The brief breathing space between football seasons has a few advantages, not least of which is the suspension of hostilities between historic rivals. Old hatreds between Newcastle and Sunderland, Sheffield and Leeds, or Chelsea and the human species, are put on the back burner. You might even find the occasional heavily disguised Mancunian visiting Liverpool for the Capital of Culture festivities. But rivalries die hard, and not just in football. That’s why the signing of a clutch of multi-area agreements this week shouldn’t be dismissed as a bit of bureaucratic flimflam.