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From The Archives: Stoke Love To Hate Man United - Here’s Why

Manchester United host Stoke City tonight and look to continue their run of good form. However, Stoke City and their fans won’t make it easy because they love to hate United and this extract from an article by Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) is why

Remember Mark Stein? Up until 2002 he held the post-1992 top-tier English football record for scoring in seven consecutive matches for Chelsea in what is retrospectively regarded as a purple patch at Stamford Bridge. More memorably for Stoke City supporters, he is the last man to score a winner for the club against Manchester United.

Stein got both goals at the Victoria Ground in a 2-1 1993 League Cup victory (United won the return leg at Old Trafford 2-0) although even in a friendly 10 years later the Potters weren’t to be denied their schadenfreude when a 3-1 win in a pre-season fixture saw Marc Goodfellow net twice and Chris Iwelumo (later of guilt-edged miss fame) add gloss in front of a delirious Britannia Stadium.

Delirious because for some curious reason, or reasons, they passionately hate Manchester United in ST4. It’s not the nationwide ABU fad either since, along with Bolton Wanderers supporters, they are easily the most vociferous and gleeful followers outside of United’s bête noire trois Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United to serenade about the 1958 Munich air crash and impersonate airplanes. Less gravely, their dislike of United was perpetuated via Staffordshire’s finest Nick Hancock on the BBC’s comedy panel game They Think It’s All Over in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Whereas Bolton view their ’58 cup final success over a decimated United as a badge of honour and as fellow Lancastrians, regard them as a fierce local adversary Stoke, on the other hand, are 60 miles south and have only ever had Port Vale as a nearby neighbour to belittle and insult. Elder statesmen bizarrely refer to Jimmy Greenhoff’s move north to Tommy Docherty’s resurgent Manchester United in 1976 as the origin of the loathing. Although the volume will be turned up to 11 as the artisans greet the aesthetes tomorrow, Manchester United supporters will amusingly note how many chants have been plagiarised from their songbook.

Full article from 2011…

Stoke City Love To Hate Manchester United And Will Try And Bully Them

More…

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