Red and Blue: The Best of Enemies
WALKING out onto the Wembley pitch to take part in the 131st FA Cup Final, Liverpool and Chelsea are no strangers to the highs and lows of chasing trophies.
The red half of Merseyside experienced victory in the Carling Cup Final over Cardiff at Wembley in February, whilst Chelsea are two weeks away from their big night out in Munich where they hope to make history by winning Europe’s biggest prize for the first time.
With the season’s most prized domestic asset up for grabs on Saturday tea-time, Chelsea and Liverpool are focussing in on victory, and getting one over their opponents. Despite no geographical rivalry, there’s no doubt that these two teams playing 200 miles apart share a common dislike of one another.
Winning the cup not only brings with it the guarantee of European football next season, it would help wash away the taste of inconsistent league campaigns which currently leave both sides currently sitting outside of the top four. Most of the competition between Liverpool and Chelsea has developed in the last five years, and the 2012 FA Cup Final will be the twentieth meeting between the two sides since 2006, and the 31st in the past eight seasons.
Their common bond is sharing fierce rivalries with other teams that wear the colours of today’s opposition, but here is a look at how this modern rivalry has developed.
Champions League Qualification
This version of North Vs South rivalry can be dated back to May 2003 when both clubs were looking for a spot inside the Premiership’s top four to claim the last of England’s Champions League places.
On the Final day of the 2002/3 season, Liverpool travelled to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. The reds took the lead inside eleven minutes when Sami Hyypia headed Liverpool ahead, but the Fins goal was cancelled out two minutes later when Marcel Desailly equalised for the blues. Later in the second half as the rain poured down on the Stamford Bridge pitch, winger Jesper Gronkjaer cut inside Jon Arne-Riise and curled the ball into the back of the net.
With Russian owner Roman Abramovich lurking in the background, Chelsea won the game 2-1, and the billionaire decided the purchase a club on the up; the rest is history.
Past Vs Present
Manchester United’s near-dominance in the last two decades has turned them into the standard which every other teams seeks to emulate. This may irk Liverpool fans more than most as when Sir Alex Ferguson became manager of the Red Devils twenty five years ago, his aim was to catch and overtake his north west rivals to become the most successful team in the country.
Whilst Liverpool’s last Championship came in 1990, Manchester United have secured title after title and now lead the FA Cup Finalists by one (nineteen to eighteen), and have won twelve since Liverpool’s last success.
Thanks to the influences of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have won the Premiership title on three occasions, something which their opponents have yet to achieve.
Ending a drought which started in 1955, Chelsea won their first league title in 2005, before repeating the following year, and then again in 2010.
Since the crushing blow of Michael Thomas’ late late goal at Anfield in 1989, Liverpool have managed three runners’ up spots, and five third places; a tough stretch for a team which dominated in England and Europe throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.
The influx of ‘new money’ hasn’t won Chelsea many friends, particularly amongst fans of teams, such as Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa, who have seen their past almost eradicated by successes at Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium.
The blues perceived lack of ‘history’, and the reds determination to stick to traditional values generates much of the hostility between Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Ghost Goal
Off the back of Champions League qualification, the injection of nearly £200m and the introduction of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were starting to become a success. They had already won the league in 2004-5, and secured the Carling Cup earlier that year thanks to a victory over Liverpool in the final.
With the sides mis-matched on the domestic front due to a thirty-point margin in the Premiership, and Chelsea winning both league matches, there was expected to be little competition when the two sides met at Anfield in the Champions League semi-final.
The first leg had ended 0-0 at Stamford Bridge a week earlier, and with a sixth meeting of the season set to take place at Anfield on a balmy Wednesday evening there was a feeling of familiarity breeding contempt from both teams. Thankfully the blue touch paper was lit incredibly early as Luis Garcia scored a controversial goal after four minutes which former Blues manager Jose Mourinho still talks about and refers to as the ‘ghost goal.’’
