Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Man Utd, Liverpool, Premier League
Jack Kenmare
Sir Alex Ferguson walked past a Liverpool player in airports and hotels for more than two decades after the former Manchester United manager overheard a rude joke.
As far as rivalries go, Manchester United and Liverpool is up there with the biggest. And the build-up rarely disappoints.
From Ferguson vowing to "knock Liverpool off their f***ing perch" to Rafael Benitez's infamous "facts" rant in a 2009 press conference, the no-nonsense Scot was the king of mind games ahead of game day.
There have been so many memorable incidents over the years, both on and off the field, when it comes to United vs Liverpool.
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But perhaps one of the more lesser known incidents came towards the end of the 1991-92 campaign, when Liverpool legend Gary McAllister made a risky comment about Ferguson – unaware that he was on live television.
McAllister, who was playing for Leeds at the time, had gone to teammate Lee Chapman's house to watch United's crunch first division clash against Liverpool.
At the house, the former Scotland international was joined by Leeds teammates Eric Cantona and David Batty, as well as a big TV crew ahead of potential celebrations.
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Manchester United went on to lose the game 2-0 and Leeds secured the title. Soon, things would get a tad awkward.
I'll let McAllister tell you the rest of this story.
"We all went back to Chappy’s house after the game in Sheffield to watch Manchester United play Liverpool at Anfield," McAllister told Sport & Fitness Middle East back in 2017.
"Because I’d done some TV work, I was tuned in to the director at Anfield so I could hear the director and all his comments. He was talking to the presenter, talking to the cameramen. I could hear everything which was going on in the studio.
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"Liverpool win 2-0 and Leeds United win the league, we’re p****d. After the game, we’re watching the pictures coming across, the interviews after the game and I can hear in my ear the director saying, 'Get to the tunnel, we’ve got Fergie.'
"Milliseconds later he’s up on the TV and Fergie comes on. His face is bright red. His first comments, as you can expect, were, 'I want to make it clear, Leeds haven’t won the league. Manchester United have lost the league! I’m making it clear!'
"Nose very red, he says, 'Make no mistake, Leeds have not won the league! Manchester United have lost the league! We’ve thrown the league away.'
"So flippantly in Lee Chapman’s living room, I say, 'Big red-face as gracious as ever in defeat.'
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"Then Dennis Law came back in my ear and said, 'Gary, Fergie can hear you.'
"Alex Ferguson has walked past me in Lithuanian airports and Albanian hotels for 20 years and never looked in my direction!"
Back in 2006, that feud was squashed when Ferguson got in touch with McAllister after his wife, Denise, sadly passed away.
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"This is the measure of the man. When you’re competing against him, you’re the enemy, but when I went through this tragic experience with cancer, who was the first person to call me? Alex Ferguson," the former Scotland international added.
"He was the first person to make a phone call. He invited me to the training ground at Carrington. He said, “You can come to training any day. You can come to Old Trafford to any game.”
"The first mass card I got through the post was from his wife. You see this figure, when you’re competing against him, he’ll do anything to beat you.
"But there’s a gentle side to Alex Ferguson and that’s something I learned down the line. For 20 years, I did not exist!"