English Football - Name Game Derby

One of the longest running football pub debates is set to be laid to rest thanks to new research from Carling.

For years fans have argued over whether City or United are the best and now the matter can finally be settled - City are officially the more successful team.

To kick off this season's Carling Cup, the sponsor analysed the records of all the "Uniteds" and "Citys" since the League Cup started in 1960/61 and surprisingly the Citys came out on top by quite a margin.

Each of the 13 Citys and 13 Uniteds in the top four divisions were awarded points based on how far they progressed in the League Cup each season.

The research also examined the different footballing decades to ascertain the dominant teams in the last 47 years. 

Carling Cup Sponsorship Manager Richard Smith said: "The City vs United debate first came up when we were talking through the Carling Cup first round fixtures and it soon became one of those pub conversations that refused to go away. We thought we ought to apply some science to it and get a proper answer.

"We looked back through the 47-year history of the Cup to work out if it was United or City who came out on top. We were surprised with the results but looking back on the last few years, it's always been a case of expect the unexpected with the Carling Cup - hopefully it's a good omen for this season''s competition."