Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that the police advised him against opening a bar in Leeds after he moved between the two Premier League clubs more than 20 years ago.
Man United and Leeds go head-to-head in the English top-flight this week in a fiery doubleheader. Jesse Marsch's side will make the trip to Old Trafford on Wednesday, with Erik ten Hag's men travelling to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon for the reverse fixture.
The original Premier League match between the two sides was postponed in the wake of The Queen's death in September and now the two rivals face a short and sharp battle for bragging rights this season. There is no love lost between the two clubs and Ferdinand knows that better than anyone.
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The defender made the move from Leeds to Man United in 2002 and has now lifted the lid on just how fierce the hatred is between the two clubs, even claiming that the police advised him against opening a bar in Leeds after his transfer went through.
"It’s mad, when you’re from London you don’t really understand all the rivalries," Ferdinand told William Hill. "You know there’s a rivalry there, but you don’t know the levels. Leeds and Manchester United is a mad rivalry; when I got there, I was told: ‘Rio you’re making a big decision to go to Man United from Leeds, because their fans will hate you!’
"I didn’t even think about that, because I didn’t know it was that bad. I knew they didn’t like them, but I didn’t know it was to the core.
"I had a bar that was only just opened in Leeds and when I signed for Man United, the head of the police rang me. I don’t know how he got my number, but he rang me and said ‘just to let you know, I’d advise you don’t open your bar. If you open your bar there will be people coming down to mash it up, we’ve got intel that they’re looking to destroy your place.’
"So that place got put to sleep straight away, never opened again, dormant, gone. And then I started understanding the rivalry.
"When we went back to Leeds with Man United for the first time, we actually got beat 1-0, I think. I had to have a police escort to get into the ground because where the bus used to park to get into the ground you have to walk a little bit and, yeah it was madness, crazy."
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