Manchester United is not the only Northern dynasty which dominates its field - the University of Manchester is equally triumphant when it comes to quizzes.
The institution has won three of the past 11 editions of University Challenge, and tonight it competes in the semi-final of the tournament in a bid to land yet another title.
But Manchester's success is not just a fluke - many attribute the university's dominance to its long-serving coach, who is known as the 'Alex Ferguson of the quiz world' in homage to his track record.
Stephen Pearson, a former contestant in his own student days, has been training the Manchester whizkids for a decade and a half.
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Guru: Librarian Stephen Pearson, pictured left with a previous year's team, has coached the University of Manchester to three University Challenge wins in seven years
The team will take on Bangor University in the BBC2 quiz hosted by Jeremy Paxman at 8pm today, with the winner facing University College London in next week's final.
Manchester is the reigning champion, having won in 2012 as well as 2009 and 2006.
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In addition, the university was runner-up in 2007 and reached the semi-final in 2005, 2008 and 2010 - an unparalleled record of success on the popular general knowledge show.
Mr Pearson, a 47-year-old university librarian, has been the brains behind this spectacular run of form, as he has taken on the responsibility of selecting and coaching the four-man team each year.
Successful: This year's Manchester team, pictured, is hoping to take the University Challenge title
'Some people have called me the Alex Ferguson of the quiz world,' he told the Guardian. 'I don't know about that - I've been doing this for 15 years whereas he's been in the job for at least 25.'
When he captained the Manchester team in 1996, he failed to win the competition - but he has been making up for it ever since with a string of victories for his protegés.
Mr Pearson's first duty comes in selecting the four men and women who will represent Manchester on University Challenge.
He uses a written trivia test to draw up a shortlist of a dozen contenders, then tests their reflexes on the all-important buzzer.
Victory: Mr Pearson's success with the show hosted by Jeremy Paxman, left, has seen him compared with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, right
It is not enought just to pick the four most knowledgeable candidates, as their specialities must be sufficiently broad to cover all the subject areas which may come up in the quiz.
Mr Pearson says that he would ideally have a scientist, a geographer, a historian and a literary specialist - and emphasises that they must all get on together.
When it comes to coaching, he prefers running practice sessions which replicate the conditions of the show rather than learning compendious bodies of knowledge, such as lists of Nobel laureates.
And while University Challenge may seem like something of a distraction from the core purpose of an educational establishment, TV success can in fact boost the institution academically as well.
David Brice, 24, an economics student representing Manchester this year, says he picked the university because of its track record in quizzes.
He told the Guardian he thought at the time: 'It must be a very good university if they are so good at University Challenge.'
Manchester's 2013 University Challenge team introduce themselves
