‘After One Particularly Violent Match…’: Manchester City Legend Shares Story From Liverpool Clash In The 70s
Former Manchester City forward and the Sky Blues icon Rodney Marsh has shared a story regarding a heated clash with Liverpool.
The uprise of the two English giants, Liverpool and Manchester City in the recent years have been a remarkable experience.
While the two clubs have stark differences in their approaches towards glory, their dominance in both the PL and European football simply cannot be disregarded.
Even though the calibre of masterminds Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola has pushed the rivalry between the Reds and the Sky Blues to a different height, the inherent clash between the two sides dates back to a long ago.
Manchester City Legend Rodney Marsh On Altercation Against Liverpool
There was a time when the rivalry was so fierce that the violence of it extended to the car parks. This is according to City legend Rodney Marsh.
The 79-year-old represented the now Etihad side between 1972 and 1976. He made 118 appearances for the Manchester side across all competitions and in a particular match against the Anfield side in the early-70s, Marsh caught the heat with Reds defender Tommy Smith.
Smith was notoriously famous for being a hard man on and off the field, rightfully nicknamed ‘The Anfield Iron’, so it was completely understandable that he would have liked to find the better way around the altercation.
“After one particularly violent match at Maine Rd, Liverpool’s Tommy Smith was waiting for me in the car park! Today players unfollow on IG! Funny ‘old game…..”
Rodney wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
The former City forward was asked by a fan if he had ‘nailed’ Smith. Marsh replied,
“No! Franny (City team-mate Francis Lee) stepped in…..thankfully.”
The England international was lucky as he avoided confronting the man who the famous Bill Shankly claimed not to be born but ‘quarried’.
Smith once also said to a referee that he ‘should be shot’ for a wrong decision. However, as fate would play its games, Marsh and Smith would go on to become teammates in 1976 playing for American side Tampa Bay Rowdies.
