Exclusively for Red News. Here Tom Clare remembers the 1st leg of Athletico Bilbao vs Manchester United on 16th January 1957

Exclusively for Red News. Here Tom Clare remembers the 1st leg of Athletico Bilbao vs Manchester United on 16th January 1957

Red News' very own Tom Clare's (and excellent) Forever a Babe is now available to read on the kindle, link here to order



Red News' very own Tom Clare's (and excellent) Forever a Babe is now available to read on the kindle, link here to order click on the 'buy from amazon' logo

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=httpmanunblog-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=B007G9AZJY&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Athletico Bilbao – 16th January 1957 by Tom Clare

After the hard fought battle with Borrussia Dortmund towards the end of November 1956, Manchester United had to wait another eight weeks before they would face European opposition again in the European Cup. They had been paired with Athletico Bilbao in the forthcoming quarter final tie, and the matches were to be played in Bilbao on January 16th 1957, and in Manchester on February 6th, 1957.

The European fever was really beginning to take hold within the city of Manchester and it was around this time, late in 1956, that the magic word "Treble" first began to be heard. I think that it was Tom Jackson of the Manchester Evening News who first wrote about the possibilities of United doing the unprecedented. It was a hard enough task to do the "Double" as that had not been achieved since before the turn of the century, but the "Treble" was a seemingly impossible task as far as most pundits were concerned. But this target did not seem to faze Busby's young "Babes", and after the Dortmund tie in Germany, they went about their bread and butter business of retaining their league title.

Between the second game with Dortmund, and the first leg in Bilbao, United only dropped three points in the League - a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane with Tottenham Hotspur, and a 1-3 reversal at St. Andrews with Birmingham City. The team was in great shape and firing on all cylinders with the trio of Whelan, Taylor, and Viollet hitting the back of the net with regularity. 

The draw for the 3rd round of the F.A. Cup had been made in mid-December, and United drew an away fixture with 3rd Division, Hartlepool United, to be played on January 5th 1957. Come the day of the game, and the Victoria Ground in Hartlepool was bursting at the seams as 17,882 people crammed inside the tiny little ground. There was people sitting in trees overlooking the ground, on the stand roof, and at any vantage point they could get - they all wanted to catch a glimpse of the "Busby Babes." The pitch was very heavy as I recall, but it made no difference to United as by half time, they were strolling in with a 3-0 lead courtesy of goals from Taylor, Berry and Whelan. Whatever was put into the Hartlepool player's tea during that interval we shall never know, but after 75 minutes of the game, Hartlepool had the audacity to have drawn level with United at 3-3, and a tremendous upset seemed to be on the cards. But cometh the hour, cometh the man, and the quicksilver Billy Whelan wheedled his way through the Hartlepool defence to score his second goal of the match and to make the score 4-3 in United's favour. They used their experience and ability to hang on to their lead, and they traveled back to Manchester that evening a very relieved team.

The F.A. Cup 4th round draw was made on the Monday lunchtime and United were once again drawn away to 3rd Division opposition - this time to Wrexham, with the tie to be played at their Racecourse Ground. Manchester was buzzing with excitement as the quarter final first leg in Spain approached. Bilbao was a place I was all too unfamiliar with back then, and I had to once again refer to my school geography book to find out where it was. The Basque Country in Spain it told me. Back in those days Spain as far as we were concerned was a land of sunshine and that was it. Package holidays to the Costas were unheard of at that time. On the Saturday before the tie, United had a home league game at Old Trafford against Newcastle United which they duly won by 6-1 with Pegg, Viollet, and Whelan all scoring a brace apiece. I attended that game and my memory of it was that Newcastle's goal was the best of the seven scored in the game! It came from a free kick routine that they worked so well in front of United's "wall" and involved 4/5 very quick, short passes, before Jackie Milburn ran on to the ball and thundered it right through the defenders who had broken, and past the unsighted Ray Wood.

The Manchester United party left Manchester Airport for Bilbao on a bitterly cold Monday morning, 14th January, 1957. The trip was rough and the aircraft was tossed about in the turbulent air for most of the way. It was a journey of some 3 hours plus, and for most, not a very pleasant one. The aircraft, a small Dakota, had a turbulent journey and was yo-yoing up and down throughout the flight. Duncan Edwards, who was not the best of travelers at any time, plus Mark Jones, and Billy Whelan, were violently sick throughout the journey. Halfway into the journey everybody was complaining that they were freezing.

Red News' very own Tom Clare's (and excellent) Forever a Babe is now available to read on the kindle, link here to order click on the 'buy from amazon' logo

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=httpmanunblog-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=B007G9AZJY&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Bill Foulkes was sat up front behind a bulkhead, and had put his feet up against it to get comfortable while he slept. What he hadn’t realised was that one of his feet was resting on the lever which controlled the cabin heating system, and by forcing it down, had shut off all the warmth in the cabin causing the freezing conditions. Harold Hardman, the club Chairman was affected most of all. He turned blue with the cold and suffered hypothermia and a mild stroke. It was on this day that Foulkes acquired the nickname from his team mates of ‘PB’ – Popular Bill!

As the aircraft approached Spain, the weather turned really nasty and there were heavy snowstorms in the Bilbao vicinity. The pilot had trouble finding the airport, but finally got the break in the low cloud which allowed him to set the aircraft down safely on Spanish soil. The passengers could not disembark quickly enough, and as the doors of the plane opened they were met by a cold icy blast blowing right through the cabin. It was snowing heavily outside. The players had expected sunshine, so this was a disappointment to them. Eddie Colman stepped through the aircraft door, took one look around, turned back inside and exclaimed; "Caramba! Just like Salford!" He had such an impy, mischievous, personality. Harold Hardman was immediately taken to hospital where he stayed for over a week.

Duncan Edwards was still feeling unwell late into the Tuesday evening and Busby delayed his team selection until the following morning to allow the big man every chance to recover. Fortunately, on the Wednesday morning, Duncan declared himself fit and ready to go - did we ever expect anything else from him! The weather was awful that day, still heavy snow, and there was some debate between the two clubs as to whether the game should go ahead. The pitch was an absolute mud heap and in many areas of the pitch it was so soft that the boot would sink so far into the surface and the mud would ooze inside. United wanted to play because they could not afford any postponements due to the autocratic restrictions placed upon the club by the Football League - they just could not be late back to Manchester and not fulfill their League fixture commitment the following Saturday. The decision was agreed between the two Clubs and the game went ahead.

United lined up; Wood; Foulkes and Byrne; Colman, Jones, and Edwards; Berry, Whelan, Taylor, Viollet, and Pegg.

Red News' very own Tom Clare's (and excellent) Forever a Babe is now available to read on the kindle, link here to order click on the 'buy from amazon' logo

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=httpmanunblog-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=B007G9AZJY&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

60,000 Basques crammed into the Estadio San Mames that afternoon and braved the heavy snow that fell throughout the game. United just couldn't cope not only with the conditions, but with the Bilbao team as well. They adapted much the better and as the players trooped in for the half time break, it was 3-0 to Bilbao. Busby never flapped at half time but went about his business quietly, cajoling, encouraging, and telling the players that they were not out of the game, especially if they could pull a goal back early on in the second half. Roger Byrne the captain was the one who got stuck into the team and they went back out onto the field in a much more determined mood.

They began brightly and started to gain the upper hand. A goal came early from Tommy Taylor - just the fillip that they needed. They pressed the Bilbao team back in their own half, and it was no surprise when Dennis Viollet managed to get the ball over the line for United's second. It was game on! However, the exertions of their efforts began to tell, and in those horrible conditions the United players began to tire. Bilbao took full advantage of the situation and scored twice more to make the score 5-2 in their favour. The game, and more than likely the whole tie, looked to be ebbing away from United - to all intents and purposes, they were down and out. Nobody could envisage them pulling back a 3 goal deficit against this very good Spanish team. But as in the F.A. Cup tie at Hartlepool, cometh the hour, cometh the man - and it was that same man again - Billy Whelan.

With the time ticking away, and getting towards the final minute, this long legged, lean, young Irish man, picked up a loose ball just a little over the half way line out on the left hand side. What he was doing there we'll never know, because Billy was the inside right! But bringing the ball under control he set off on a run towards goal. Where he got his strength from at that particular time in the match is a mystery because he must have been drained from his exertions of the previous 89 minutes. But run he did, dragging that heavy cannonball along with him. He beat one defender and then started to veer towards the inside left position. Again he beat another defender, and continued going in a diagonal line towards the goal. As he approached the penalty area he beat another defender. Jesus Garay, the big Bilbao centre half, was alert to the threat and came thundering along the 18 yards line to make a tackle. Whelan had just shoved the ball slightly in front of himself, and Garay, sensing that he had the opportunity to win the ball threw himself into a sliding tackle. The United youngster was too quick for him. He dragged the ball backwards with the sole of his right boot and Garay went hurtling past him along the ground tackling thin air! Billy moved forward just a yard or two inside the penalty area and then cracked a thunderbolt of shot curling away from the goalkeeper Carmello, and entering the net just beneath the angle of the right hand post and the crossbar. 5-3, and United had a lifeline and some hope!

It was no wonder Billy Whelan was mobbed by his young team mates. I have in my possession, a video showing this goal, and even today, I never get tired of watching it. For me, it is one of the greatest goals ever scored in United's great history. Where that dear boy drew his energy, spirit, and resolve from at that stage of the game was just so remarkable that at that time, it was beyond comprehension.

The players were very upbeat at the reception that their Spanish hosts had organized on the evening after the game. 5-3 down was a lot better than going back to Manchester at 5-2, and they now fancied their chances in the return leg.

