Not having Wigan closer to Liverpool than Manchester. Doesn't matter though, point is for a Union vs League debate there all in Manc or none of them are.
Check Google Maps. Easiest way to solve an argument there. It has Liverpool being closer, but only just. Not that it's really important.
If you're talking about which sport has the most presence in Manchester (the city itself) then neither sport has much presence at all. It's not really worth arguing as their is such little presence from both.
If we're talking the immediate surroundings, then union probably has more, as Sale are a bigger club than Salford at this time and get more coverage.
If we're talking Greater Manchester, Wigan dwarf all.
That's it in a nutshell, really.
Cheshire is still there, it starts at the top of Wales and goes down the border. It looks on that map that South Lancs is to big. The Boundary at the south seems to follow the Ship Canal, which was the old school boundary before Merseyside and Gtr Manc were invented.
If the regions were like that, you would have Warrington as the capital of South Lancashire, as the biggest neutral venue. Neither Liverpool or Manchester would agree to the other one being in charge. It would be like the Canberra of the North!! But i digress.
On that map, the county labelled South (Lancashire) is the exact borders of the current county of Cheshire. I have not altered any county boundaries on there, just renamed them, and altered which counties are in which regions (Cumbria being moved to join the North East to form the Far North).
Currently, the Administrative HQ of Cheshire is in Chester, and I would assume it would stay that way should it be renamed South Lancashire.
Manchester is the Administrative HQ for the region that is the North West of England, so it would also stay that way.
Should Cheshire not want to be part of the Lancashire region, it could always join the West Midlands region instead, and give up Warrington and Halton back to Lancashire. You could then take the boroughs of Wigan & Bolton (Grt. Manchester), St Helens (Merseyside), Warrington & Halton (Cheshire) and West Lancs, Chorley, Blackburn & South Ribble (Lancashire) and create the county of "Central Lancashire".
That would leave a Greater Manchester region that actually more closely represents Manchester, a Liverpool region that more closely resembles Liverpool, leaves Cheshire as an independent county in a separate region, but then pretty much re-informs the fact that RL's strength is Lancashire is only in one small area in the centre!
White = Yorkshire Region
Royal Blue = Far North Region (North East region + Cumbria)
Green = West Midlands Region, now including Cheshire (light green = Cheshire without Warrington & Halton boroughs)
Red = West Lancashire (Merseyside without St Helens borough)
Sky Blue = East Lancashire (Grt. Manchester without Bolton & Wigan boroughs)
Maroon = North Lancashire (Lancashire without West Lancs, Chorley, Blackburn & South Ribble boroughs)
Orange = Central Lancashire (new county of St Helens, Halton, Warrington, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Chorley, South Ribble and West Central Lancs. boroughs)
Well... it looks a lot tidier and makes a lot more sense to me than the current way they've done things, anyway! Better than the current way:
White = Yorkshire Region
Royal Blue = North East Region
Light Green = Cheshire (county)
Black = Cumbria (county)
Red = Merseyside (county)
Sky Blue = Greater Manchester (county)
Maroon = Lancashire (county)
Light Green, Black, Red, Sky Blue, Maroon = North West Region
