Memories
United 3 Barcelona 0
(22nd March 1984. European Cup Winners' Cup, Quarter-Final, 2nd leg. Old Trafford.)
United were two goals down from the first leg, so had their work cut out against Barcelona who included Maradona and Schuster in their ranks. It was Bryan Robson's night, scoring two goals in the 22nd and 50th minutes to put the Reds level on aggregate....with Frank Stapleton ramming home the winner just two minutes later, to send the 58,350 full-house into ecstasy. The Spaniards were shell-shocked, and Robbo was carried off the pitch shoulder-high by jubilant supporters.
United 2 Sheffield W. 1
(10th April 1993. Premiership. Old Trafford.)
John Sheridan scored from the penalty spot for Wednesday, mid-way through the second-half to leave United chasing the game. The crowd had visions of the Reds blowing up again, as they did big-style the previous season, to hand the Title to Leeds on a plate.
United hammered away at the Wednesday defence. It was deep into injury time when Steve Bruce finally planted a long-range header into the roof of the Sheffield net, to put us level. Barely a minute later, a cross from the right was deflected into the path of Bruce again, to send the ball into the corner of the net, and the crowd into a frenzy. This was the turning point for United, who then went on to clinch the Premiership for the first time since 1967.
United 4 Burnley 1
(24th September 1966. Division One. Old Trafford.)
A goal in this game by Denis Law, stands out as probably the best, and most memorable goal I have ever seen. A through-ball by Pat Crerand put George Best clear in the penalty area, just to the right of the Stretford end goal. From near the goal-line, Best crossed the ball low and hard. It struck a defender's foot, and spun into the air towards Law, who was standing with his back to goal, on level with the near-post on the six-yard line. In the blink of an eye, Denis launched himself skywards and swept the ball into the net with an amazing overhead kick, leaving the Burnley defenders and the packed Stretford end hardly believing what they had just witnessed. A goal that will stick in my mind forever.
United 1 Everton 0
(12th March 1983, FA Cup, 6th Round. Old Trafford.)
Everton had largely outplayed United in this Cup Quarter-Final. The Everton fans in the 58,198 crowd had outsung the home supporters, and were about to celebrate taking us back to Goodison for a replay, when fate took a hand. Deep into injury time, United were awarded a free-kick near the touchline close to the United bench. Ron Atkinson, sensing a now-or-never situation, immediately motioned for the kick to be delayed while he made a substitution, sending on Lou Macari. The free-kick was launched deep into the Everton box. Macari won the header, knocking the ball back into the path of Frank Stapleton, who volleyed the ball into the roof of the Everton net, sending the Reds a further step to Wembley.
Liverpool 0 United 1
(4th April 1979, FA Cup, Semi-Final Replay, Goodison Pk.)
United had been unlucky in the first game at Maine Road on the previous saturday. Only an Alan Hansen equalizer eight minutes from time, had prevented the Reds deservedly taking their place in the Cup Final. This replay had been just as exciting as the first game. Both sides had hit the woodwork, when after a spell of Liverpool pressure, United broke away in the 77th minute to finally claim their place at Wembley. Mickey Thomas crossed from the left, and Jimmy Greenhoff stooped to nod the ball past Ray Clemence, sending the Red hordes into ecstasy. Justice had been done.
Wolves 2 United 3
(9th March 1976. FA Cup, 6th round, replay. Molineux.)
The teams had drawn 1-1 on the previous saturday at Old Trafford, so when Wolves effortlessly went into a two-goal lead inside twenty minutes, it looked grim for us. However, a great fightback by United forced the game into extra-time, with the 10,000 travelling support urging them on for the winner, which came from Brian Greenhoff.
Liverpool 0 United 1
(11th May, 1996. FA Cup Final. Wembley.)
United had clinched the Premiership the previous weekend at Middlesbrough, and were attempting to do the Double for the second time in two years. Some were expecting a classic Final, but in truth it turned out to be a tedious game with both teams cancelling each other out. Enter Eric Cantona. With just four minutes left, Eric latched onto a poor punch-out by David James on the edge of the area, to arrow a shot through a sea of bodies to win it for us. Sweet.
United 2 Liverpool 1
(24th January, 1999. FA Cup 4th Round. Old Trafford.)
