43, 46, 61, 62.
No, that’s not a tip for this weekend’s Magnum 4D jackpot but a controversy raging on social media as to whether Liverpool or Manchester United is England’s most successful club.
As can be expected from this bitter rivalry, both sets of fans have gone off the deep end, slagging each other off and calling each other all sorts of names.
But, what’s the point?
Does it matter if one club has more trophies than the other? Why can’t we just live in the moment?
Liverpool claimed its sixth European Cup/Champions League trophy in June (that’s twice as many as Manchester United).
And on Wednesday in Turkey (Thursday morning in Malaysia), added a fourth UEFA Super Cup to its collection.
That’s as many as all the other English clubs have managed.
For the record, United, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa only have one win in this “prestigious tournament”. And herein lies the bone of contention between the two sets of Reds fans.
Red Devils fans argue the Charity/Community Shield should be counted towards their collection even though many consider it a “gloried friendly”.
These fans argue by the same token, the UEFA Cup is also a “glorified friendly”.
As such, these fans say 21 Shield victories give the Manchester club 66 trophies. If we add Liverpool’s 15 wins plus the one and only English Super Cup in 1986 gives it 62.
Liverpool, for the record, doesn’t include those 16 wins and on its ‘Champions Wall’ the figure stands at 46 – 18 league titles, six European Cups/Champions League, seven FA Cups, three UEFA Cups, eight League Cups and four UEFA Super Cups.
Hence the confusion of the figures 43, 46, 61, 62.
Some media now say its 43-42 in Liverpool’s favour but that discounts the UEFA Cup victories so by right it should be 46 (as per Liverpool’s Champions Wall) – minus the Charity/Community Shield and English Super Cup.
Caughtoffside, however, argues it should be 66-62 in United’s favour and as a Liverpool fan, I don’t mind that.
To go back to the beginning, let’s live in the present.
Who cares if it’s 43 or 62? All that matters is, for now, Liverpool is the king of Europe.
Whether it can finally add the Premier League crown to its 18 league titles remains to be seen.
Great time to be a Liverpool fan
One man who is currently in love with Liverpool – although he was jokingly called a “closet Manchester United fan” – is none other than journalist and author Bob Holmes.
Originally from Nottingham, Holmes has been living in Malaysia since 1995, having worked with theSun until 2018.
He has authored several books with his latest being ‘Shanks, Yanks and Jurgen, the men behind Liverpool’s rise, slip and rise again’.
While extolling the virtues of Bill Shankly and Jurgen Klopp, the book also shares stories of Liverpool’s Malaysian fans some of which are hilarious and others heartwarming.
He had his book launch this afternoon.
“I worked on this book for nearly a year. I made several trips to England and many, many phone calls, emails and Skype calls,” said Holmes.
“The reason I did a book about Liverpool was because of the passion of its Malaysian fans.
“It’s amazing the club is revered so much despite being so far away.”
The Nottingham Forest fan said he may consider doing a book about Manchester United next but joked after the response he has received for the Liverpool book, he may not be welcomed by them!
You can find the book in MPH, Times, Kinokuniya and Borders.
