A City divided: Manchester United's new rivals are right on the doorstep

By Ian Ladyman for the Daily Mail Updated: 04:18 EST, 14 August 2009

At Waterstone's bookshop on Manchester's Deansgate, it would appear that little has changed when it comes to traditional notions of football supremacy.

Manchester United books occupy two shelves. Manchester City have just one. Slowly, though, attitudes are shifting just a little.

Outside, high up above the street, is one of City's much discussed billboard ads.

'Welcome to Manchester,' it proclaims beneath an image of Carlos Tevez, the player who moved from Old Trafford to Eastlands this summer.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has already expressed his displeasure at City's brilliant impertinence and so, too - in their own way - have his club's fans. The poster is now dotted with red paint.

Rivalry between City and United is not new, of course. But, as City have thrown Arab money at their squad, there has been a new edge.

In the city's bars and restaurants it is hard to escape it. Rafael Cabrera, owner of Manchester's most loved Spanish restaurant El Rincon, witnesses it daily. Fans, staff and players from both clubs eat at his tables regularly.

Cabrera, a Stockport County player in the Sixties and Seventies, said: 'It has definitely changed and Sir Alex Ferguson has recognised that by what he has said. I think most people expected him to rise above the things that City have said and done.

'But he didn't and that surprised people. I think it sums up the new atmosphere. He had his say and now the fans have followed. They're on the attack now, too.'

Cabrera is a self-confessed City supporter but his restaurant reflects his adopted town fairly. Memorabilia from both clubs adorn the walls.

There is a signed shirt from Diego Maradona, too, and one from England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, another regular.

One particular item caught the eye, though. A 'Legends of Maine Road' print not only takes the mind back to eras of Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and, before that, Frank Swift and Billy Meredith, it also serves as a striking reminder of how long it is since City really achieved anything.

Former City wing half Fred Eyre - dining with Cabrera on Thursday, said: 'Yes, that sums up why everybody is getting so worked up about the new season.

'For the first time in ages, the two clubs will be competitive and I'm not sure United fans really know how to take that. They've been used to patting City fans on their heads, allowing them the odd triumph on derby day or whatever.

'United fans have always known that City would never really threaten them in the long run and now it could be a little different.

'City loved it when Fergie reacted to the posters the way that he did. We all thought he would ignore it.'

For all United's modern dominance of the Premier League, City and their local rivals have sat together at the top of English football before. The year that United first won the European Cup - 1968 - City actually won the old First Division.

There was, however, a little more mutual love back then. Players such as Summerbee and United's George Best not only ate and drank together, they owned a boutique - Edwardia on Bridge Street.

'It was a great time for our club and we were very successful,' said Summerbee.

'But Manchester had two great teams full of internationals and a thriving pop and club scene. It was a different atmosphere back then. This is the start of something new for City. It is a chance for us to start winning trophies. Of course people have noticed and of course the atmosphere is changing. It can only be good for the city and for football.'

As the clubs begin their seasons this weekend - City at Blackburn and United at home to Birmingham - it will not be lost on the red half of town that the revolution at Eastlands is being led by one of their own, Mark Hughes.

His presence and, of course, that of Tevez will contribute to a fevered derby-day atmosphere at Old Trafford next month.

United follower David Briody, whose parents used to provide lodgings for the club's young players, said: 'We don't have anything against Hughes. He has not really said much to wind us up.

'But no United fan thinks he is the right man for the job, anyway. 'What has he achieved? It is a test for us, though. It will be different.

'We have always looked at City like our little brother. We have been quite happy for them to grow up a little but have never expected them to grow as tall as us.

'Now, all of a sudden, they are as high as our shoulders. Any more and we won't like it.'