Michael Owen put Liverpool in front as early as the third-minute, leaving United chasing the game. The second half saw United applying almost constant pressure, hitting the woodwork twice and going close time after time. With two minutes to go Dwight Yorke tapped-in the equalizer, which brought a tidal wave of relief from the stands. Seconds later, substitute Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer sent us into delirium when he fired in at the near post, to set United back on the road to the Treble. Even sweeter.
United 2 Gornik Zabrze 0
(28th February 1968. European Cup, Quarter-Final, 1st leg. Old Trafford.)
Gornik came to defend, leaving the dangerous Lubanski up front on his own. United spent the entire match battering away at the packed defence, with the Poles' 'keeper Kostka having the match of his life, keeping out everything the Reds threw at him. The breakthrough finally came on the hour, Best cutting in along the goal-line before crossing hard and low into the goalmouth, the ball being deflected off Florenski before eluding Kostka. United battered away, but the elusive second goal didn't come until the final minute when Jimmy Ryan shot through a forest of legs for Brian Kidd to backheel the ball into the net. A great attacking performance by the Reds, with a 63,000 crowd providing a superb atmosphere.
United 1 Red Star Belgrade 0
(19th November 1991. European Super Cup. Old Trafford.)
A low-key game in front of only 22,000, which sticks in the memory for only one reason. The performance of midfielder Savicevic, who later went on to AC Milan. He was head and shoulders above everybody else, producing the best display by a visiting player for many years at Old Trafford. The Red Star team included class players like Mihajlovic, Jugovic, Belodedic, and Darko Pancev....but the then unknown Savicevic was the player who caught the imagination of the Old Trafford crowd, with people around me asking 'Who's that number 10'?
Bayern Munich 1 Manchester United 2
(26th May 1999. Champions' League Final, Nou Camp, Barcelona)
Anybody who was lucky enough to be in the Nou Camp, on that hot night of 26th May 1999, will tell you it was an occasion to savour. Every emotion known to football supporters was experienced that night........the expectation before the game, the atmosphere inside that breathtaking stadium.......the realisation that the team weren't playing to their usual high standard once the game got under way, that it wasn't going to be 'our night' - to those final mind-blowing two minutes when everything we had dreamed about....came right.
My own personal story begins at Luton Airport !
Unable to get on any flights from Manchester, my mate Kev and myself were forced into travelling on the 6-30am 'Easyjet' from Luton to Nice, in the South of France....completing the journey to Barcelona by hire-car, which turned out to be a longer drive than anticipated, although the countryside of Provence made up for it.
We were staying at the Hotel Esplendide in Blanes, a half-hour drive from Barcelona. A long session on the draught San Miguel in a bar opposite the Hotel on the tuesday night , left us feeling the worse for wear, as we staggered to our beds to catch up on the sleep we missed the night before. We were up early on wednesday morning with giant hangovers, intent on driving into Barcelona to do the sights, after parking the car conveniently close to the Nou Camp for the quick getaway after the game. Win or lose, we had to travel straight back to Nice to catch the early thursday morning flight home. The sight-seeing was completed, with frequent stops for 'liquid refreshment' in the heat of eighty degrees plus.
We decided to head for the ground on the Metro quite early, preferring to soak up the atmosphere of a European Final rather than arriving at the last minute tanked up.
The Nou Camp didn't look anything special from outside, to be quite honest. After going through the first turnstile, there was a cordon of Police searching for anything that could be used as a missile, which meant Kev could take in his bottle of water.....as long as he left the plastic top off it, outside ! We then faced another turnstile where the ticket bar-code was checked.....we were then underneath the stands, and looking for our section, which was 146. Up the few steps, and we were looking out on an incredible sight. If it looked nothing special from the outside, the Nou Camp was absolutely breathtaking from the inside.
After fixing our 'Whitefield' flag to the fence, thinking it would be seen by everybody watching on telly back home (it wasn't)....we had a look around the concourse behind the seats, and were surprised to find beer on sale, along with tables full of sandwiches, nuts, pastries, and even a barbecue area. The stadium filled up, the pre-match entertainment of hundreds of cheerleader-type dancing girls came on, as did Russell Watson Montserrat Caballe to do the inevitable rendition of 'Barcelona'.
The atmosphere was fantastic by the time the teams appeared, which showed that even the 'neutral' areas of the ground were populated by Reds.
