Learn English Through Football

English Through Football Podcast – The Manchester Derby in Numbers: This listening report looks at one of the biggest – and fiercest – derbies in football by looking at some of the numbers and the history behind the Manchester derby. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the file below – you can also subscribe and listen to all our football-language podcasts – there are hundreds! If you’d like the transcript to the show please show your support by becoming a patron (through Patreon). With this transcript you can improve your English by reading as you listen, or if you are a teacher of English you can use the transcript to make several activities for your learners. If you have questions or comments, email us at: admin@languagecaster.com (Damian=DF).

Learn English Through Football Podcast: The Manchester Derby in Numbers
Introduction
DF: Hello everybody, my name is Damian  and I am one half of the languagecaster team and you’re listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. On this extra listening podcast we take a look at one of the biggest derbies in football – the Manchester derby between Manchester United and Manchester City and in particular we feature some of the key moments and numbers from their respective histories (There is also a worksheet for this report).
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Polish)
Founded
Both Manchester clubs were founded in the late 19th century though under different names. United were founded in 1878 and back then they were known as Newton Heath; changing their name to Manchester United in 1902. City were originally known as St Mark’s and they first appeared in 1880 and they didn’t become known as Manchester City until 1894.
First Manchester Derby
The first time the two clubs played was in a friendly in 1881 and the first official meeting was in the 1894-95 season when Newton Heath defeated Manchester City 5-2, while the first time they faced each other in the top flight was in 1906 when Manchester City won 3-0. Since then they have played each other competitively over 180 times (that’s up to February 2020) with United being the more successful side.
The Grounds
Currently United play at Old Trafford which has a capacity of 74,879 which is the biggest for a club in England. United have been at their ground since 1910 and is sometimes known as the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. Manchester City’s home ground is known as the City of Manchester Stadium and the club moved there in 2003. Before then, they played at Maine Road which had a capacity of 35,150 (in their final season) which was almost 20,000 lower than the current limit of 55,097.
Trophies
Both clubs have a huge history of winning trophies but currently (February 2020), United’s trophy cabinet is slightly fuller. The Red Devils have won the league title on a record 20 occasions – the first being in 1908 – while City have won it 6 times. As for the FA Cup, United have won the competition on 12 occasions compa...