October 20, 1990: The Battle of Old Trafford

October 20, 1990: North London soccer team Arsenal travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. Both teams are chasing defending Champions Liverpool in the hope of winning the Football League Division One. (It became the Premier League in 1992.)

Old Trafford, located in the Borough of Salford, about 4 miles west of Central Manchester, was filled to capacity with 47,232 fans. Already known as the Theatre of Dreams since United's 1960s success, it has since been expanded to 74,310 seats, making it the largest stadium in the Premier League. The 26,000-seat Old Trafford Cricket Ground is a short walk away.

Arsenal were managed by George Graham, a midfielder on the Arsenal team that had won The Double -- the League and the FA Cup in the same season -- in 1971. A year later, he was sold to United, and became their Captain -- and still held that role when the team was relegated at the end of the 1974 season. (It was hardly his fault: He was not the only player on that team that was past his prime.) They came right back up the next season, and have been in the top flight ever since. Arsenal have been in it continuously since 1919.

United were managed by Alex Ferguson, a forward for several Scottish teams from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, and was not an especially remarkable player. They grew up 10 miles apart: Ferguson was from West Glasgow, Graham from Bargeddie to the east of downtown Glasgow.

Arsenal had won the League in 1989, needing to win away to Liverpool by at least 2 goals on the last day of the season, and doing it, on a goal by Michael Thomas in the last possible minute. Manchester United were the current holders of the FA (Football Association) Cup, the 1st trophy they would win under Ferguson. For both sides, there were more trophies to come.

There wasn't always bad blood between the teams. In the 1979 FA Cup Final, Arsenal led 2-0 in the 86th minute. Within 2 minutes, United had equalized. But Arsenal came right back, and Alan Sunderland scored in the 89th to win it. That game was clean: Neither side felt the need to play rough.

That would not be the case in 1983. Arsenal had advanced to the Semifinals of both domestic cup tournaments, but lost both to United. Losing the League Cup Semi was one thing. Losing the FA Cup Semi when Norman Whiteside should have been sent off for a dive, and then he scored the winning goal, was a bit much. This may have been the first time Arsenal had been robbed by a United-friendly referee, and there would be plenty more where that came from.

In 1987, Arsenal went into a match with United at Old Trafford with a 22-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Graham was in his 1st season with Arsenal after managing South London team Millwall, and this was his 1st match against United. Ferguson was in his 1st season with United after managing Aberdeen F.C. in Scotland, and this was his 1st match against Arsenal. Whiteside was his usual dirty self, and he was fouled by Arsenal star David Rocastle, and Rocastle was sent off. United won it, 2-0.

In 1988, they played each other in the 5th Round of the FA Cup, at Arsenal Stadium, known as Highbury for its North London neighborhood. Arsenal led 2-1 late, but United were awarded a penalty that Arsenal considered dubious. Scottish forward Brian McClair took the penalty, and missed, sending the ball over the cross bar of the goal, and was taunted for this by Arsenal left back Nigel Winterburn.

Arsenal went into the October 20, 1990 match in 2nd place behind Liverpool, and United were in 6th. United were without their usual Captain, Bryan Robson, due to injury, so fellow midfielder Neil Webb wore the armband. Before the 1988-89 season, centreback Tony Adams, just 22, was named the youngest Captain in Arsenal history to that point, and rewarded Graham's faith by leading them to the League title.

Midfielder Thomas returned from injury. But the biggest change for Arsenal was the return from injury of Anders Limpar, the Swedish midfielder who had been Graham's big off-season signing. Limpar was one of the earliest big names in the English League not to be from the British Isles. Graham had a thing for Scandinavian players, which would eventually prove to be his undoing.

The game was scoreless until just before halftime, when Paul Davis took a corner for Arsenal, and passed it to Limpar. From a seemingly impossible angle, the Swede swatted the ball with his left foot, and sent it past United goalkeeper Les Sealey. It bounced off Sealey's hands and back out, but had clearly crossed the line, and referee Keith Hackett gave the goal.