The following morning, Thursday 17th January, the United party and press corps arrived at the little Bilbao airport, which was covered in snow. The aircrew was there and there was a problem with the aircraft. The captain announced that unless he could get all the ice and snow off the fuselage, then it would be impossible to take off. The airport had few facilities, and once again, the worry about missing the League game the following Saturday, hovered over the United officials. The captain asked for volunteers to help sweep the ice and snow off the aircraft and some ten minutes later, there was the extraordinary sight of the Manchester United players and the Press men, brooms and scrapers in hand, working on the aircraft's fuselage in order to get rid of the ice and snow! There is a famous picture around that shows Bill Foulkes and David Pegg actually stood on the top of the fuselage posing with their brooms held on their shoulders. The operation took over four hours to complete, and once the captain was satisfied, the party embarked, and finally took off for Manchester.

Manchester was abuzz with excitement. The team was into the fourth round of the F.A. Cup, they were leading the League, and now, they had a chance of progressing into the semi-finals of the European Cup. The "Treble" was now looking to be a possibility and the expectation and excitement started to crank up in the next few weeks. Everybody was talking about the coming second leg of the quarter final tie with Bilbao and asking the question as to whether United could really go on and win this unprecedented "Treble". Could United really do it? Were they actually good enough to turn a two goal deficit around against a very, very good Spanish team? The odds were heavily stacked against United in reality, and for most pundits, their reasoning was that the best United could hope for, was a 2-0 win that would take the tie into an extra game which would have to be played in Paris in France.

Little was I to know at that time, that as well as hearing about one of the greatest goals ever scored in United's history, in three weeks time, I was about to witness what I still consider to be the greatest game of football that I have ever seen in my life!

Next week on www.rednews.co.uk, Tom Clare looks at the famous return leg. Stay tuned.

Copyright Tom Clare and Red News, all rights reserved.

Red News' very own Tom Clare's (and excellent) Forever a Babe is now available to read on the kindle, link here to order click on the 'buy from amazon' logo

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=httpmanunblog-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=B007G9AZJY&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Remembering George…RIP George - 25.11.2005 by Tom Clare

Remembering George…RIP George - 25.11.2005 by Tom Clare

The Best Years of My Life

Since George’s passing in late November 2005, I have been asked so many times by people who never ever had the privilege of seeing him play, whether or not all the stories that abound about his skill are true, or if they are just some exaggeration. It is so difficult explaining to them how brilliant George was. It is also nigh on impossible to convince young people today who only saw pictures of George in his later years, that not only was he a footballer extraordinaire, but also a man of such glamour that he would never have looked out of place on a Hollywood film set!

Football has always had it stars in the game, even long before George arrived in this world. However I think that it is true to say that George was the very first of the soccer ‘superstars’. The first time that I ever saw him though,you would have thought that he would never ever reach anything akin to that kind of status. In late 1962 I was a young trialist with Preston North End Football Club, and on a cold, miserable winter Saturday morning, I had been selected to play in goal for the North End ‘B’ team, against Manchester United.Home games for the North End juniors were played on pitches situated on the old pig farm at Fulwood, and the dressing rooms consisted of a couple of wooden huts that housed a couple of rooms for changing in, then along the corridor, a few rooms with ceramic baths inside – no shower facilities back then! Being a staunch United supporter, it was enough for me that I was turning out againstUnited’s youngsters, and my nerves were on edge as I made my way from the dressing room and out onto that windswept pitch. The pitch had been rolled flat but was really only on nodding acquaintances with grass at that time of the year and after 5 minutes of play, it became a mud patch. In those days, there was little pre-match warm up and I took my place between the goalposts as our forwards fired in a number of the old leather footballs at me. As we lined up to kick off, I noticed this small, frail, waif of a boy, standing in the outside right position for United. He stood there waiting for the kick off,shivering in the chill wind, his hands gripping the white trim cuffs of his redshirt and it seemed as though he was in imminent danger of being blown away.For a boy of such frail build, it seemed that he had no right to be out thereon that pitch, particularly as he faced some big lads in the North End defence who were not averse to being a little over physical. At that time I had no idea of this young boy’s name, but by the end of the match, after I had picked the ball out of the net six times, I made it my business to find out! Coming off the field I shook hands with United’s inside right, Barry Grayson, and asked him the name of the young boy who had just run our defenders ragged throughout that morning. It was to be the very first time that I had ever heard the nameGeorge Best.

Even today, I can still see him gliding over the surface of that mud heap that we played upon, the ball seemingly tied to his boot laces, and our big defenders struggling to get a tackle anywhere near to him. One or two tried to verbally intimidate him, but even at that tender age, he could look after himself and his temperament was unflappable. He had a huge appetite for the ball, and once he did have it, he hurt you. Little did I know that day that what I was witnessing and suffering,would also be witnessed and suffered by some of the best teams and defenders that the game of football has ever known!My own aspirations to a career in League football came to an end at the close of that season when I was told that my trial period was unsuccessful; a huge disappointment for a young18 years old boy. For young George Best though, the following season was his break through season into First Division football! George made his debut against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in September of 1963 some ten months or so after the game that I have mentioned. I was stood on the Stretford End that day and watched as he came out of the players tunnel and trotted towards what had now become the most vocal part of the ground. I had to smile as I listened to the fans stood around me, asking questions about this wee slip of a boy. Their fear was that he wasn’t physically strong enough to survive in the FirstDivision. My own memories of that encounter at Fulwood were all too prevalent at that time, and I had no fears about him whatsoever! By half time those questioning fans had been given their answer! The rest is of course, history. George did not arrive on this earth or at Old Trafford as the complete player. He made himself into the truly exceptional player that he was by working hard at his skills. He made himself into the two-footed player that he was by practicing to the point where he became uncertain as to which was his stronger foot - a lesson that I wish that some of today’s so called superstars would take heed of! It gave him all the options that he needed to beat an opponent on either side, and in and around the penalty box, where he was a deadly finisher with either of those feet. He just loved the feel of the ball, and once he had it, he didn’t give it away cheaply. George had that gift of exceptional speed off the mark, great stamina, wonderful balance, and the ability to stay on his feet and even ride the hardest of tackles. He had a huge great heart and appetite for the game,and he never ever shirked the challenge – in fact he relished it! He had an inherent self belief in his own ability and whatever that challenge, be it physical, mental or tactical, he met it head on. His control of the ball under the most violent of pressure was hypnotic and he was brave beyond belief.

He played the game in an era when forwards were not a protected species as they are today. The tackle from behind was very much a part of the game in his day.At that time, matches against teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leeds,and Manchester City, meant that forwards had the likes of Peter Storey, RonHarris, Tommy Smith, Billy Bremner and Norman Hunter, and also Mike Doyle lying in wait and queuing up for them. There were also more defenders of that stature in the game at that time but they are too many to mention. They were a daunting prospect to have to face! A prospect that I think had some of today’s overpaid, over pampered, and over rated players had to face, would see them suddenly affected by loose bowel syndrome and a withdrawal from the match!I have so many memories of games that George played for Manchester United, and most fans would say that his finest performance was against Benfica in the Stadium of Light in Lisbon in1966, during the European Cup Quarter Final second leg game. Leading 3-2 from the first leg at Old Trafford, Sir Matt had told the players before they went out for the game; “Play it tight for the first 20 minutes or so.” By the 20th minute of that game, George, by his superlative performance, had put the game beyond the Portugese team and United were 3-0 ahead! Coming in at half time,Sir Matt was heard to remark; “I see that you never listened to me!” It was after this game that George bought the famous sombrero and the pictures of him wearing it were flashed around the world – it was the birth of “El Beatle” andthe start of his being a ‘superstar’ celebrity.

As I pick the back pocket of my memory however, my own view is that the finest performance of his career came at Windsor Park in Belfast wearing the green shirt of his beloved Northern Ireland against Scotland in 1967. On a quagmire of a pitch he tormented one of the best full backs British football has ever seen, and gave him the chasing of his life. Not only him, but also the whole of the Scottish team as well. That full back was none other than Tommy Gemmell of Celtic who less than six months earlier had become one of the famous “LisbonLions” for his part in Celtic becoming the first British Club to lift theEuropean Cup. Best’s performance that afternoon was mesmeric and he destroyed avery good Scottish team who just six months earlier, had beaten England, the then World Champions at Wembley. If my memory serves me right, Northern Ireland won that game against Scotland 1-0 with George laying on the winning goal forDavid Clements.There was so much written about George Best during his time on this earth. So called journalists who should have known better were always so quick to denigrate a man who, to those that really knew him, was a lovely, warm hearted, loving, generous,genuine human being. Of course, that side of George’s personality didn’t sell newsprint or make the kind of headlines that the media wanted. The real truth is that when you really got to know George, he was still unspoiled by all the fame and glory.One of the better known and more capable journalists of the day, tells a story of just how unaffected the young George Best was in finding himself the very first British footballer to be treated like a showbiz pop star. The Brown Bull used to be a pub at the bottom end of Chapel Street in Salford, and during the ‘60’s was a favourite haunt of the United players after a game. After a certain European Cup tie played at Old Trafford, players and journalists had gathered in the said pub.Nobody had given much thought to dinner but, by the time that the after-hours session was in full swing, hunger was becoming a problem. At least that is until George went around taking fish and chip orders for everyone in the bar,after which he disappeared. Apparently, he returned some half-an-hour later,not merely with all the orders accurately filled, but also with plates, knives and forks for everybody. The waiter that night seemed less like a superstar than the appealing young boy who had worked small miracles with a tennis ballon the streets of the Cregagh housing estate in East Belfast. I could never envisage any of today’s highly paid players doing anything like this, be it for journalist or fan alike. Unlike George and his contemporaries, they have become far too distant and unapproachable. George did have his problems in life, there is no denying that. He was a sick man and we all knew it. But as in the challenges he met on the football field, he also met the challenges of life head on – he didn’t hide, nor did he ever seek sympathy.There is no doubt that great sportsmen are immensely vulnerable when their gifts and the drama that they create begin to fade. They feel the rest of their lives may loom like a dreary anti climax. George was a very loving person. He loved his family, loved his wives and his son Calum, loved his country, loved people, loved the game of football and Manchester United, and had a huge love and zest for life. That he left this world too early is an understatement of huge proportions. The wonderful memories that he left us with are a legacy to the time when we were seeing the world’s most popular game played by a boy who was better than most that have ever played it throughout its long history. I just wish that today’s generation could have watched George play at least one game in the Premiership. On pitches that resemble a snooker table, with a ball so light, and forwards being protected as they are, I salivate at the thought of a young George running with the ball at today’s defences! I look back with great fondness on that Saturday morning late in 1962 at Fulwood, when I first saw him clutching the cuffs of his shirt whilst he awaited the kick off. I also feel privileged that I was around to watch him from the terraces throughout his career. The pleasure watching George play the game of football brought to countless millions of my generation can not be measured. The nostalgia floods back whenever I think of him, and the wondrous quality of nostalgia is that it is unchallengeable. Without doubt, the years in which I watched George Best play the game of football were the Best years of my life!

