Clubography connections · Liverpool and Manchester United
The handful who played for Liverpool and United
Transfers between these two happen about once a decade, if that. There are only twelve names in the whole of English football history who've played first-team football for both, and the list stops in 1964 for direct moves between the clubs. Here's all twelve, in order.
- Tom Chorlton Liverpool 1904-1912 (117 apps) → Manchester United 1912-1915 (4 apps)
- The first direct transfer between the two clubs, and still the template for every one since.
- Jackie Sheldon Manchester United 1910-1913 (26 apps) → Liverpool 1913-1921 (147 apps)
- Went the other way from Chorlton, one year later, and stayed eight seasons at Anfield.
- Tom Miller Liverpool 1912-1920 (146 apps) → Manchester United 1920-1921 (27 apps)
- Forward, closed his career at Old Trafford after eight years on Merseyside.
- Fred Hopkin Manchester United 1919-1921 (74 apps) → Liverpool 1921-1929 (360 apps)
- A bit-part at United before becoming a Liverpool regular for the best part of a decade.
- Tommy Reid Liverpool 1926-1929 (51 apps) → Manchester United 1929-1933 (101 apps)
- Forward who found more of a home at Old Trafford than at Anfield.
- Ted Savage Liverpool 1931-1937 (105 apps) → Manchester United 1937-1938 (5 apps)
- Six years at Liverpool, a brief coda at United.
- Allenby Chilton Liverpool (no senior appearance) → Manchester United 1939-1955 (392 apps)
- On this list on a technicality: started at Liverpool but never played a first-team game there before sixteen years as a United mainstay.
- Tommy McNulty Manchester United 1949-1954 (60 apps) → Liverpool 1954-1957 (36 apps)
- Went the rarer United-to-Liverpool direction.
- Phil Chisnall Manchester United 1959-1964 (47 apps) → Liverpool 1964-1967 (9 apps)
- The last player transferred directly between the two clubs. Still true, more than sixty years on.
- Peter Beardsley Manchester United 1982-1983 (1 app) → Liverpool 1987-1991 (173 apps)
- Barely featured at United before becoming a Liverpool great five years later, with other clubs in between rather than a direct move.
- Paul Ince Manchester United 1989-1995 (281 apps) → Liverpool 1997-1999 (81 apps)
- Club captain material at both, one of the most prominent names to have crossed either way.
- Michael Owen Liverpool 1996-2004 (297 apps) → Manchester United 2009-2012 (52 apps)
- A Liverpool icon before a late-career switch to Old Trafford that plenty of his old crowd never forgave.
Every one of these is a career with a shape, not just a name to remember. That's the whole game at Clubography: one player's clubs, revealed one at a time, and the earlier you place him the more you score. Today's Journey is free.