Anders Limpar after scoring.

Michael Thomas and David Rocastle in the background.

That lead -- as a later song would put it, "One-Nil to The Arsenal" -- still held at the hour mark. Denis Irwin, United's Irish right back and a notoriously dirty player, challenged Limpar for the ball. Winterburn tackled him to stop him, a clean play. Irwin didn't think so, and he and McClair shoved Winterburn. Midfielder Paul Ince pushed Limpar into the advertising hoardings around the pitch.

Denis Irwin

Both sets of players rushed to the scene -- to both teams' credit, mostly to try to stop it from getting further out of control. It was mostly pushing and shoving, and lasted only about 20 seconds. Thomas would later say, "It wasn't a brawl, because no one threw a punch." Only 1 player did not get involved: Arsenal's new goalkeeper, David Seaman.

Hackett had correctly given Arsenal's goal, but when things settled down, his rulings defied logic. He gave yellow cards, warnings, to Limpar and Winterburn, and gave no punishment to any players from United.

Arsenal held on to win 1-0, but the game left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Both teams took action against their own people, hoping to inoculate themselves against additional charges by the FA. While United's fines were never made public, the rumor was that Irwin, McClair and Ince had all been fined. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood announced that he had fined Limpar, Winterburn, Thomas, Davis and Rocastle undisclosed amounts, and also that he had fined Graham £9,000 for losing control of his players.

The Football Association, the governing body of English soccer -- not the League itself -- was told by UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, to take action. They fined both teams £50,000, and deducted points from both teams. This had never happened because of a fight before, and has not happened since. United were docked one point, and Arsenal were docked two points.

This was unfair. If anything, it should have been the other way around, as United had started the fight. Ferguson's career as the dirtiest manager the English football system has ever known was underway. (He may have since been surpassed by Jose Mourinho.) As Arsenal's seniormost player, Irish centreback David O'Leary, put it, "The champagne will be out at Liverpool tonight, because this makes our task very much harder."

This did not faze George Graham's Arsenal. Instead, it bred a siege mentality in them. On December 2, they demolished Liverpool 3-0 at Highbury. On February 2, 1991, they went across London to Chelsea, and sustained a 2-1 loss that turned out to be the only defeat of their season in League play. On March 3, they went to Anfield, and a Paul Merson goal gave them a 1-0 win that struck what turned out to be a fatal blow to Liverpool's hopes.

Their cup campaigns were not as successful. On November 28, just 39 days after the "brawl," they played United in the 4th Round of the League Cup at Highbury, and lost 6-2. At least that game was played without incident.

And on April 14, they lost to North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Semifinal of the FA Cup, at Villa Park in Birmingham, home of Aston Villa. This followed 0-0 draws with "Spurs" in League play, at Highbury on September 1, and at White Hart Lane on January 12. But Spurs tailed off, as is their custom: Just 2 points behind Arsenal following the point-docking, they finished 10th. They did, however, win the FA Cup, defeating East Midlands team Nottingham Forest in the Final.

It's been 31 years since. They have never even won another FA Cup Semifinal, going 0-8 since 1991, including defeats to Arsenal in 1993 and 2001. In that time, their only trophies have been League Cups, in 1999 and 2008.

On May 6, 1991, a Bank Holiday Monday in Britain, Forest beat Liverpool 2-1. This clinched the title for Arsenal, for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. As fate would have it, Arsenal then had to take the pitch at Highbury to play United, and received a "guard of honour" from the United players.

Alex Ferguson and George Graham.

This photo may be from Graham's later tenure at Leeds United.

Forward Alan Smith scored a hat trick to clinch the Golden Boot as the League's leading scorer, and the Gunners beat the Red Devils 3-1. And, all game long, the Arsenal fans chanted, more to the FA than to United, or Liverpool, or anyone else in particular, "You can shove yer fookin' two points up yer arse!"

In 1992-93, its 1st season of play, United won the Premier League, while Arsenal won the FA Cup. United won both in 1994, for their 1st Double. Graham was fired for financial improprieties in 1995, and after playing the 1995-96 season, another Double season for United, under Bruce Rioch, Arsenal hired French manager Arsène Wenger.