by Tom Clare, author of the excellent Forever a Babe, order below

Read Tom Clare's columns for Red News - recollections of the Babes

at http://www.rednews.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?109906-Tom-Clare-online-articles-for-Red-News

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=httpmanunblog-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=1601457812&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

You can read Tom's regular exclusively new appearing articles in the mag as well in Red News at http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

UK 10 issue sub £30.00 inc p&p
Europe 10 issue sub £40.00 inc p&p
Rest Of The World 10 issue sub £45.00 inc p&p

Subscribe to the mag as a PDF on your iphone/itouch/ipad/smartphone for just £15 - http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

You can also bag yourself an online sub for £12.50 which gives you complete access for this site and access to Tom's post in our VIP Forums - both news on one page and all the VIP Forums AND a free mag - http://www.rednews.co.uk/vip.php

You can read his previous columns at http://www.rednews.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?109906-Tom-Clare-online-articles-for-Red-News

The Red News Exclusive Interview with Paul Scholes in full to read here

This interview first appeared in RN183 in September 2011 - you can read interviews and features and much more in every edition of the fanzine - entirely different from web content, exclusive to the mag. Different - don't miss a single edition.

http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

UK 10 issue sub £30.00 inc p&p
Europe 10 issue sub £40.00 inc p&p
Rest Of The World 10 issue sub £45.00 inc p&p

Subscribe to the mag as a PDF on your iphone/itouch/ipad/smartphone for just £15 - http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

You can also bag yourself an online sub for £12.50 which gives you complete access for this site - both news on one page and all the VIP Forums AND a free mag - http://www.rednews.co.uk/vip.php

Individual Copy. In the UK £3.00 inc p&p each copy
ROW £4.00 inc p&p each copy

http://www.rednews.co.uk/current-issue.php

We have the 4 Red News' available out of 4 printed this season, with stocks limited. Get all 4 for just £5.50 inc p&p

For £5.50 in uk inc p&p, £7.50 ROW you can get all 4 available issues from Red News this season including the current edition - available are 181, 182, 183 + 184.

Order using the link below marking the order '4 mags'

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=rednewsweb%40mac%2ecom&undefined_quantity=1&item_name=Red%20News%20Copy%20Single%20Order&item_number=Red%20News%20Copy%20Single%20Order&no_shipping=2&cn=Which%20issue%20number%3f¤cy_code=GBP&bn=PP%2dBuyNowBF&charset=UTF%2d8

Paul Scholes, My Story, out in September, £7 off advanced order here



It is the morning after the day before. That day being the quite surreal and superb 8-2 win over Arsenal. Loathe of the media attention as we well know, RN has been after a 2nd interview with Paul for some time, and he kindly agreed to speak us as his football career ended, and his coaching one was about to start. We don’t need to list superlatives for him. We will miss him. I already do, even though the future looks in safe hands. Blessed to have seen him. As we all were.

RN: Hi Paul, how are you then?
PS: Ok mate, you?

RN: Fantastic after yesterday!
PS: Yeah, what a result that was.

RN: It was just mad, where did you watch it?
PS: I'm on holiday in Portugal so I watched it here.

RN: What is it like seeing a game from that perspective now?
PS: A little bit weird but it’s good. Obviously I knew my time was up anyway, so it’s great to watch and to see the young lads, it is refreshing really.

RN: Did you cheer and were there many ABUs around you?
PS: I was just sat with my son and a couple of friends watching it so yeah it seemed like we were up every two minutes it seemed like!

RN: You said on the MUTV interview that you haven't missed pre-season and that you didn't enjoy them anyway. How has it felt now the season has started?
PS: Yeah, I haven't missed it, I've missed the lads and stuff but I haven't missed the games one bit really, I've had my time, I had a long time playing and that time is over now and it is gone and I'm looking forward to watching United now and just being a fan.

RN: Can I say as a fan that I still think ‘one more year please’.... I know it sounds corny!
PS: (Laughs) No, my time was up, I knew that, the way I felt towards the end of the season wasn't brilliant and if I had stayed another year I might have played ten or fifteen games and I don't think that would have been justifiable really.

RN: Gary Neville in his book is quite detailed about his West Brom game and how bad he felt then and just knowing. Was there a moment for you or was it just a gradual thing?
PS: It was just a gradual thing for me, up until Christmas and the Rangers away game I felt brilliant, absolutely brilliant, the legs were fine and I got a slight groin injury and I should have been out for a week really and I kept coming back too soon and ended up being out for several weeks. From then on I never felt great, my legs... I can't remember a day when I actually felt good whether it was training or in a game. So I knew unquestionably towards the end that the time was right to go.

RN: At the Blackpool game and you pinged a fifty yard pass near the end and I thought I know the final was to come but I can take that memory of you. Was there a moment when you thought that you were happy at the end here?
PS: Not really, no, the last few months I didn't really enjoy it at all, physically I felt shocking I was in pain every day with my legs I was taking anti inflammatories everyday just to try and feel good but nothing seemed to be working so more than anything my legs were telling me that it was time to go. That Blackpool game was actually my first game back after being out for seven or eight weeks and I didn't feel great.

RN: I was at Port Vale where it all started, how do you look back on it all now, are you getting time to reflect?
PS: Not really, no, it’s not something...it’s gone now the only thing I am thinking about now is starting my coaching to be honest with you. It’s nice and I enjoyed my career , I loved playing for United for so many years and I found myself very lucky to have done that but it has gone now. There are maybe some nice memories here and there but it has gone and I'm looking forward to starting a new part of my life now.

RN: Are you excited by it all? Speaking to a few ex-players and they say this period afterwards is exciting but a little bit scary because you haven't got the day to day routine.
PS: That's something that I hope I will have and it is something I do want, I want to have that day to day routine of knowing who I am coaching, who I am going to watch. I want to have that definite kind of job if you know what I mean and hopefully in the next few weeks that will be sorted out for me.

RN: Xavi did an interview just before the European Cup final and he said his coaching belief was what Barca do that from the ages of 6 or 7 they are working on the short passing, they all know each other and they all know what they are going to do. Is it something that you believe in, that you grow up as a unit?
PS: Yeah I think so, it’s something that from five or six of us breaking through to the first team and we all knew each others game inside out. I don't think we played the same way as Barcelona but I think in England it is something we have aspire to. There is definitely something over there that they are doing right. Their football and the way it should be played. I think first and foremost it comes from the manager, Guardiola who was a very similar player to the likes of Xavi and Iniesta and that’s transitioned through to his team.

RN: Do you think that is what was so important about the class of ‘92 that you all knew each other and all knew what each other would be doing during matches?
PS: Yeah, definitely like you say Barcelona have that similar kind of thing now and they have been more successful than we have winning the European, the Champions League and stuff but it was very similar, we knew each other from being 14, 15 years of age so that definitely helps and once we got into the youth team we knew we were a good team playing on Saturday mornings and stuff and at 16, 17, but we never really knew it could be possible to go onto the highest level of the game but thankfully it was.

RN: When they all came for you to grab your shirt, did you think of running away? How did you choose who gets it after the Final?
PS: I think that’s all become a bit of an exaggeration! There was only Iniesta who asked me and I was proud that did ask me, it’s just good the winning goalscorer from the World Cup Final, one of the best players in the world so it was a great shirt for me to get.

RN: Without brown nosing too much you were clearly one of the great players in the world, is that how you saw yourself or were you quite humble- if that makes sense?!
PS: I know what you mean but I don't agree with being one of the best players, the best players in the world, these players go on to win European Championships, they go on to win World Cups and I always felt I fell short of that level. I have only won one European Cup where as the top players in the world like your Xavis, Iniestas are there year in, year out, these are the players, I mean your Zidanes, Ronaldos these are the ones who are winning World Cups, these are the proper players and I think I fell below that level.

