Sir Alex Ferguson's Furious Reaction To Manchester United's FA Cup Defeat To Leeds

Sir Alex Ferguson stopped his Manchester United side from swapping shirts with Leeds players after their famous shock FA Cup defeat.

Leeds, who were a League One side at the time, defeated the then Premier League champions 1-0 at Old Trafford in a huge third round upset.

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Jermaine Beckford scored the only goal as Leeds became the first lower league side to ever knock Ferguson's United out of the competition.

In an interview with Daily Mail, Beckford revealed the aftermath of the famous victory.

"After the game, a couple of the boys had family who were Manchester United fans," Beckford recalled.

'They tried to get a couple of shirts from their players and Alex Ferguson said, "Absolutely not, under no circumstances are you giving any of them your shirts".'

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Ferguson was obviously furious with his side, which featured first team mainstays such as Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville.

It serves as a firm reminder of what kind of character the Scotsman had while managing.

Former Jamaica international Beckford also recalled the moments before stepping onto the pitch at Old Trafford.

He recalled that he thought: 'That's easy - we're going to beat these guys.'

'As soon as the game kicked off it was a European match. That's what it felt like. It was nonstop singing and chanting. It was crazy.'

Following the game, Ferguson was in no mood to disguise his disgust at the result.

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He snapped to The Guardian:

'The preparation was good but I was shocked at that performance. We didn't start right and Leeds did. They fought like tigers but you expect that from any team coming to Old Trafford.'

'It's a disappointment. Human beings can always surprise you but I didn't expect that. I don't think any of them can say they had a good day.'

'We never got going and the quality of passing - the whole performance - was bad. Leeds had a far better appetite for the game than us. You need luck and they got it but they deserved it because they played really well.'

Both sides will get their FA Cup campaigns underway this weekend.

United face Wolves in one of Saturday night's 17:30 kick-off's.

Whereas Leeds travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side.

Who do you think will win the FA Cup this season?

Sound off in the comments below.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, FA Cup, Leeds United

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a freelancer journalist for SPORTbible and covers a variety of sports. He also has past experience of working at Manchester United and once locked eyes with Jose Mourinho. He lived to tell the tale.

@DanMarland1998x