Manchester United Parade 'Will Not Overshadow City'

A victory parade for Manchester United's 20th league title will not overshadow any celebrations rivals Manchester City hold if they win the FA Cup, a council chief has said.

United will hold an open-top bus parade through Manchester on Monday 13 May.

It comes two days after Manchester City are due to play Wigan in the FA Cup final at Wembley, on Saturday 11 May.

Pat Karney said City have not made any decisions about a parade because their trophy is yet to be won.

The team are favourites to win the FA Cup and if so, would usually be expected to parade the cup around the city the Monday after the game.

About 100,000 City fans packed into Manchester when the club won the Premier League last year.

Manchester United regained the Premier League crown from their local rivals when they clinched their 20th league title on Monday night with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

The Barclays Premier League trophy will be presented at United's final home game of the season against Swansea City, just after the final whistle, on Sunday 12 May.

The club said its parade the following day would start at Old Trafford in the early evening and finish in the city centre, but details are yet to be finalised.

Mr Karney, Manchester council's city centre spokesman, said: "We will go out of our way to make sure that City fans have a full celebration.

"Forget some of the traditions, forget some of the dates. We have two world class clubs, let's celebrate that.

"These are always complicated but take it from me, who is at the centre of some of these negotiations, there is no competition between City and United over these dates."

A spokesman for the city council added that Manchester City had never discussed or requested having a parade on Monday 13 May, or any other date.

"Any suggestion about there being competition for that date is entirely unfounded," he said.