RN: Both you and Gary mention about England, it seems such a long term problem, can you see it changing, can you ever see it improving over the next say ten years?
PS: You would always like to say ‘yes’ but for me at the minute no I can't, you can go over the last, I don’t know, what? The last four or five tournaments, England may have got to a couple of quarter finals but there is nothing else to show for it and South Africa was a complete disaster. I just don't know why, maybe there is too much expectation on England, I don’t know. I think the England team these days are treated like world superstars from what they do at club level and I don't think that helps when they go to England because they are all molly coddled and pampered, they are treated like they are world champions before actually being a successful team to do that.

RN: Somehow United seem to handle that expectation and pressure, how do you think that works?
PS: Maybe that comes from the manager, I don't know. I just think the England manager these days changes that often there can never be that stability and I think managers just go out for the England job for the money these days.

RN: You might not have seen yesterdays Mail but they have done Gary's extracts and he has talked about the apprenticeship punishments and the Clayton Blackmore love making with the posters! Did you have to do any of that?
PS: You what, sorry?!

RN: Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson make Gary Neville pretend to make love to a Clayton Blackmore poster!
PS: (Laughs) Yeah, there was a little bit of that! (laughs again). Yeah, Gazza got it! Gazza has mentioned it in his book I think ain’t he.

RN: It sounds scary!
PS: There was all kind of things that they made you do when you were an apprentice but it’s all part of growing up isn't it and it’s something you have to do. It’s not nice but you get through it for that first year and away you go!

RN: Now you can get your revenge on Robbo!
PS: (Laughs) Get revenge on Robbo?! I don't think so!

RN: We asked our readers what they thought your best performance was and there were so many different replies, not for a goal say, what was your happiest game?
PS: It’s always nice when you’re coming to the end of the season and you have played well and you need to win something. Scoring a goal in an FA Cup Final will always be special. The FA Cup Final against Newcastle, the mid leg of the treble was a brilliant day for me I’ll be honest, I passed the ball to Teddy to score and I ended up scoring a goal afterwards so that is probably one of my most memorable times.

RN: Was the low point, the Arsenal League Cup situation?
PS: Yeah, that was a stupid thing to do, I know that now but at the time you think it is right, you're young and you’re not as experienced as you should have done. It’s something I should never have done. I will always regret that but it is done now and there is not much I can do about it.

RN: Your testimonial goal was a belter, did you just think that was perfect, written in a script?
PS: Yeah, It seemed that way. I don't know, I just shot, I've managed to score a few of them over the years and in my last ever game at Old Trafford it was nice to be able to do it again, I just caught it perfectly and gave the keeper no chance (laughs). I was very pleased with that goal actually, being the last game in my testimonial, it couldn't have worked out any better.

RN: Does it feel strange the way everyone is talking about your career over now when you are still young and you still have your life ahead of you.
PS: Nah, it doesn't feel strange to me. To me, it only matters what I think really and to me my official football playing life is over. Brian Kidd always said to me when I was 17/18 that it will be gone in a flick of your fingers, and your career will be gone and I thought he was mad because I thought I’m hopefully going to play until I'm 35. I managed to play until I'm 36 but he was dead right, it’s come and gone, it’s flashed by but it is over with now, my playing days are gone and I have to make sure that whatever I do now I can be as good as I can at doing that as well.

RN: Did people talking, and joking, about your tackling do your head in at times?
PS: I don't know, it just happened didn't it, I never felt I was that bad a tackler really, obviously I was late a few times but I think towards the end of my career it also affected referees and every time I tackled somebody I got booked which got annoying really but that is something I have brought upon myself I suppose by gaining that sort of reputation.

RN: Now you are doing these interview which I know are forced on you (PS: sniggers in agreement) with the book and the testimonial can we see this as a new Paul and you will be on Sky with Gary next?
PS: No! I wouldn't have thought so, no, I will leave the talking to Gary! Gary is brilliant at what he does it is the perfect job for him, he is as honest as the day is long and he will tell it how it is which is what people need to hear.

RN: If you could sum up the whole United experience what has it meant to you?
PS: It has been my life since I left school and hopefully it will be my life for the next good few years as well. It’s been an amazing experience to play with some of the greatest players in the world and I just find myself very, very lucky to have done that and as lucky to have won as many trophies as I have done as well.

RN: It’s true that you are seeing Sir Alex when you get back from holiday about the coaching?
PS: Yeah, I'll go and speak to him when I get home and sort something out hopefully.

RN: Good luck for the future and it has been an honour for all of us to watch you play from all of us. PS: Thank you.

RN: Thank you for agreeing to do the interview and we hope to catch up with you in the future. Have a lovely holiday.
PS: Brilliant, thank a lot. Bye.

Interview: Barney. Transcript: John. Thanks to Paul for his time, especially to interrupt his hols for RN. Thanks to Hannah Corbett at Simon & Schuster. Paul Scholes’ My Story is out and available, discounted, through the RN Amazon links on the site.

Paul Scholes, My Story, out in September, £7 off advanced order here

Sir Matt and Sir Alex - The Wonder of Two by Tom Clare

Sir Matt and Sir Alex - The Wonder of Two by Tom Clare

by Tom Clare for Red News, an extract of this appeared in RN184 - this is the full article, copyright Tom Clare, Red News 2011

Tom Clare's Forever A Babe




In 1878, the workers of the Carriage and Wagon Works at the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway were granted permission by their bosses to form a football team. From those first embryonic days when those workers played on a bare patch of land just to the north of Manchester’s city centre, a lot of water has run under the bridge. Little could they have ever imagined what was eventually going to evolve from such an austere and humble beginning. Today, the legacy of those workers and those far distant days is the juggernaut of a club that is called Manchester United.

Apart from a brief period of success during the first decade of the 20th Century, Newton Heath, and Manchester United’s first 50 years of history, could only be described as nothing less than mediocre. It would be true to say that the club was known more for happenings off the field of play, than those initial small successes achieved on it. It was almost always a club shrouded in poverty and had twice come close to becoming bankrupt and extinct. The club was saved on both occasions by local benefactors who saw some kind of masochistic benefit in investing their hard earned cash and time, into what could only be described on both occasions as ‘lost causes’. That they did, gave credence to their foresight and vision.

These persons have become revered in Manchester United’s history. Because of their faith in what they were doing in keeping the club from going under, it has been able to build a history which is now littered with personalities, accomplishments, and achievements, that could never have been envisaged all those years ago. J.H. Davies, J. Taylor, W. Deakin, and J.Brown were the first men to rescue the club in 1902. Later, years saw the arrival of James Gibson in 1932. There were also many other unsung heroes outside of the Boardroom who helped keep the club functioning. People like Fred Attock, ‘Father’ Bird, Harry Stafford, George Lawton, Ernest Magnall, George Bedford, Harold Hardman, Louis Rocca, and Walter Crikmer. Apart from the years between 1906 and 1911, there were no real tangible successes apart from a few promotions out of the Second Division. These were almost all followed very quickly by relegation back to the place from whence they came, so for the most part the club wallowed in the doldrums.

When James Gibson took over as Chairman of the club in 1932, not only did he inject much needed monies into the club, he took a huge interest in the development of it as well. It was Gibson who persuaded the Midland Railway Company which operated a service from Manchester Central to Liverpool, to put in a passenger halt at Old Trafford on the line which passed directly behind the main stand of the stadium. He also had a revolutionary idea which would take the best part of 20 years to come to fruition. It was simplistic in that Gibson thought that football clubs generated their own financial problems in that they spent large amounts of money buying players, many of whom were found to be bad investments. His vision was one where his club would find the best young local, and schoolboy talent, and develop them through from the junior teams, and up into the first team at Football League level. It was quite visionary, and in the years from 1937 – 1939, his plans began to take shape.

In 1936, United gained promotion back to the First Division. Then, in 1937, with Louis Rocca and Walter Crikmer overseeing it, the Manchester United Junior Athletic Club (MUJAC) was established. They played in the Chorlton Amateur League and in their first season scored an incredible 223 goals. At that time, Scott Duncan was the manager, but in 1938 he left to take over the reins at Ipswich Town who had just been elected to the Football League. Crikmer took over as manager at Old Trafford and immediately started to bring much younger players into the first team. Chairman Gibson was overjoyed and stated; “We have no intention of buying any more mediocrities. From now on we will have Manchester United composed of Manchester players.” There was a fresh energy all around Old Trafford and the future looked bright. Sadly, on September 3rd 1939, World War II broke out, and football as the fan knew it, was put on hold for almost seven years.

When football finally did resume its normality in 1946, few United fans at that time could have ever imagined the enormous strides that the club would make over the next 50 years, or that just two men would be responsible for making Manchester United arguably the biggest football club in the world.

Today, when one looks back over the club’s 133 years of existence, it is surprising to find that out of a total of 17 Managers employed during that period, only three of them have ever managed teams that have won the coveted First Division/Premiership title – Ernest Magnall, in those halcyon years between 1906 -11, then Sir Matt Busby, and after him, Sir Alex Ferguson. Many others failed along the way and it is no coincidence that the three who were able to do so enjoyed longevity in their tenure, and so were given the time to build those championship winning teams. In Magnall’s case however Manchester City was able to coerce him into leaving Old Trafford in 1912 to join them. Although he stayed with City until 1924, he was never able to emulate the feats which he achieved during his tenure at Manchester United.

