There’s a brilliant article in the Athletic today about the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United over the years, ahead of Sunday’s mega-clash.
And one particular story piqued our attention – involving Peter Schmeichel and a crafty flag seller who ended up having the whole United bus in hysterics.
It’s told by Dave Fevre, a physio for United, who would be on the bus for the games as United would travel into Anfield…
“One of my jobs was to play cards with Peter Schmeichel on the bus to help keep him calm,” Fevre says. “We were driving into Anfield and, approaching the stadium, there were all the guys selling T-shirts outside. Peter stopped the game of cards. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out maybe £200 in £10 notes. Then he started waving it through the window to antagonise the Liverpool fans.
“The following year, we were on the bus to Anfield again and I said to him, ‘Whatever you do, don’t pull that stupid stunt again’. But he wasn’t going to listen to me.
“We got to the ground and he pulled out another wad of notes. The same guys were there with the T-shirts and this time they were ready for us. One of them put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a wad 10 times the size of Peter’s. It must have been at least a grand. The lads on the bus were loving it and Peter actually stopped to clap this guy.”
There’s plenty of other stories in the article that made us laugh, but this was our favourite!
Sadly, there’ll be no harsh welcome for United tomorrow, as the pandemic means there’ll be fans in Anfield either.
A ferocious Anfield would have been amazing and definitely helped Jurgen Klopp’s Reds – but we’ve still got an amazing side boosted by the return of Joel Matip at centre-back…
That means Thiago, Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum can line up in midfield against Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.
Bring it on!