the 1905–06 season and Leeds City were eventually forcibly disbanded due to financial irregularities. A new club was formed under the name "Leeds United", and they began playing in the Midland League, taking the place vacated by Leeds City's reserve team. The club also took over Elland Road, which had been occupied by Yorkshire Amateur since the demise of Leeds City. Leeds United were elected to the Second Division on 31 May 1920 and they met Manchester United for the first time at Old Trafford on 20 January 1923. However, the 25,000 spectators went home disappointed as the match ended 0–0. Manchester United claimed the first victory, and indeed the first away win, between the two sides, when they beat Leeds 1–0 at Elland Road a week later on 27 January. It took Leeds until the 1925–26 season to gain their first victory, winning 2–0 at Elland Road on 3 October.
In the 1928–29 season Leeds achieved their first away victory against Manchester United, with a 2–1 win at Old Trafford in the First Division. Leeds also won the fixture at Elland Road 3–2 and became the first of the two sides to achieve a double over the other (winning both fixtures between the two sides in one season). Manchester United's first double over Leeds, however, did not come until 1946–47, when a 3–1 win at Old Trafford was followed by a 2–0 win at Elland Road. Neither side was particularly successful during this period though, and the two sides only met sporadically due to several promotions and relegations.
Busby v Revie – the rivalry intensifies
It was not until after the Second World War that Manchester United became a fully-fledged footballing power, as they picked up three league titles during the 1950s. Matt Busby was the man who had coached Manchester United to glory and he remained at the club until 1969. Meanwhile, across to the east, Leeds United had signed up former player Don Revie as their player-manager and he soon took the manager's post full-time. Manchester United's side during this era featured the likes of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, while under Revie Leeds had gained a reputation as a tough, uncompromising side, with the likes of Bobby's brother Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, and Norman Hunter. Another key member of Revie's side was the Irishman Johnny Giles, who joined Leeds from Manchester United for £33,000 in 1963.
During the 1964–65 season, the two sides were drawn against each other in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for a chance to reach the final. The tie at Hillsborough was a very rough game – the image of Jack Charlton and Denis Law punching each other and wrestling on the ground epitomised the spirit in which the game was played – and it ended 0–0, with the Yorkshire Post commenting "both sides behaved like a pack of dogs snapping and snarling at each other over a bone". The replay at the City Ground was tense and it took 89 minutes for Bremner to fire in the winner for Leeds. The two clubs finished 1st and 2nd in the league that same season, both on 61 points, but the Mancunians won the title due to a better goal average.
The rivalry between the two sides carried on at full force throughout the rest of the 1960s and the 1970s. Leeds achieved both domestic and European success, winning the First Division title in the 1968–69 season and the 1973–74 season, as well as finishing runners-up five more times, and never finishing outside the top four places whilst Revie was at the helm. Leeds earned a feared reputation for toppling European sides, including the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Napoli, Anderlecht and Valencia; in doing so they became Inter-Cities Fairs champions twice and once runners-up, and controversially came runners up in the 1973 European Cup Winners' Cup final and 1975 European Cup final. Leeds new dominance was highlighted by the fact that in 1970 they came close to achieving an historic Cup Treble, however they finished runners up in both the league and FA Cup, and were knocked out of the European Cup at the semi-final stage. During this period Manchester United only won the league once, in the 1966–67 season, and were at the end of several defeats inflicted by Leeds, including a 5–1 defeat at Elland Road in 1972, they were relegated in the season Leeds became champions in 1974. However they had other successes, including winning the European Cup in 1968, an honour Leeds have never won.
The 1977 FA Cup semi-final between the two sides at Hillsborough was labelled 'The Battle of the Roses' on the cover of the official match-day programme. There was extensive violent clashes between supporters outside the stadium both before and after the match plus during the match inside the stadium, with numerous arrests and injuries. Manchester United won the match 2–1 and went on to beat Liverpool with the same scoreline in the final.
In 1978, Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen, two of Leeds' best players at the time, were both sold to Manchester United. This was tough for the Leeds fans to take, especially in the case of McQueen as he was a fan favourite. The following season, the two players appeared against their former club. McQueen was targeted in particular with booing and jeering at Elland Road and objects were hurled at him before he scored a headed goal for Manchester United to silence the home fans.
Renewal The Roses rivalry did not take place for nearly a decade because Leeds were relegated in 1982, while Manchester United remained competitive in the First Division and in the hunt for honours almost every season.