In May 2011, I was over in Manchester for my Annual Dinner and to take in the last home game of the season against Blackpool. For the previous 12 months, I had been involved with the students at Stretford High School in a project about the Busby Babes. Chris Hirst, the Director of Learning at the school, invited me to go over and speak to the year 7 students. It was a refreshing experience. What I will always recall is the Q and A session with the kids after I had spoken. They had obviously done their homework, but one particular question floored me when it was asked – “Who is the best manager – Sir Alex Ferguson or Sir Matt Busby.” Wow! How do you come up with an answer to that? Do you let your heart rule your head? Do you allow sentiment to cloud your judgment? It really is a difficult question to answer, but fortunately I was able to give those students some kind of answer. However, since that day, that question has turned over in my head many, many times, and I have thought about it a lot, especially with the 25th anniversary of Sir Alex’s appointment on November 6th 1986, becoming imminent.

Sir Matt’s tenure as manager finally came to an end in 1971 after a period of some 25 years and 15 years before Ferguson first entered Old Trafford. Those in between years saw a mixture of mediocrity, a glimmer of hope, a period of boredom, and of being the ‘nearly men.’ It also saw the arrival and departure of four managers, O’Farrell, Docherty, Sexton, and Atkinson. Two came close to winning the First Division Championship – Docherty and Atkinson. One fell on the sword of his infidelity with a colleague’s wife, and the other because he became too blasé and too close to the players. The other two, O’Farrell and Sexton, found the pressures of managing a club the size and with the status of Manchester United, just too daunting. So why is it then that Sir Matt and Sir Alex succeeded where so many others floundered?

The simple answer to that question can be described in one word – character. Sir Matt had it in abundance, as does Sir Alex today. Both men were blessed with the inner strength, single mindedness, and ever burning desire to make Manchester United into the finest football club in the world. That they did succeed is beyond doubt. There is not a country in the world today where the name Manchester United is not known. Love them or hate them, they are still the most talked about club in world football today.

Both men imposed their vastly differing personalities upon the club from the very first day that they commenced work. It is their DNA. Busby, the pipe smoking, soft spoken Scot, who was never heard to raise his voice in anger, but who still ruled with a firm hand, and was the most astute of men when it came to both club, and football politics. Ferguson, who can be said to be loud, volatile, arrogant, and to rule by fear, but like Busby, knows how to play the political side of the game. However, when it gets down to the real nitty-gritty of decision making and running the football side of the club, the only thing they would ever consider to a situation was if the outcome was to the good and benefit of Manchester United.

Both men arrived at the club when it was at low ebb. In Busby’s case it could be said to have been virtually non-existent, and it is a wonder that Chairman Gibson, Rocca and Crikmer, were able to persuade him to take on the job. No ground (Old Trafford was suffering from bomb damage incurred in WWII), and no money to buy players, the prospects did not look too bright. But when Busby met James Gibson at the Cornbrook Cold Storage facility in February 1945, they both outlined their ideas as to how each thought that Manchester United should be run. There was a mutual liking for the items discussed in their conversation, and at the end of it, Busby walked out with a five years contract and a salary of 750 pounds per year. It was to turn out to be the moment when the foundations of Manchester United really became cemented, and the following 25 years brought the most significant successes to the club, and also saw the most terrible tragedy ever to impact British sport.

Busby was a radical thinker where football was concerned. It was through him that the term ‘track suit manager’ was advocated. Prior to WWII, football managers were ‘suits’ and never ever seen out on the training pitch. Busby changed all that. He trained with the players, talked to them throughout practice games, and illustrated exactly how he wanted the game to be played. He also knew that he could not do everything himself and enlisted the services of the genial Welshman, Jimmy Murphy, as his assistant. Murphy’s work and contribution to Manchester United should never ever be forgotten, and he is without doubt the best assistant manager that the game of football has ever seen. Busby built his own team of trusted servants around him and trusted them implicitly to carry out the plans laid down for his, and James Gibson’s visions.

The club’s directors were also responsible for team selection, but within a year of his appointment he had wrested that responsibility from them, and he was also solely responsible for negotiating transfers, and for selling on players. In his own words;
“Call it confidence, conceit, arrogance, or ignorance, but I was unequivocal about it. At the advanced age of 35, I accepted the position only if they would let me have all my own way. As the manager, I wanted to manage – I would be the Boss.”
In those early years he had to stand his ground with those directors, particularly with Harold Hardman who was later to become Chairman, and there was more than a few occasions when he threatened to quit. Fortunately, he was always able to get his way as those directors acquiesced to what he wanted.

Busby’s reputation and that of Manchester United grew. He moulded his teams to his and Jimmy’s way of wanting the game to be played. His first team was mainly made up of players who had come back from serving their country in WWII and had lost six years of their careers. However, they became the most exciting team to watch during those post war years and in 1948, ended the club’s 37 years wait for a major trophy when they were victorious in what is often described as one of the best Wembley FA Cup Finals ever. They were also runners-up in Division 1 on four separate occasions before finally becoming League Champions in 1952 for the first time since 1911. That great team gave Busby the precious time which he needed to see the club’s innovative youth policy come to fruition.

What followed was revolutionary, and his team of “Babes” would dominate English football for the next few years winning two First Division championships, and they came so close to winning what was then a glorious treble. Busby was far sighted and had fought the Football League about United entering the new European Cup competition. He could see the benefits of his teams pitting their skills against the best football clubs in Europe. He could also see the financial benefits that would be brought to the club, but not only that, he coveted the prestige in Europe that Manchester United’s name would bring. Where others had feared to tread, Busby had foraged forward, and with his calm, but firm political nous and manipulation, once again he won the day. If he had not, who is to say how long it would have taken for English clubs to be allowed to compete in European competition?

Of course following the European dream, Busby, and the club, were to endure the horrific tragedy of Munich. It was a disaster which once again, threatened to destroy the future of the club. Fortunately, Jimmy Murphy was able to take over the mantle as manager and he did more than a remarkable job in keeping the club afloat. It is incredible that upon his recovery Busby was able to put together another great team and that just five years after the disaster happened, they won another major trophy by lifting the FA Cup, and then went on to win two more First Division championships. In 1968, the Holy Grail was at last achieved when United became the first English team to win the coveted European Cup.

It was great testament to his character, will, and determination to keep Manchester United at the forefront of both English and European football. There had been battles along the way with both the FA, and the Football League, and there were several Chairmen at other First Division clubs who would have relished in the demise of Manchester United. He could be as hard as bell metal in his dealings with other clubs, or the legislators of the game, as well as with his own staff. However, never once did Busby lose his grip and he fought those battles in his quiet, dogged, but determined way. He was no push over as the authorities found out. His standing in the British game made him the patriarch of his time. As Hugh McIlvanney wrote at the time of Sir Matt’s passing:
‘Greatness does not gad about, reaching for people in handfuls. It settles deliberately on a blessed few, and Matt Busby was one of them. If Busby had stood dressed for the pit, and somebody alongside him in the room had worn ermine, there would have been no difficulty about deciding who was special. Granting him knighthood did not elevate him. It raised however briefly, the whole dubious phenomenon of the honours system.

Busby emanated presence, substance, the quality of strength without arrogance. No man in my experience ever exemplified better the ability to treat you as an equal while leaving you with the sure knowledge that you were less than he was. Such men do not have to be appointed leaders. Some democracy of the instincts of the blood elects them to be in charge.
That innate distinction was the source of his effect on footballers. He never had to bully. One glance from under those eloquent eyebrows was worth 10 bellows from more limited natures. Players did not fear his wrath. They dreaded his disapproval. His judgment of the priorities of football was so sound, his authority so effortless, that a shake of his head inflicted an embarrassment from which the only rescue was recovery of his respect.
Using Shakespeare’s words to praise somebody we knew is bound to be a rather wild risk but invoking Mark Anthony’s lines about Brutus: “His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world “This was a man”.’

Like Busby before him, Alex Ferguson’s arrival at Old Trafford came when the club was in complete disarray. Ron Atkinson’s early years had promised so much, but delivered just two FA Cup winning teams in five years. It is true to say that towards the end of his tenure, there was definitely problems with the structure of the club, especially at the grass roots level. In the 1985/86 season United had got off to an electrifying start winning their first 10 League games. They were still unbeaten after fifteen games after they had beaten Coventry City 2-0 at Old Trafford on November 2nd, and they had increased their lead over Liverpool to a 10 points margin. As they went into 1986 they were still topping the table by 5 points although both Liverpool and Everton had played a game more. After beating Birmingham City on New Year's Day 1986, the following 18 games brought a paltry return of 6 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. It was the losses and draws at Old Trafford that cost them dearly and at the end of the season, United finished in 4th place some 12 points behind the champions, arch enemies, Liverpool. A season that had promised so much became an agony for the faithful fans.

The following season, 1985/86 got off to a disastrous start and on November 1st, after drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford against Coventry City, United languished in 19th place in the league and had managed just 3 wins from their 13 fixtures. The wheels had come off, and worse was to follow. On the following Wednesday evening, in a replayed League Cup tie against Southampton at the Dell, United were heavily defeated by 4-1. The Saints fans sang vociferously; “He’s round, he’s fat, he’s going to get the sack – Atkinson, Atkinson.” They were not wrong – 24 hours later he was gone. Atkinson had got too close to his players, and there was a definite drink culture with the senior players that he could not curtail. On the club’s pre-season tour to Holland he fined seven senior players for an after-hours drinking soiree. Together with some bad investments in the transfer market, and his own personal life problems, he had certainly lost his credibility to manage Manchester United, and although he could not see it, he was the master of his own demise.