United won the League again in 1997. Wenger led Arsenal to the Double in 1998. In 1999, Ferguson led United to win the League (by just 1 point over Arsenal), the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League, English football's 1st "European Treble." It was the 1st of 3 straight League titles for United, and Arsenal finished 2nd every time.

Arsenal won another Double in 2002, clinching the League title at Old Trafford. In 2003, Arsenal successfully defended the Cup, but United edged them to win the League. At this point, the rivalry between the teams got really nasty, as Ferguson assembled a team of divers and thugs, playing the kind of football that made Don Revie's 1960s and '70s "Dirty Leeds" look like paragons of sportsmanship in comparison.

The 2003-04 season featured an early-season match loaded with controversy, ending in a 0-0 draw that also became known as "The Battle of Old Trafford." Arsenal won the League, going unbeaten, but could only manage a pair of draws with United, who also knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup in the Semifinal, and won it.

Arsenal began the 2004-05 season by extending their League unbeaten run to 49 games, a new record. But the 50th game, at Old Trafford, may have been the ugliest game in Premier League history. Referee Mike Riley, who officiated in Arsenal's victorious 2002 FA Cu Final win over Chelsea, should have sent off Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and both Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, but didn't, before Wayne Rooney executed a straight-red-card-worthy dive in the 73rd minute, and Riley awarded a penalty. van Nistelrooy scored it.

Rooney finished the game off in the 90th minute, and United won 2-0, with both goals coming from players who shouldn't even have been on the pitch. United should have ended the game with only 6 players.

After the game there was shouting between the layers and staffs. Someone -- later suggested to be Cesc Fàbregas, the 18-year-old Catalan midfielder touted as Arsenal's future (and didn't turn out that way -- went into the visiting team dressing room, pulled a slice of pizza from the postgame spread, and threw it at Ferguson, splattering his jacket. The game became known as "The Battle of the Buffet."

By this point, Keith Hackett, the referee for the 1990 Battle of Old Trafford, was in his 1st full season as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL). This means he assigned the referees to the various matches, and disciplined them for errors. He did not discipline Riley, although he did award van Nistelrooy a retroactive 3-match ban, which he would have gotten had Riley correctly given him a straight red card.

Arsenal went on to beat United in the 2005 FA Cup Final. But United won the League again in 2007, '08, '09 (clinching the title with a next-to-the-last-weekend 0-0 draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford), '11 and '13, and won another Champions League in 2008.

In 2009, Hackett retired as head of the PGMOL. His replacement? Riley, who still holds the post. Arsenal have still not won the League since 2004, although they have won the FA Cup in 2014, '15, '17 and '20.

Sir Alex Ferguson (knighted following the 1999 Treble) retired in 2013, and United's only trophies since have been the 2016 FA Cup and the 2017 UEFA Europa League. Arsène Wenger retired in 2018. George Graham has been out of management since 2001. All 3 are still alive: Ferguson is 80, Graham is about to turn 78, and Wenger turns 73 in 2 days.

Wenger has published an autobiography, My Life in Red and White, in honor of the fact that all 4 teams he has managed as a professional wore those colors. Graham wrote one in 1996, The Glory and the Grief. Ferguson has written 2: Managing My Life in 2000, and My Autobiography following his 2013 retirement.

Although Football -- Bloody Hell! is a bio of "Fergie," and the title a quote attributed to him, it was written by Patrick Barclay. He has also written bios of Herbert Chapman, the 1st great Arsenal manager, in the 1930s; Matt Busby, the great United manager of the 1950s and '60s; and Jose Mourinho, who joined Ferguson and Wenger as the 3rd high-achieving Premier League manager of the 21st Century, winning League titles at Chelsea, and later failing as manager of United, and now manages Tottenham.

*

October 20, 1990 was a Saturday. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, completing a 4-game sweep of the World Series, a tremendous upset. Neither team has reached the World Series since.

