Growing up in a suburb of Salford, just outside of Manchester, in the 1980’s you either had a choice of red or blue. For me, the choice was either red or red as my father made sure of my allegiances at an early age. It was either Manchester United or Manchester United. But the choice wasn’t that hard, as I fell in love with the men from Old Trafford right from day one. Football has become one of my biggest passions, my ultimate turmoils and the source of many emotional highs and lows. These are my five greatest moments in football, the ones that have stirred the biggest amounts of joy and the ones that will stay with me forever.
1985 FA Cup Final
One of my first footballing memories is also one of my favourites. The 1985 FA Cup final between Everton and Manchester United will forever be remembered as the final which saw the first ever red card in a FA Cup final. United defender Kevin Moran is the owner of that record as he saw red for a tackle on Everton midfielder Peter Reid. The 90 minutes ended 0-0 and the match went to extra time. Everton had an extra man, were league champions and had just won the European Cup Winners Cup, so it looked doomed for United. That was until Norman Whiteside sealed the win for the Red Devil’s with a counter-attacking goal in the 110th minute.
1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final
United won the right to play in the European Cup Winners Cup final after beating Crystal Palace in the final of the 1990 FA Cup. The road to the final was relatively uneventful for United, who beat Wrexham, Montpellier and Legia Warsaw on the way to Rotterdam. The final was a different matter though, as United faced a side packed with world stars such as Ronald Koeman, Jose Mari Bakero and Michael Laudrup. The first half ended 0-0, and it wasn’t until Mark Hughes scored against his former club in the 67th minute that United took control of the game. Hughes struck again before Koeman gave the Spaniards some hope, but it was too little too late. Alex Ferguson had led us to our first European trophy in my lifetime and the start of something very special.
Manchester United 3 v Blackburn 1 – May 3rd, 1993
Alex Ferguson’s new era of success at United was fully under way by the time Blackburn visited Old Trafford in May of 1993. He had just secured our first league title in 26 years when Aston Villa failed to defeat Oldham the previous night. So the visit of Blackburn was strictly part time as the players, fans and manager all celebrated our success. The game itself only has one memorable moment for me, which was Gary Pallister scoring a free kick to make it 3-1 and becoming our last remaining first team player left to score that season. His reaction of both absolute delight and undeniable shock was a mirror of what I was feeling as a supporter. Of course, this would be the first of many other league titles under Ferguson, but it will always be my favourite.
1999 Champions League Final
I could have filled a full list of these with moments from just the 1998-99 season. It was, of course, the season United completed the treble, with the 1999 Champions League final being the pinnacle of a once-in-a-lifetime season. Going into the game in Barcelona, United had already done the league and cup double, and confidence was high amongst fans that we could pull it off and complete the most historic of trebles. United were without Scholes and Keane for the game, our midfield pairing, but regardless there was something telling us it wouldn’t matter. The game was a nightmare though, with Bayern taking the lead and laying siege to the United goal for almost 90 minutes. That was until Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secured an amazing double injury time hit to snatch the game from Bayern’s hands. The celebrations went on for days, but I’ll never forget the moment the ball crossed the line for the second goal.
2008 Champions League Final
The third time United have lifted the biggest prize in European football, United had to travel all the way to Moscow for this game against Chelsea. The season had been a great one, with the trio of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez providing the United faithful with some of the most impressive attacking football I have witnessed from the Red Devils. Chelsea were no slouches though and were looking for revenge as we pipped them to the league title a week or so earlier. Ronaldo gave United the lead in the first half with Frank Lampard equalising on the brink of half time. A further 75 minutes couldn’t separate the two teams, so we headed to penalties. The first to miss was Ronaldo of all people, but Chelsea kept rattling them in and as it got to the final penalty, with the score at 4-4, John Terry stepped up for the blues. Terry failed to score, sending the fans into raptures and saving our bacon for another penalty at least. Successful spot kicks from Hargreaves, Nani and Giggs left Nicholas Anelka to score and carry on the Chelsea. He missed, and the trophy was again ours. A win over an English rival made it even sweeter, and a feeling I hope to feel again, sooner rather than later.