There is some conflict regarding when Ferguson was approached by United regarding the manager’s job at Old Trafford. There was a lot of suspicion that he had been approached before the sacking of Atkinson. Certainly, Atkinson’s sacking and the search for a new man had been discussed vehemently during the earlier weeks by the United Board. Sir Bobby Charlton confirms this in his autobiography ‘My Manchester United Years’. Charlton championed Ferguson’s appointment when the remainder of the board wanted Terry Venables. He’d spoken to Ferguson in Mexico during the summer’s World Cup finals. There is a story that there had been a clandestine meeting some days before Ferguson’s appointment, and that this had taken place at a motorway service area in Scotland between Ferguson, Martin Edwards, Bobby Charlton, and United’s legal man, Maurice Watkins. Whenever questioned about the story, none of the persons concerned have ever confirmed, nor denied the occasion.

Ferguson’s very first meeting with his players took place on Friday, November 7th, 1986. What he saw certainly did not please him and made him realize the enormity of the task that was at hand. The previous evening, and after his sacking, ‘Big Ron’ had thrown a party at his house and several of the senior players had been in attendance. When Ferguson addressed the assembled group at The Cliff that morning, it is more than fair to say that several of them were suffering from a distinct lack of concentration. It was a far cry back to Sir Matt’s first experience when he had first addressed his new players back in 1946. Under Atkinson the training regime had been allowed to become slack. Training had supposed to begin at 10.30 a.m. – that is only if Atkinson turned up on time. Under Ferguson it became a much different matter – it began at 9.30a.m., and, seeing as he was in his office every morning at 7.30a.m., he was there when the players began arriving. Anybody turning up late soon discovered what the penalty would be and woe betide them if they transgressed again.

There was no doubt that Ferguson was appalled at the state that the club was in. Just like Sir Matt had done all those years ago, he had to restructure the club from top to bottom. He got rid of the deadwood in the scouting area and completely reorganized it. If there was a youngster who was thought to be of United caliber, then he wanted to know about it, and woe betides the scouts if any of those youngsters slipped through the net. He knew that the rebuilding process was going to take time, and that there would be some painful decisions to be taken along the way. One by one he got rid of the bad apples on the playing side, and others that were not up to his standards were also shown the door. These were players on high wages who were also a barrier to the younger players breaking through. As Sir Matt had done, those tough decisions were never shirked. The early years were as tough a ride as a manager could get and he had to fight his corner in the boardroom just as Sir Matt had done.

Within a year of his appointment, his relationship with United’s Chairman, Martin Edwards was not as good as it could have been and it was all down to the financial constraints placed upon him. He was getting frustrated and stated at a board meeting;
‘I came here thinking that I would have the luxury of buying players. I have done a lot of hard work at youth levels, but to win the league we need to buy. I’m very disappointed that I haven’t had that kind of money. Liverpool have bought the best but what sticks in my gullet is the difference between them and us. I respect them – but I don’t like being second. Mr. Chairman, you now face two very tough choices between having a very good team or balancing the books. It is impossible to have both at present.’

Eventually, he started to get his way and along with a certain amount of financing, players were also shipped out to supplement the cost of bringing better players in. Ferguson was building blocks, and one by one they were starting to cement the foundations that he needed. However, it was taking time. He was never afraid to embrace Sir Matt and talk to him, and also Jimmy Murphy, before he died. It was something that previous managers before him, apart from Docherty, had been unable to bring themselves to do. Ferguson’s outlook was that with that amount of experience and expertise there for his asking; it would be silly not to tap into it.

By the start of the 1989/90 season, from outside Old Trafford, things looked as bad as they had done on the day that Atkinson had been dismissed. The fans were restless, the board was restless, and there is no doubt that the hatchets were out for the manager. On January 1st 1990, after drawing at home to QPR, United languished down in 15th position in the league. Millions had been spent on players – Leighton, Anderson, Bruce, Phelan, Pallister, Ince, Webb, McClair, Hughes, Wallace, and Sharpe. On the terraces at home matches, there had even been heard a concerted chorus of “Fergie Out” reverberating around the stadium. Even Red News was to lash out and was typical of the feeling at the time;
‘What really hurts Alex, is that under you, we’ve had shit football, shit atmosphere, shit boardroom shenanigans, and our support is drifting away.’
Even ex-players and current players were having a go. Willie Morgan was keen to state in the local paper that he didn’t want to go and watch United again for a very long time. Jim Leighton and Clayton Blackmore even went as far as to say that Ferguson had lost the dressing room and that the players thought that he would be on his way, sooner rather than later. In a home game just before Christmas 1989, a fan unfurled a homemade banner on a thinly populated Stretford End which stated – “3 years of excuses and it’s still crap … ta-ra Fergie.”

These were pressures that Sir Matt had never ever had to face. Boardroom politics and hostility, yes, but there was never any backlash from United fans. There was never a time when United’s fan base was ever less than 100% behind him. Times had changed though, and though Busby had seen the advent of the greater freedoms of the 60’s and the more vociferous and younger type of fan, he was never subjected to the outside hostilities that Ferguson was. Matt was shrewd and managed and massaged journalist’s egos. He was a master at PR, but McIlvanney said that was wrong. He said that Human Relations (HR) was Matt’s specialty. To quote him;
‘He conquered millions of hearts one at a time, moving out from his club, and the adopted city that he loved, into the world of football and the wider world beyond that. The way that the huge power of his personality worked was the benign equivalent of house-to-house fighting.’

Those words could never have been written about Ferguson in his early years at United. One could say that it was his personality which changed people’s view of United outside of the Old Trafford faithful. Unlike Sir Matt, he didn’t take defeat gracefully, and would launch tirades at referees, linesmen, and even rival clubs, particularly Liverpool. Opposing fans saw United as bad losers, whingers, and still do to this day. But it was all part of Ferguson’s make-up, he wears his heart on his sleeve where Manchester United are concerned. The pressures upon the man were enormous and not only did he have to deal with the unrest on the terraces, he had to deal with criticisms from ‘phone-ins on local and BBC radio stations, as well as from the many fanzines that had started to appear from the mid-1980’s.

Only the Board members who were serving at the time will ever know the real truth as to whether Ferguson would have lost his job had United lost to Forest in that FA Cup tie on the first Saturday in January, 1990. There was immense media pressure upon him in the week preceding the tie, and 99% of the media pundits were of the opinion that he would be out of a job by the following Sunday morning. Over the years the press had become more and more intrusive, and sports editors and journalists were not of the mould that Busby had found during his tenure. This was now a beast of a considerable different nature, and could be scathing in both professional and personal aspects. Nothing was judged to be sacred. Looking back it’s difficult to envisage how Sir Matt would have handled the intrusiveness and downright vindictiveness that opined towards Manchester United at the start of the 1990’s, and has continued since.

That United won that cup tie by 1-0 is consigned to the history books which show that after four hard years, Ferguson’s team was finally able to lift its first major trophy. The platform was now there and his dynasty began to take shape. The following season they finished 6th in the League, reached the League Cup Final (losing 1-0 to Sheff Wed), but it culminated in them winning the European Cup Winners Cup in Rotterdam against the mighty Barcelona. It was the first year that English clubs had been allowed back into European competition after the 5 year ban imposed after the Heysel tragedy of 1985.

In 1991/92, despite the club winning the League Cup by defeating Forest 1-0 at Wembley, it was to prove to be a season of bitter disappointment with United capitulating from being league leaders with five games to go in the run-in. The title seemed certain to come back to Old Trafford after 25 years, but of those last 5 games, United were to draw one and lose three – the ultimate pain being the loss by 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield which confirmed Leeds United as First Division champions. Nobody felt that defeat more than Alex Ferguson.

Behind the scenes at Old Trafford his building bricks were being cemented into solid blocks and the youth team won the FA Youth Cup for the first time since 1964. For the club, it was a significant achievement and one that was looked upon with great pride. Amongst those youngsters who lifted that trophy were Gary Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, and Robbie Savage. Two of the substitutes were a certain Ryan Giggs, and Keith Gillespie. The following season the youth team was beaten finalists losing 4-1 on aggregate to Leeds United. Additions to the United youth team included Paul Scholes and Phil Neville. All eight players were later to excel at international level. Not one of the Leeds United players made it to that level and for a few of them, they only saw careers played out in the lower divisions of the Football League. Nobody was prouder of United’s youth team than was Sir Matt as he watched them from the stands. In later years Ferguson was to say;
‘Sir Matt lost and rebuilt a team, rebuilding it the right way, in the fashion of what he thought Manchester United should be. My job really was to regain that.’

Season 1992/93 saw the inception of the Premier League and the increased levels of television money being brought into the game. It also saw the beginning of the destruction of a way of life that had gone on for well over 100 years – normal Saturday afternoon football. It was the start of the tail wagging the dog. The piper had to be paid and the FA had sold its soul to the Premier League. However, for Manchester United and for Ferguson, things were about to change. By the first week in December, United were in 5th position in the League some 9 points behind the surprise leaders, Norwich City. During that week, a chance ‘phone call from the Leeds United chairman Bill Fotherby to his counterpart at United, Martin Edwards, was an enquiry asking if United would be interested in letting Dennis Irwin go. Ferguson, who was with Edwards at the time didn’t want to know, but he did pass Edwards a small piece of paper which had written upon it; ‘ask him about Cantona’. The United chairman’s eyebrows lifted in surprise but ask he did, and he was surprised when Fotherby did not rebuff him but said he would call back. Less than half an hour later the return call came and Fotherby said Leeds would accept just one million pounds for the Frenchman. Ferguson was delighted and the deal was concluded. The final brick in the block was about to arrive and little could anybody both inside or outside of the club ever have imagined just what an impact this piece would have over the next four years.

