Football's Fifty Most Important Moments by Ben Jones

Author:Ben Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2020-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

1986–92

31. Alex Ferguson Joins Manchester United (1986)

32. The Hillsborough Disaster (1989)

33. Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team (1992)

34. Denmark Conquer Europe (1992)

35. The Premier League and Champions League are Born (1992)

31

Alex Ferguson Joins Manchester United (1986)

Today, there are a wealth of names synonymous with Manchester United; Bobby Charlton, George Best and Ryan Giggs to name but three. There is, however, one which arguably upstages even these three legends of the modern game. That name is, of course, Sir Alex Ferguson. Despite a relative lack of success in recent years, the past two decades were truly dominated by Ferguson’s United. Playing a blend of attacking football with defensive solidity, the side were relatively unbeatable on their day. What is perhaps the most surprising is where the club were prior to his arrival.

To fully grasp the magnitude of the task Ferguson faced as he entered Old Trafford, it is important to take a closer look at United’s biggest rivals, Liverpool. The 1970s and 1980s had been dominated by the Merseyside club. Indeed, under the guidance of influential managers Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish, the Reds had swept aside all that was in front of them.

Between 1970 and 1986, Liverpool had won the league nine times as well as the European Cup on four occasions. Together with league success for rivals Everton in 1985, there seemed to be no way of stopping the Merseyside dominance of English football.

Manchester United had seen only minor success in the same period. The days of Charlton, Best and the Busby Babes were long gone, and despite boasting a squad with talented players like Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes, United had only three FA Cups to their name since 1968. The 1985/86 season had started off successfully as the club had won 13 of their first 15 league matches. United had led the table until February, but then a series of disappointing results and an injury to Robson saw them fall behind Everton.

Across Stanley Park, Liverpool had suffered through a gruelling winter, but recovered under player-manager Kenny Dalglish to win 11 of their last 12 games and pinch the league from the blue half of Merseyside. What was to further compound the misery in Manchester was Liverpool’s FA Cup triumph at Wembley, once more at Everton’s expense. The Reds were well and truly on their perch and there was little chance of them falling off. For many fans and commentators, the scouse supremacy was too much to take. Jimmy Greaves went as far as saying, ‘I wish they’d cut Merseyside off from the rest of the country, float it out into the Irish Sea … so all the other clubs have a chance of winning something!’211

The following season, United had suffered a terrible slump in form. Losing six of their opening eight games and a third-round League Cup exit at the hands of Southampton meant Atkinson’s days were over. In stepped Alex Ferguson. As manager of Scottish club Aberdeen, Ferguson enjoyed impressive success – winning three Scottish Leagues, four Scottish Cups and even the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983.

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