The NBA season wouldn't begin for another 13 days. There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And there were college football games, including the following:

* Number 1 Virginia beat Wake Forest, 49-14 at Groves Stadium in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The next week, Virginia began an awful collapse, losing 4 of their last 5 games, and blowing the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They were still invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 2 Miami were upset by Number 6 Notre Dame, 29-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish later lost to Penn State, but were still Number 5 when they played Colorado in the Orange Bowl. Had they won that game, they wouldn't have been awarded the National Championship -- then again, it's Notre Dame, so you never know -- but Colorado certainly wouldn't have, being 8-2-1.

* Number 3 Tennessee lost to Alabama, 9-6 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee still won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama went to the Fiesta Bowl, losing to the University of Louisville.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State, 31-3 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Two weeks later, Nebraska lost to Colorado, to knock them out of the Big 8, and national, title picture.

* Number 5 Auburn beat Number 7 Florida State, 20-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. But the Tigers blew their chance by losing 3 games the rest of the way.

* Number 10 Michigan were upset by Number 22 Iowa, 24-23 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten Conference title.

* Number 11 Georgia Tech were tied by North Carolina, 13-13 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This would turn out to be the only blemish on Tech's record, as they won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl, finishing 11-0-1.

* Number 13 Washington beat Stanford, 52-16 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Washington won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 14 Colorado beat Kansas, 41-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Colorado had already had their "Fifth Down" win over Missouri, and went on to win the Big Eight title, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, to win one of the more dubious National Championships in college football history.

Why weren't Georgia Tech, at 11-0-1, the only undefeated team in the country, and a school with a considerably better historical legacy than Colorado, given the National Championship over Colorado, who were 11-1-1 and should've been 10-2-1?

The only thing I can think of is, the ACC, while probably the most-respected league when it comes to college basketball, were not as respected in college football as the Big 8 (Colorado's league), the Big 10, the Pac-10, the SEC and the SWC. Then again, in 1984, Brigham Young (BYU) won the Western Athletic Conference title and were the only undefeated team, and were selected over Washington (11-1 and the only team with 1 blemish, but not Pac-10 Champions).

* Number 16 Oklahoma lost to Iowa State, 33-31 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 17 Florida beat Akron, 59-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Number 19 Texas beat Arkansas, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. They got up to Number 3 before losing to then-Number 4 Miami in the Cotton Bowl. And they'd already lost to Colorado on September 22. So even if they'd won the Cotton Bowl, they probably wouldn't have been ranked any higher than 3rd in the last poll.

August 15, 2011: The Summer of Arsenal's Discontent

Cesc Fàbregas, 2005

August 15, 2011: The great plan that Arsène Wenger, manager of Arsenal Football Club, began 6 years earlier comes crashing down. And the worst Summer of his tenure with the North London soccer team would get even worse.

Francesc Fàbregas Soler was born on May 4, 1987 in Arenys de Mar, Catalonia, Spain. "Cesc" was the midfielder that his hometown club, F.C. Barcelona, didn't want, and Wenger bought him dirt cheap. He built his team around Cesc, dismantling the 2004 "Invincible" team in the process. He built a team of very young players, with the idea of "If you are good enough, you are old enough." He took this young team from the old stadium, Highbury, built in 1913, and moved it into the new Emirates Stadium in 2006.

This transition from veterans to youth, and in particular building around Cesc, was the biggest mistake of Wenger's career. To borrow words Wenger likes to use, Cesc had "the quality" to be one of the greatest players in soccer, but he did not have "the mental strength."

Although he put on some spectacular moves and scored some great goals -- such as an absolute stunner against arch-rival Tottenham on Halloween 2009, just 45 seconds after a Robin van Persie goal -- he got hurt frequently, probably costing Arsenal the 2007 and 2011 League Cup Finals.

He and van Persie helped Arsenal win the FA Cup as reserves in their 1st full season, 2004-05, and they reached the 2006 Champions League Final, but losing to Barcelona. But, between the two of them, they won nothing more for Arsenal: They finished 2nd in the League in 2008, and reached the Semifinals of both the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 2009, but got no closer to significant honors.