When Eric Cantona was unveiled at a press conference as United’s latest signing, the press and media thought that Ferguson had lost his marbles. There was widespread disbelief that United had signed a player with such a flawed temperament, and one who had a more than colourful past. Despite this, Ferguson played his hunch and it turned out to be the master stroke that saw the catalyst for the next five years of unbridled success. On April 21st 1993, after beating Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park, United were four points clear of Aston Villa their nearest challengers with just two games to play and they had played the same number of games. On May 2nd, Villa was at home to Oldham Athletic, a team languishing in the bottom three of the league. It was a game everybody expected Villa to win easily, but surprisingly they lost 0-1, and United were champions for the first time since 1967. The celebration party at Steve Bruce, the United captain’s home in Hale, went on well into the daylight hours with all the first team squad in attendance.

That evening United had a home game to play against Blackburn Rovers and when the players strode onto the pitch, many of them were suffering from king sized hangovers. They went behind very early to a Kevin Gallagher goal, and it could have been even worse had the referee denied the Rovers a perfectly legitimate penalty claim just shortly afterwards. But as the United player’s heads cleared, Ryan Giggs equalized with a wonderful free kick, Paul Ince added a second, and then minutes before the final whistle, Gary Pallister blasted a penalty into the bottom corner of the Blackburn goal to ensure that every outfield player in the team had contributed with at least a goal that season. Cantona had made an outstanding contribution with his prompting, passing, and goals, and had been a revelation to the younger players with his professionalism, especially at training. As both Bruce and Bryan Robson jointly received the very first Premiership trophy, the music blasted out throughout the stadium – ‘We Are the Champions’, ‘Simply the Best’; and up in the stands, a venerable old white haired Scotsman, stood with his daughter, and joined in with the chorus to ‘Always look on the Bright Side of Life’ as the players cavorted with the trophy down below them on the pitch. Later on, within the confines of the dressing room, the Master Builder and his younger Apprentice, stood together and posed for a photograph together with the Premiership trophy. From that day on, the Apprentice became the Master Builder.

The following season the double of Premiership and FA Cup was won, but not before Sir Matt had passed away on January 20th, 1994. Thousands turned out for his funeral at St John’s Catholic Church in Chorlton cum Hardy, and also along the route after the requiem mass was over. The cortege made one final journey for Sir Matt, down past the stadium at Old Trafford, before going on for a private family interment at Southern Cemetery where he was laid to rest with his beloved wife, Lady Jean who had passed away in 1988. His presence had blessed British and European football for some 66 years. Never before, or since, has anybody been more revered in the game than Sir Matt Busby.

In the 17 years which have followed Sir Matt’s death, Ferguson has gone on to surpass everything that Busby had ever achieved in terms of winning trophies. He knocked Liverpool off their fucking perch, as he so succinctly put it in his early days. He saw off the threats of Kenny Dalglish when at Blackburn, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Jose Mourihno, Avram Grant, Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, and will now meet the challenge of their new manager Andre Villa-Boas head on. He has never shirked a challenge or walked away from a battle in all his time at Old Trafford.

Nobody who follows Manchester United will ever forget that most wonderful of nights in Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium when to all intents United were just about to lose to Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. That final, although never one of United’s finest displays of free flowing football, displayed all of Ferguson’s qualities. His character was stamped all over that team; courage, indefatigable spirit, determination, and the never-say-die attitude that saw the final three minutes of that game turn it into one of, if not the most remarkable finish to a European Cup Final, that has ever seen. When referee Collina blew his whistle to end the game, United were European Champions, Premier League Champions, and holders of the FA Cup. What most football pundits thought was an impossible task to achieve, had been achieved, and ironically, it was done on the very day that Sir Matt Busby would have celebrated his 90th birthday. As Ferguson was to say just after the game in the Nou Camp finished;
‘It would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday today, but I think he was up there doing a lot of kicking. I’m privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards and traditions that he set so many years ago.’
If only it was that simple!

It’s so hard to make comparisons between these two great men because they have reigned in two distinctly different eras. When Ferguson first took over at Old Trafford although the game was changing, it was little different to the football world that Busby had experienced. However, over the last 20 years a juggernaut has propelled British, European, and even World football into a completely different stratosphere. Today’s football world is nothing like the one that Sir Matt knew and loved. I have the suspicion that had he been alive today, he would not like what he would see. Some eight years before he passed he was to say;
‘You can see the changes. Business people come in, not many with experience of football. It has become a business organization.’
He vehemently fought the Edwards family over the initial share rights issue in 1979. He was bitterly opposed to any one person owning Manchester United. Before the public flotation of the Club in 1990, he also said;
‘Recent events have only demonstrated only too clearly, the problems that can arise from private ownership when the time comes for the club to be sold. I agree with the people who believe we would get more stability, and a better guarantee for the future well being of United, if it were now to pass into the control of a number of representative shareholders.’
Those words eventually went unheeded by Martin Edwards, but they were so far sighted. No, the great man would not like what he sees in the corridors of Old Trafford today.

To have stayed at Old Trafford for 25 years as manager is a remarkable achievement. At other clubs managers come and go on a regular basis and become long forgotten. Like Sir Matt, Ferguson is fiercely protective of everything United and of those who work for him. Notwithstanding that, he has had to fight his battles with the board, although as of this moment, we do not know if there have been any battles with the club’s American owners. Only time will tell on that matter. He has made mistakes, some which he readily admits to. His dalliance with the racing fraternity, especially J.P. MacManus and John Mangier, left him with a bloody nose and certainly had some serious long term effects on Manchester United. His benefit match in 1999 does not stand up to much scrutiny, and his conduct with his son Jason who was then acting as a football agent, left a sour taste in the mouth. Telling a United fan of many years standing to ‘fuck off and go and watch Chelsea’ was also not the brightest thing that he has ever done.

However, for all of his warts, there is not a shadow of a doubt that he is a football man through and through. He’s made his enemies within the game, particularly among the journalistic and media corps, and although a lot of today’s fans may find it hard to believe, Sir Matt also had his. But just like Sir Matt, when the tough decisions have had to be made, and especially where players are concerned, he has never shirked that responsibility. There is also a very compassionate side to Ferguson’s nature, one which the general public very rarely sees. His work with charities is done well away from the glare of the media, and many, many United fans will also tell of his kind and generous deeds.

When will he be loved? By the most resentful and embittered followers of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal, the answer is, of course, never. When it comes to the wider football community beyond the gates of Old Trafford, Ferguson - like Busby, Shankly and Stein - will be suitably acclaimed only when he's safely removed from the combat zone and is no longer a threat. That his genius will be universally recognised is beyond doubt: it's a matter not of if, but when. And that, for the man who will be forever caricatured as gesticulating at a stopwatch in the dying moments of a contest, ensures an end game in which time, just for once, is unquestionably on his side.

So, back to the school child’s question; ‘Who is the best manager – Busby or Ferguson?’ All I will say is that as Manchester United supporters, we have been so blessed to have been managed by two Scotsmen with totally differing personalities who have placed Manchester United on the pinnacle upon which they stand today. I loved Sir Matt Busby dearly, and cherish his memory, and the great things and foundation which he gave to his beloved club. Love him or hate him, Ferguson has a huge standing within world football, earned through his hard work, grit, and determination, and his will to never be second best. The saddest day for Manchester United and its legion of fans will be when the day comes and he retires Without doubt both Sir Alex and Sir Matt, in my opinion, stand as the two greatest managers of their time. Oh! Boy, would I like to have had them both at my table as dinner guests, and joined by Bill Shankly, Jimmy Murphy, and Jock Stein. Now that would have been one incredible long night!

I’ll leave you with a little piece by Hugh McIlvanney:
"Some people argue that Ferguson isn't particularly good tactically, but is it likely that a manager weak in that area would have had such success at the highest levels of the modern game? Would his teams have so consistently combined marvelously entertaining football with the effectiveness that wins trophies by the barrow load? Ferguson is the kind of true football man whose understanding of, and feel for how the game works, goes beyond any orthodox technical analysis. Once, when interviewing Juan Manuel Fangio, I asked him to identify the most important of the assets that made him a great driver. He said instantly: 'I drove with my ear to the heartbeat of the car.' I think Ferguson does something like that with football teams, with football clubs, in fact, because he is concerned about everything and everybody at Manchester United, as he was at Aberdeen, St Mirren and East Stirlingshire. He has a commitment to the fundamentals of team spirit that is almost religious. Ideally, he has said, when each player is sitting in the dressing room before a big match he should be able to look at the men on either side of him and know there's nobody in the world he'd rather have at his shoulder in the action ahead. 'That’s when you know you have a team,' Ferguson says. And he can talk that way to footballers and make them believe absolutely. Assessments of his work emphasise his monstrous, inexhaustible energy, and it is freakish even by the standards of obsessive, driven personalities. But all that energy is the vehicle for something you could just about risk calling a spiritual conviction, and you have to think about that when defining Ferguson’s optimism.’

by Tom Clare for Red News, an extract of this appeared in RN184 - this is the full article, copyright Tom Clare, Red News 2011

Tom Clare's Forever A Babe

A tribute to 'alex' by Simon Moult

Firstly of course the current edition of Red News - RN184 - is a special SAF-25 years mag which you can order/subscribe to at www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

Sir Alex Ferguson: The Official Manchester United Celebration of 25 Years at Old Trafford