This not only led to an extinguishing of Chelsea’s Champions League hopes but led to one of the most memorable nights in Liverpool’s history as they came back from 0-3 down in the final to beat AC Milan and claim a fifth European Cup.
Victory by such a narrow margin sparked a war of words between the managers as the clubs started to meet more and more frequently on the big occasions.
Loyalty Over Success
Liverpool’s club captain Steven Gerrard has won nearly every honour conceivable with his boyhood team, but in 2005 he came very close to crossing the north-south divide.
Victory in the Champions League final left Gerrard in a tough situation. Having completed his mission of ending a twenty-year European Cup drought he had to choose between staying at the club or joining Chelsea’s growing revolution.
Following discussions with the board, Gerrard decided that his future lay elsewhere and announced that he wanted to leave. Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry rejected three bids from Chelsea, despite their captain’s unsettled state and eventually a discussion between the two led to Gerrard being convinced into staying at Anfield.
The following summer when Chelsea won the title for the second season in succession, Gerrard ‘ummed and ‘aared about leaving Liverpool once again, but this time Liverpool flatly rejected any bid to sell Gerrard and once again the captain declared his loyalty, this time signing a contract extension to Anfield until the end of his career.
Domestic Records
Memories of the Champions League final battles in 2005 were re-created in 2006, when Liverpool returned to the Champions League Final beating Chelsea 4-2 in the semi-finals; but soon Chelsea began to gain the upper hand.
They knocked Liverpool out of Europe in both 2007 and 2008, and their consistent finishes in the top four as well as the influx of money at Manchester City and the improvements at Tottenham meant Liverpool have been without European football for three seasons.
In 2011 the rivalry between the two clubs was re-ignited when Liverpool rejected a £40m bid from Chelsea for striker Fernando Torres. The subsequently handed in an official transfer request the following day and was sold to the blues for £50m before the transfer window closed.
He followed former Liverpool team mate Raul Meireles who transferred from the north to south on the final day of the transfer window in August.
Since moving from Anfield to Stamford Bridge, neither player has been able to reproduce the form their showed after moving to English football. Carrying the weight of a £50m price tag on his shoulders, Torres has scored only seven goals in 44 games as a Chelsea player and looks far from the player who elevated Liverpool back to the top four in 2007-8.
With the season’s most prized domestic asset up for grabs on Saturday tea-time, Chelsea and Liverpool are focussing in on victory, and getting one over their opponents. Despite no geographical rivalry, there’s no doubt that these two teams playing 200 miles apart share a common dislike of one another.
Winning the cup not only brings with it the guarantee of European football next season, it would help wash away the taste of inconsistent league campaigns which currently leave both sides currently sitting outside of the top four. Most of the competition between Liverpool and Chelsea has developed in the last five years, and the 2012 FA Cup Final will be the twentieth meeting between the two sides since 2006, and the 31st in the past eight seasons.
Their common bond is sharing fierce rivalries with other teams that wear the colours of today’s opposition, but here is a look at how this modern rivalry has developed.
Champions League Qualification
This version of North Vs South rivalry can be dated back to May 2003 when both clubs were looking for a spot inside the Premiership’s top four to claim the last of England’s Champions League places.
On the Final day of the 2002/3 season, Liverpool travelled to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. The reds took the lead inside eleven minutes when Sami Hyypia headed Liverpool ahead, but the Fins goal was cancelled out two minutes later when Marcel Desailly equalised for the blues. Later in the second half as the rain poured down on the Stamford Bridge pitch, winger Jesper Gronkjaer cut inside Jon Arne-Riise and curled the ball into the back of the net.
With Russian owner Roman Abramovich lurking in the background, Chelsea won the game 2-1, and the billionaire decided the purchase a club on the up; the rest is history.
Past Vs Present
Manchester United’s near-dominance in the last two decades has turned them into the standard which every other teams seeks to emulate. This may irk Liverpool fans more than most as when Sir Alex Ferguson became manager of the Red Devils twenty five years ago, his aim was to catch and overtake his north west rivals to become the most successful team in the country.
