Manchester wins: raw emotion

MICAH RICHARDS had a fu*k, Balotelli had a sh*t, ITV producers had migraines, but it didn’t matter. Young players can sometimes get carried away in the heat of the moment, we can forgive them, the key fact was that City had won.  

Let's hope both United and City have open-top bus celebrations this time round - in a remarkable and highly marketable year for Manchester football.

City deserved to win the FA Cup.

United won as well, by drawing.

Manchester is now the football capital of the country.

So which was the bigger of the two results?

The nineteenth title for United, or the FA Cup win after 35 trophy-less years for City.

Sentimentality has to take over here.

United were expected to get at least a draw. The nature of this league title is while it’s an epic achievement, it was predictable after United's victory over Chelsea last week. And it is the fourth such title in five years. Next weekend's home game against Blackpool is a more fitting place for a party.

The City win is underpinned by a void. Of failure. Of relegation. Of third tier football.

The last forty years have all been peaks and troughs for City with the best peaks tiny foothills rather than snow-covered mountains. In a way given the money flowing through the Blues this was a predictable victory, but it was rare for all that.

So let's give Saturday 14 May to City rather than United, especially as United shouldn't have been playing on England's showcase football day. It was only because the Champions League Final is being played at Wembley and UEFA stipulate a two week break for playing surfaces before finals, that forced the FA Cup to be shunted forward.

14 May was also a good day for our region.

Ask Leeds and Sheffield if it’s good for their reputations to have only lower league football rather than the Premier League spectacle. The international profile provided by two teams constantly in the news makes decisions, such as the BBC’s to come to MediaCityUK, easier.

So well done to us, so to speak. Good on us that people from near and far want to invest in sport in clubs defined by the city’s name: Manchester.

As Peter Saville has said, we should use the success that these clubs bring as an model in other civic and commercial areas of life. 

Three last points.

This is a good weekend for sport beyond football too. There’s the 40,000 participant strong Greater Manchester Run featuring Haile Gebreselassie to enjoy. At a separate event Olympic star Tyson Gay will run down Deansgate on a purpose-built track. There’s also the Great Salford Swim, where thousands of people will plunge into water at Salford Quays.

Secondly there's a whiff of irony about the date. 14 May, 2008, was Rangers' Day, when the city centre ran with rivers of urine, fans rioted, and when many Mancunians (not at Confidential it must be said) fell out of love with what football could deliver especially off the pitch. 

Finally the City Council, the Police, mustn't be cowards. The Rangers' event blighted the notion of footballing success being marked with a parade. United and City should enjoy open-top bus celebrations this time round - in a remarkable and highly marketable year for Manchester football and the geater city.