“alex”
During Alex Ferguson’s 25 years at Manchester United the club has gone so far. We’ve seen a few very important nay, defining, one-nil victories, lost a cup in 90 minutes, gained a cup in 92 minutes or thereabouts, the badge lost the football club and the team lost a grey kit. We’ve won silverware with kids and we’ve seen the men they became go on to dominate. We’ve lost guvnor’s, marvels, a babyface and a couple of red head’s along the way, we gained the greatest Dane and watched the greatest centre forward, that the worrrrrld has ever seen. That’s according the Eric the King song anyway and who dares argue when the Stretford End decides that?
We’ve seen a lot in those twenty five years but through it all, the ups, the downs (not Tommy Doc size downs but, yknow, the loss of a league championship or two and a few in Europe), the treble’s and the all important signatures on all important contracts. We’ve even created a few of the world’s greatest players, or at least been there to watch them become worthy of that tag. One man took us from nowhere to everywhere.
One man has been there through it all. While Knighton took his ball and went home and he was allowed to, and when Eric took his and wasn’t... one man was at the heart of all of it. Sir Alex Ferguson. The football club has grown around him, because of him, we’ve seen all the success because of the vision he had. When an outside pundit doubts the quality of the young team Manchester United fields, one man takes the flack because he knows what that team can produce. Sir Alex Ferguson.
Yes there are changes which still arguably divide our supporters to this day but in terms of running the football club, the company, the brand, the team, the players and the collective ego, the world is in absolutely no doubt who runs Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson.
When we say we have a lot to thank him for, we mean it, but we thank him every time we turn up to support our team. Every time we cheer, every time we yell, every time I try and defy the laws of ability by trying to jump myself and my wheelchair over the netting in front of me at Old Trafford because we’ve just scored, we are saying thank you.
Thank you for turning a cheeky phone call about buying Denis Irwin, into the moment Eric Cantona joined. Thank you for throwing on those boys at the Nou Camp in 1999. Thank you for sending the Manchester Evening News in to a pull out producing frenzy by signing Andy ‘Call me Andrew’ Cole for 7m from Newcastle and allowing Keith Gillespie to go in the other direction and take on Alan Shearer in a stand off. Thank you for signing Andrei Kanchelskis and giving my Dad a minor stroke when I told him I wanted that name on the back of my shirt (75p a letter, plus badges, and the number 14... he still hasn’t forgiven me).
Thank you for turning Paul Scholes into a legend, and David May into a superstar.
Thank you for the most electrifying highs, lows lower than a snakes belly, and thanks a million for the retirement rethink.
I remember the story about the American president (Harry S Truman if you wanted to know) who had the quotation on his desk in the White House, “the buck stops here”. It was his show of belief that every decision lay with him and with it , the responsibility for the direction of the entire country. Sir Alex Ferguson runs Manchester United the same way, always has and always will until he decides otherwise.
I’ve met the manager a few times, at social things and Manchester United functions and he carries that authority with him always. The first time I was near him was when he signed my autograph book at Wembley.
He signed it “alex”... nothing more needed to be said. The buck stops there.


Simon A Moult 2011 Written exclusively for Red News. Follow Simon @Moultyx

MY FERGUSON-ERA BEST XI

MY FERGUSON-ERA BEST XI

- By Will Tidey, author of Life with Sir Alex: A Fan's Story of Ferguson's 25 Years at Manchester United by Will Tidey

Will will be signing copies of his book at 12pm at Deansgate Waterstones on Saturday.



As we approach Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25th anniversary at United, it seems fitting to re-visit a debate that’s been played out thousands of times during his reign. If you had to pick a Ferguson-era XI, who’d be in it, and why?

To qualify my selection, I’m going for the team I think would perform best over the course of the season, domestically and in Europe - and I’m going for the 4-4-2 formation that has graced the best part of Ferguson’s quarter of a century at Old Trafford.

GK: PETER SCHMEICHEL
To those who argue Edwin van der Sar should get the nod, I spread out my arms like a giant bear and roar in defiance, because United have never had a better goalkeeper than the Great Dane. Schmeichel
reinvented the artform during his time at Old Trafford and, aside from his natural flair for stopping the opposition scoring, was arguably the best proponent of the attack-launching overarm throw the game has ever seen.

RB: GARY NEVILLE
Neville’s remarkable focus and commitment saw him achieve 10 times what his God-given talent gave license to. As a defender his concentration was immense. In attack he knew his limits, but as a foil
to David Beckham he gave his starry-eyed best friend the ideal platform for world domination.

CB: STEVE BRUCE
Sheffield Wednesday at home, April 1993. With two late headed blows Bruce crashed open the door to two decades of success, and typified the never-say-die resolve he’d leant United since his arrival from Norwich City in 1987. What he lacked in flair, Bruce more than made up for in blood-and-guts commitment. When I close my eyes he’s wearing a bandage around his head.

CB: NEMANJA VIDIC
United’s 2008 central pairing of Vidic and Rio Ferdinand were arguably the most effective of the Ferguson era, but it’s the Serbian assassin I’d want more in a team chasing trophies. A fearless competitor who never knows when he’s beaten, Vidic is the Jaap Stam for a new generation.

LB: DENIS IRWIN
How much would Denis Irwin would be worth in the current market? Here was a quick, two-footed fullback, who could deliver accurate crosses from either flank and offer a genuine threat from set-pieces. The fact Ferguson got him for £625,000, and was repaid with 12 years’ of relentlessly immaculate service, makes Irwin one of the most astute signings in English football history.

RM: CRISTIANO RONALO
Has any player ever dominated a Premier League season quite like Ronaldo did in United’s 2007-08 campaign? On an average day he was devastating; at his best he was as close to unplayable as the most famous United number seven of them all. Those who cried for the departure of Beckham didn’t cry for long.

CM: ROY KEANE
United’s snarling, barnstorming midfield warrior, Roy Keane upped the ante when he arrived in 1993. By his standards of commitment so everybody would be measured, and for over a decade he dragged United by the scruff of the neck to prolific success. Has there ever been a better midfield performance by a United player than the one he gave in Turin against Juventus in 1999?

CM: PAUL SCHOLES
It’s a midfield prone to suspensions, but a few rash tackles here and there would be well worth the risk for this pairing – arguably the best of the Ferguson era. Scholes’ vision, creativity and goalscoring threat made him one of the best players of his generation and earned accolades all over the world. Xavi called him “the best midfielder of the last 20 years”, and you only need to watch back his 2003 hat-trick against Newcastle to see why.

LM: RYAN GIGGS
Was there ever a more electrifying sight during Ferguson’s reign than that of Giggs at full flight, slaloming past defenders with the ball glued to his instep? The wing wizard has long since evolved into a wily central midfielder, but 20 years on Giggs remains a central figure in United’s quest for a 20th league title. He’s Ryan Giggs, he’ll do what he wants.

FW: ERIC CANTONA
The influence of Cantona lives on. English football had never seen his like before, and hasn’t seen another like him since. The Frenchman instilled a swaggering belief to a United team who didn’t know how to get over the finish line. The stuttering gave way to a strutting confidence, and United’s next generation were born in his image. “I am not a man, I am Cantona,” he famously said. No you're not Eric, you're The King.

FW: WAYNE ROONEY
The Ruud van Nistelrooy argument is a strong one, but as time passes it’s becoming more and more unpalatable to consider a Ferguson XI shorn of an all-round attacking talent who goes by the name of Wayne Rooney. Ruud was a the master goal poacher – a Denis Law for the age, but Rooney gives my team goals and a whole lot more besides. Step forward the White Pele.

SUBS: Edwin Van der Sar, Jaap Stam, Patrice Evra, David Beckham, Bryan Robson, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Mark Hughes

NON-PLAYING, CELEBRATING SUB: David May

- By Will Tidey, author of Life with Sir Alex: A Fan's Story of Ferguson's 25 Years at Manchester United by Will Tidey

Dave Blatt's tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson

In the days before the PLC, one of the pleasures of attending the AGM was having a “one-to-one” with the manager once the press had departed. Holding court in front of an admiring throng, we would engage in a two way exchange that made us believe we were an integral part of the decision making process, whilst secrets were revealed that massaged our egos no end. For me this started with the Atkinson era and at AGMs and Euro aways us regulars built up quite a rapport. To be fair to Big Ron, before most Euro aways he would stroll over to wherever the United fans were being caged and exchange a few pleasantries with us.

At the 1986 United AGM I had my close encounter of the first kind with (pre Sir) Alex Ferguson. The word was out that he didn’t like long hair, so yours truly stood behind a pillar when I posed my first question, referring to my long hair and raising a laugh in the process. I remember his reply included the observation that there seemed to be more fans at this United AGM than Aberdeen fans at most home games. At the end of proceedings I followed my usual ritual of licking and groveling by asking each and every board member, including Bobby Charlton, if they would like to join fellow Reds, Michael Shenton, Graham Wyche and myself for lunch.

Wisely they all claimed to have made prior arrangements, except the new boy, Alex Ferguson.

“Hold on lads. I’ll join you in a minute.”

Trousers turning a collective brown, we followed the great man through the bowels of Old Trafford to one of the staff restaurants where we all ordered spaghetti. Once he opened up in our company we waxed lyrically for what seemed like hours. During the meal someone came over to our table to remind Alex that a Mr and Mrs Bosnich had flown in all the way from Australia and were waiting in his office, together with their son, Mark. Alex said he would be along in a few minutes, yet we continued to converse for well over an hour, discussing up and coming young players, especially Ryan Wilson, how the three of us had become United fans, and what we hoped for the future.

In the end it was I, Davidius, that had to remind Alex of the Australian family in his office. And thus he shook each one of us by the hand and left. The three of us sat back in awe, rewinding the last two hours. Then reality struck as the waiter came over and we paid for Alex’s meal.

The man’s reputation secured from day one.

Taken from "Manchester United Ruined My Wife" by David Blatt. David's new book, "The Red Eye - a United Fan's Distorted View Of The World" will be out later this year