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Togetherness is so Kitch

Ryan Davies
15/ 5/2008

I MAY come from the Red side of the tracks but, recent jibes aside, this column tries not to antagonise the Blues among us too much.

In fact, I often take my inspiration from a Trinidad and Tobago-born calypso artist Lord Kitchener who was based Manchester in the 1950s.

Never has the spirit of cross city unity burned so brightly as it did in Kitch, as he was affectionately known.

So delighted was he by United’s title win and City’s FA Cup triumph of 1956, that he was moved to pen a calypso called the Manchester Football Double, which featured the lyrics: "Football and footballers, at Manchester you find the headquarters. A wonderful performance is expected, from Manchester City and United,

"Three cheers for the city of Manchester."

After the success of last weekend, I was reminded of an email I received from a correspondent calling himself Blue Mutley after City’s derby win back in February.

He suggested that if I were having a drink that I should make it a double, a reference, I understood to City’s two triumphs over their Red rivals this season.

Well I hope Blue Mutley enjoyed his double and should things go to plan in Moscow, I’ll take him up on his offer.

Perhaps, it is easy to be magnanimous in victory but both teams have had pretty good seasons, so let’s put the rivalry aside for a moment and recall the words of Kitch, "When speaking of good football you can never beat Manchester at all".