Whilst Liverpool’s last Championship came in 1990, Manchester United have secured title after title and now lead the FA Cup Finalists by one (nineteen to eighteen), and have won twelve since Liverpool’s last success.
Thanks to the influences of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have won the Premiership title on three occasions, something which their opponents have yet to achieve.
Ending a drought which started in 1955, Chelsea won their first league title in 2005, before repeating the following year, and then again in 2010.
Since the crushing blow of Michael Thomas’ late late goal at Anfield in 1989, Liverpool have managed three runners’ up spots, and five third places; a tough stretch for a team which dominated in England and Europe throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.
The influx of ‘new money’ hasn’t won Chelsea many friends, particularly amongst fans of teams, such as Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa, who have seen their past almost eradicated by successes at Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium.
The blues perceived lack of ‘history’, and the reds determination to stick to traditional values generates much of the hostility between Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Ghost Goal
Off the back of Champions League qualification, the injection of nearly £200m and the introduction of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were starting to become a success. They had already won the league in 2004-5, and secured the Carling Cup earlier that year thanks to a victory over Liverpool in the final.
With the sides mis-matched on the domestic front due to a thirty-point margin in the Premiership, and Chelsea winning both league matches, there was expected to be little competition when the two sides met at Anfield in the Champions League semi-final.
The first leg had ended 0-0 at Stamford Bridge a week earlier, and with a sixth meeting of the season set to take place at Anfield on a balmy Wednesday evening there was a feeling of familiarity breeding contempt from both teams. Thankfully the blue touch paper was lit incredibly early as Luis Garcia scored a controversial goal after four minutes which former Blues manager Jose Mourinho still talks about and refers to as the ‘ghost goal.’’
This not only led to an extinguishing of Chelsea’s Champions League hopes but led to one of the most memorable nights in Liverpool’s history as they came back from 0-3 down in the final to beat AC Milan and claim a fifth European Cup.
Victory by such a narrow margin sparked a war of words between the managers as the clubs started to meet more and more frequently on the big occasions.
Loyalty Over Success
Liverpool’s club captain Steven Gerrard has won nearly every honour conceivable with his boyhood team, but in 2005 he came very close to crossing the north-south divide.
Victory in the Champions League final left Gerrard in a tough situation. Having completed his mission of ending a twenty-year European Cup drought he had to choose between staying at the club or joining Chelsea’s growing revolution.
Following discussions with the board, Gerrard decided that his future lay elsewhere and announced that he wanted to leave. Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry rejected three bids from Chelsea, despite their captain’s unsettled state and eventually a discussion between the two led to Gerrard being convinced into staying at Anfield.
The following summer when Chelsea won the title for the second season in succession, Gerrard ‘ummed and ‘aared about leaving Liverpool once again, but this time Liverpool flatly rejected any bid to sell Gerrard and once again the captain declared his loyalty, this time signing a contract extension to Anfield until the end of his career.
Domestic Records
Memories of the Champions League final battles in 2005 were re-created in 2006, when Liverpool returned to the Champions League Final beating Chelsea 4-2 in the semi-finals; but soon Chelsea began to gain the upper hand.
They knocked Liverpool out of Europe in both 2007 and 2008, and their consistent finishes in the top four as well as the influx of money at Manchester City and the improvements at Tottenham meant Liverpool have been without European football for three seasons.
In 2011 the rivalry between the two clubs was re-ignited when Liverpool rejected a £40m bid from Chelsea for striker Fernando Torres. The subsequently handed in an official transfer request the following day and was sold to the blues for £50m before the transfer window closed.
He followed former Liverpool team mate Raul Meireles who transferred from the north to south on the final day of the transfer window in August.
Since moving from Anfield to Stamford Bridge, neither player has been able to reproduce the form their showed after moving to English football. Carrying the weight of a £50m price tag on his shoulders, Torres has scored only seven goals in 44 games as a Chelsea player and looks far from the player who elevated Liverpool back to the top four in 2007-8.