Liam Gallagher and John Squire go head-to-head on Manchester derby day

3 March, 2024

Liam Gallagher and John Squire

It is not just the two halves of Manchester’s football elite that are going head-to-head today, but the two halves of the city’s latest blockbuster collaboration too: Liam Gallagher and John Squire.

The former Oasis frontman is a well-known City fan, while the former Stone Roses guitarist supports United, and despite their album being released just two days ago (March 1), they find themselves duking it out in the city’s metro system today.

As confirmed by the Bee Network, which runs the city’s buses and trams, Gallagher and Squire have been taking control of the tannoys on public transport throughout the day as fans of their respective teams made their way to the match.

Trams passing through Manchester city centre stops and on the Ashton line had the chance to hear the two musicians forcibly voicing their support for their respective teams.

The Premier League match, which kicked off at 3:30pm, sees City, who started the day 15 points ahead of United, looking to close the gap on Liverpool in the race for the title, while United are looking to close in on a Champions League qualification spot.

Liam and his brother Noel are both regular spectators at City’s Etihad Stadium, and after their historic treble win last season, many Oasis fans called on the Britpop band to reunite to mark the occasion.

Some pointed to a former tweet allegedly written by Liam, saying: “If Man City wins the Champions League i call my brother and i bring back the fuckin band together LG x.” A spokesperson for Gallagher later denied that Liam tweeted this himself and that it was in fact created by a fan.

Liam also has a long history of getting into high-profile spats when speaking out on behalf of his team, once savaging comedian Alan Davies when he criticised City’s spending.

“Alan Davies you need to fuck off to another CUNTRY 1 where they ain’t got a sense of humour,” he wrote. “You’ll fit rite in you un funny spunkbubble MCFC LG x.”

Gallagher and Squire announced their self-titled debut collaboration album in January, and had shared the singles ‘Just Another Rainbow’ and ‘Mars to Liverpool’.

In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Obviously this isn’t a ‘Definitely Maybe’ or ‘The Stone Roses’ – no-one could touch those hook-laden masterpieces. As a triumph of style and mood, though, ‘Liam Gallagher John Squire’ is well worthy of their enduring legacies.”

Later this month, the pair will head out on a UK tour, starting in Glasgow’s Barrowland on March 13 and rounding off in London’s Troxy on March 26. The shows sold out within 30 seconds – see the full list of dates here.

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