The first meeting: Newton Heath face Liverpool in a test match with everything at stake.

A rivalry born in defeat; Newton Heath lost their top-flight place to Liverpool before the two clubs even had a name for their enmity.
On 28 April 1894, Liverpool and Newton Heath (Manchester United's predecessor) met for the first time in a Football League test match at Ewood Park, Blackburn. The stakes were stark: the winner would play in the First Division the following season. Liverpool won 2-0, condemning Newton Heath to the Second Division. The rivalry had its first wound before it even had a name.















