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When Sir Alex Ferguson Brought Himself On And Got Sent Off In Friendly Game

When Sir Alex Ferguson Brought Himself On And Got Sent Off In Friendly Game

Sir Alex Ferguson told his players to remain tight-lipped about the whole incident.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Sir Alex Ferguson was renowned for losing his head during his glittering, trophy-laden management career. After all, the phrase "hairdryer treatment" is associated with the Fiery scot.

He was given 17 touchline bans in 26 years as Manchester United manager but our favourite story about Fergie having a rush of blood came during his time as manager at St Mirren.

St Mirren was his second managerial job after his stint in charge of East Stirlingshire and in 1976, Ferguson, having only retired from football a couple of years prior, took his team on a three-week pre-season tour of the Caribbean.

As per Thore Haugstad, writing in Four Four Two, the outing came about because former chairman Harold Currie, had business links in the trading of whisky.

But it wasn't just a big three-week piss-up for Fergie's men as they partook in some friendly games, one being against the Guyana national team ahead of a big World Cup qualifier that was on the horizon.

The story goes that the Guyana team were not taking it easy at all, their centre-half being very rough and ready with the Saints' young Robert Torrance - something that angered Ferguson and prompted him to remonstrate with the referee from the touchline.

Image: PA
Image: PA

When Torrance was done in again by the same player just before half-time, Fergie's head went and he wanted a piece of the defender.

"That's it, I'm coming on," Ferguson said to his assistant David Provan. "That big bastard is taking liberties."

Provan and Ferguson had both been kitted as substitutes for a laugh but now that things had got real, the former Dunfermline, Rangers and Falkirk striker wanted in and would not let his right-hand man stop him from doing so.

He entered the fray and when the next cross came in, Ferguson exacted "a bit of revenge" on the defender, leaving him "squealing" - according to the man himself.

When they went at it again, Ferguson left it on the centre-back one more time and the referee swiftly gave him his marching orders.

Image: PA
Image: PA

After the game, Fergie, still a very young manager at the time, told his players to keep tight-lipped about what had happened and they obliged - hence the story being a bit lesser known than it probably should be.

That wasn't the only time Fergie brought himself on in a friendly over in the Caribbean. In 1987, in the middle of his first full season as United manager, the Red Devils played Bermuda and a 45-year old Ferguson, along with his assistant Archie Knox, 40, were introduced for the final 25 minutes.

According to Yahoo Sports, Knox scored a 35-yard screamer for the final goal of the game, while Ferguson, comfortably the oldest player on the pitch, went close with a header in a 4-2 victory.

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Topics: Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League