The match itself was no classic, until roughly the 90th minute when events changed dramatically. I was of the opinion it just wasn't our night, we had blown it big-style....when I remember seeing Schmeichel trotting up for the corner, thinking to myself that this was our last chance, now or never. I had visions of the ball being cleared, Bayern moving upfield and rolling the ball into the empty net. Obviously when Teddy scored, the first emotion was overwhelming relief.....we would do them in extra-time, no doubt about it. Less than a minute later, Ole nudged home the winner.
Cue delirium.
The only black mark was that we had to get back in the car after the match, and drive straight to Nice in time to catch the flight home, so no time for serious celebrations. Being a few years older than Kev, I exercised my authority and let HIM drive all the way back to Nice, while I took it easy, and wished we were on the Ramblas getting bladdered.
United 1 AC Milan 0
(15th May 1969. European Cup, Semi-Final, 2nd leg. Old Trafford.)
Two goals down from the first leg in the San Siro, against one of the toughest defences in Europe. United had no choice but to go for it, which they did, but were unable to breach Milan's packed defence until the 70th minute. George Best brilliantly beat two defenders on the edge of the box, before laying the ball to his right for Bobby Charlton to hammer the ball home.
United's tails were up now, but shortly after the goal the game was held up when Milan's goalkeeper Cudicini was felled by a missile allegedly thrown from the Stretford end. The delay took the sting out of United, but in a late goalmouth scramble Denis Law poked the ball over the line for the equaliser. A Milan defender lying on the floor managed to clear the ball. The 63,103 crowd were ready to acclaim the goal, but the French referee amazingly waved play on, having apparently been unsighted on the edge of the penalty area. TV replays later suggested the ball had crossed the line, but the holders were out of the competition, losing 1-2 on aggregate.
United 3 Blackburn R. 1
(3rd May 1993. Premiership. Old Trafford.)
United were confirmed as Champions when Oldham won 1-0 at Villa the day before. The stage was set for the Mother of all parties at Old Trafford on Bank Holiday Monday. The atmosphere inside the ground that night was unbelievable, as goals from Giggs, Ince and Pallister saw off the threat of Blackburn, who would themselves be Champions within two years.
United 3 West Bromwich A. 5
(30th December 1978. Division One. Old Trafford)
Great match, with both sides giving fine displays of attacking football. West Brom with Robson, Cunningham, Regis, etc. in their line-up, were in irresistible mood as they put five past United.......who were in the middle of a miserable run which saw them also lose to Bolton (0-3), Liverpool (0-3), and Arsenal (0-2).
United 2 Tottenham 1
(16th May 1999. Premiership. Old Trafford)
Final day of the League season, and we had to beat Spurs to clinch another Premiership Title. Our nearest challengers, Arsenal, had to hope their North London rivals would do them a favour by winning, to give them any hope of pipping us.
Ferdinand provided a glimmer of hope for the Gunners by scoring in the 25th minute, but normal service was returned two minutes before half-time when David Beckham equalised. Andy Cole came on as substitute for the second half, and within two minutes had lobbed the ball over Ian Walker to put us 2-1 in front, triggering the biggest roar of the season at Old Trafford. We held on for the three points, and clinch the first part of the historic Treble, winning the FA Cup the week after, and the European Cup in Barcelona on the wednesday after that.
FC Barcelona 4 United 0
(2nd November 1994. Champions' League. Nou Camp.)
Men against boys, as Barcelona tore United to shreds and looked as if they could score in every attack. The foreigners rule again cost United as Cantona and Schmeichel had to be left out, but the 114,273 Nou Camp crowd couldn't care less, and roared their approval as Romario and Stoichkov ran riot.
West Ham U. 1 United 6
(6th May 1967. Division 1. Upton Park.)
I remember this day vividly, as I was at Maine Road watching City with some blue mates ! (City v Sheff U., I think). Didn't really take much notice of the City performance, as I was more concerned how the Reds were doing at Upton Park. No transistor radio to keep me informed, so it was a great relief when the half-time scoreboard read.....'West Ham 0....Man Utd 4'.
Manchester City 2 United 3
(7th November 1993. Premiership. Maine Road.)
City shot into a 2-0 first-half lead with two goals from Niall Quinn. United came out for the second-half with all guns blazing though, and a defensive error left Eric Cantona clear through to put the ball past Tony Coton, to put United back in it. It was Cantona again, after a brilliant cross from Giggs, who got the equaliser to leave the Reds scenting victory. The inevitable winner came when Lee Sharpe crossed from the left, and Roy Keane arrived at the far post to blast home, leaving City and their supporters, stunned.
