Tuesday: Stone Roses icon Mani stars in LFCTV documentary
Legendary Mancunian musician Gary 'Mani' Mounfield stars in a new LFCTV film about the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United.
Us and Them, presented by actor Robbie O’Neill, gives an unbiased take on the fixture’s history ahead of the latest instalment at Old Trafford this Sunday.
Mani, of both The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, joins a host of lifelong fans from both sides of the divide in the half-hour feature.
He even ventured ‘behind enemy lines’ for his interview, travelling to Liverpool’s Jacaranda Club for a conversation spanning from the construction of the Ship Canal to the arrival of Jürgen Klopp.
“I used to speak to my dad about it and he said that there was never really any rivalry with Liverpool [in the 1960s] per se,” explains Mani.
“But then Liverpool were my nemesis for years when we weren’t doing so well [in the 1970s and 1980s] under various managers, and we used to watch you win everything. Kings of England, Kings of Europe, kings of everything.
“There’s a pang of jealousy there when you watch someone else have what you want. You covet that success. It was something to aim at for my mob – to peg you back – and it took a lot of years of doing it. Fergie eventually got the formula and got it right.
“But football is cyclical – every team has their time. You had yours, then we had ours, then the Cockneys had a go at it and now City are having a go and Liverpool are back in the mix.
“And I think Jürgen Klopp is looking and thinking, ‘Right – I’ll show that Ferguson; I’ll knock him off his perch’.”
Mani believes that, football aside, Mancs and Scousers are cut from the same cloth – and his is one of many voices in the documentary that attest to the similarities between the two cities.
“There’s no difference whatsoever,” he states. “I’ve always known that.
“We both have a great sense of humour. We know what we like; we like what we know. We’re good at the music and we’re good at the partying. I just think we know how it works up here.”
Us and Them examines everything that unites and divides two of the world’s most famous cities; from society and politics to fashion and music via football.
The documentary airs for the first time on LFCTV on Tuesday night at 9pm BST – and will be available to view on demand on LFCTV GO from the same time.