Robson Recalls Derby Memories

Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson believes the club's rivalry with Manchester City is much more competitive in the modern era than it was back in his playing days.

The Reds boast an impressive record historically against our cross-city rivals although City have enjoyed more success in the Manchester derby in recent years since being taken over in 2008.

Ahead of the sides' meeting in Houston this summer as part of Tour 2017 presented by Aon, ManUtd.com sat down with club legend Robson, who made 345 appearances for United between 1981 and 1994, to get his views on one of world football's most intense rivalries, past and present...

How fierce would you say the Manchester derby was when you were playing?
"When I played in the derbies, the rivalry wasn't particularly that fierce – apart from when I first came to the club in 1981 because City weren't doing badly at that time and I can remember my league debut which was against City at Maine Road. We drew 0-0 in that game but, after that, I think I more or less won in every derby I played in and didn't get beat, so that was a great little record for me to have personally. I missed out on that real rivalry of a derby but now, because of the investment that's gone into Manchester City they are up there challenging for cups and titles and are a real force now which makes it more competitive."

What was your favourite derby to play in?
"We beat City 2-0 at Old Trafford [in March 1987] and it was quite a comfortable win. It was like a 2-0 going on 6-0 - we played really that day and that would be my favourite one. As far as games at Maine Road are concerned, I played in the one where we came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 [in March 1983], so that was a great memory. During the 90s when we had [Roy] Keane and [Paul] Ince and [Andrei] Kanchelskis and all of those sorts of players, we were very dominant in the derby games at that time."

How was it walking around Manchester as players the day after a derby game?
"I really enjoyed it! If you won a derby, the one thing you would do is probably go out for a bit of lunch after training the next day because everyone who is a Manchester United fan is happy. They do go quiet if you get beat in a derby but, in my time, we had a decent record so my experiences of walking around town after derbies were always pretty good ones."

How has City’s recent success changed the significance of the derby?
"I think they have made it more fierce because they are a threat, whereas in the 80s and in the 90s they weren't really a threat to United. But since the 2000s and the investment City have made, they are a big rival to us now; it’s not particularly Liverpool anymore. That's a fierce game of course but it's more Chelsea and Manchester City who we would look at straight away and say 'right they're going to be real competitors against us this year to try to win things'."