LIVERPOOL 1 MANCHESTER CITY 3 "Liverpool FC - The Retro Series" #liverpoolfc #lfc #mcfc

"The infamous Boxing Day defeat that led to glory!"

Growing up a Liverpool Red and veraciously consuming the history of the past as the present was being written in front of my still disbelieving eyes, I was fully aware of what a Zeitgeist moment this was and, through the apocryphal stories over fully four decades later, still is. How can a 3–1 home defeat at Christmas in 1981 turn out to be the catalyst of an unbelievable run of victories that would lead ultimately to glory, and the snagging of two trophies in this failing season? That must come later in our tale but first, and returning to that infamous Boxing Day of 1981, considering the vaunted places these two teams now hold in not just English but World football, who would have believed that four decades ago, this would be a middle of the table battle (Liverpool 12th and Manchester City 8th) and that today’s Christmas victors would finish the season in mid-table 10th whilst the losers would romp to the 1st Division League Title by 4 clear points?

As 1981 faded in a drunken fug into a new year of 1982, this was a mid-table battle of the European Cup holders and the beaten finalists from the FA Cup Final, a thoroughbred team of European Champions versus yet another of Manchester City’s brave new dawns. Four decades later, this fixture has now usurped their individual tussles with Manchester United as THE defining match in their schedule. Over the past four seasons alone these two north west football clubs have been separated at the end of the season by just 1 point (and a handful of goals), TWICE, as well as each romping to the Title by a handsome margin when the other struggled. It’s been a 2 horse race and with mere days to go before the start of the 2022/2023 season it’s already over, the 9 footballing months ahead immaterial, and the only subject up for debate is the minor points margin that will separate these two teams come May 2023.

The opening paragraphs above are taken from my original article penned and published to my Medium blog site on 30th July 2022 and can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and the article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/liverpool-1-manchester-city-3-93e924fb66d8

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