Ask any Manchester United or Liverpool fan what the first game they look for when a new season’s fixture list is released and you can bet with absolute certainty that it will be the home and away clashes between the two clubs. The intense rivalry between them even overshadows the local derbies against Everton and Manchester City which makes this Sunday’s meeting at Old Trafford one of the most eagerly awaited matches of the season.

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Tuesday nights European Champions League first round clash with Glasgow Rangers at Old Trafford is the second so called ‘Battle of Britain’ in the last seven years. The two sides met at Ibrox on October22, 2003 where United took the three points with a Phil Neville goal after just five minutes. The English champions did not have everything their own way however as Rangers threw everything at United and were considered unlucky not to at least get a share of the points.

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In a week when Manchester United begins another Champions League campaign, we should remember one of the most blinkered decisions ever taken in the history of English football. When Chelsea won their first ever League title in 1955 they were forced to withdraw from the inaugural European Cup competition by the then Football League secretary Alan Hardaker who feared that the new competition would create too much fixture congestion. That shameful decision was not surprising because the British had a history of being suspicious of international football as shown by the fact that none of the home teams entered the World Cup until 20 years after its inception.

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