Barça, always media-savvy, had articles and columns printed suggesting that Cesc was merely on loan to Arsenal, was homesick there, and that it was his destiny to return to his hometown, to his original club -- which had gotten rid of him without realizing what he could be, much as Feyenoord of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, had done with van Persie.

Cesc was a member of the Spain team that won Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012. But at the celebration for the 2010 World Cup in Madrid, the Spain team's Captain, Carles Puyol, also Barcelona's Captain, put a Barcelona jersey on Cesc, over his Spain jersey. And another of Spain's Barça players, Andres Iniesta, called him "The future of Spain, the future of Barcelona" at that ceremony -- in Madrid, where Barça are despised.

And he let them, even though his contract with Arsenal ran 2 more years. In a 2011 Champions League match, he passed not to an Arsenal teammate, but to a Barcelona player, setting up their winning goal.

It was not his last piece of treachery, not his last gift to his once-and-future teammates. Accusations of secret meetings between Cesc and Barça, a.k.a. "tapping-up," abounded. At the dawn of the 2011-12 season, he went on strike, pretending to be injured until he got sold back to Barça. He turned up at a tennis tournament in Spain, appearing not to be injured. For this poisoning the atmosphere at the club, I called him "Cesc Mustardgas."

On July 4, left back Gaël Clichy was sold to Manchester City for £7 million. He was supposed to be the successor to Ashley Cole, after "Cashley" had whined his way across town to free-spending West London team Chelsea. On August 15, Arsenal bowed to the seemingly inevitable. After getting Fàbregas from Barcelona for free 8 years earlier, he was sold to them for £35 million.

More was to come. The next day, popular but inconsistent right back/winger Emmanuel Eboué was sold to Galatasaray of Istanbul, Turkey for £4 million. On August 24, Samir Nasri, a French winger who seemed to play well with Fàbregas, but listlessly without him, was sold to Manchester City for £25 million. Arsenal now had an extra £71 million, but were missing 4 key players, 5 if you count the occasionally effective Eboué.

Arsenal's start to the season couldn't have been much worse. They opened the Premier League season with a 0-0 draw away to Newcastle United. Liverpool came into the Emirates, and beat them, 2-0. And then, on August 28, Arsenal went to Old Trafford to play Manchester United, who were coming off a season where they won the Premier League and reached the Champions League Final. United were at full strength.

Arsenal were not. Fàbregas, Nasri and Clichy had been sold; while goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, usual starting right back Bacary Sagna and centreback Thomas Vermaelen were injured. With 6 players who should have started either sold or injured, Arsenal fell behind 2-0 in the 1st half-hour, allowed 3 goals in a 6-minute stretch in the 2nd half, had emergency right back Carl Jenkinson sent off with a 2nd yellow card in the 77th minute, and lost, 8-2, their goals coming from Theo Walcott and van Persie. The jokes immediately followed: "I'd 8-2 be an Arsenal fan now."

Wenger had brought in reinforcements. The aforementioned Jenkinson had been brought in from Southeast London team Charlton Athletic for £1 million, and turned out to be a good backup. Winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was bought from South Coast team Southampton for £12 million, and he became a good backup. Striker Joel Campbell came from Costa Rica for £1 million.

Left wing Gervinho, of the African nation of the Ivory Coast, came from French team Lille for £10 million. Quickly, to the tune of "Volaré," Arsenal fans began comparing him to Fernando Torres, who had been sold by Liverpool to Cheslea for £50 million: "Gervinho, whoa! Gervinho, whoa! He scores more than Torres! For 40 million less!" But his defining feature was his rather large cranium: "Gervinho, whoa! Gervinho, whoa! His forehead is immense! He'll rip up your defense!"

But after a good start, he "lost his shooting boots." He had this nasty habit of getting within shooting range, or within passing range of a teammate in shooting range, and then hesitating, and then making a bad pass. It got to the point where someone watching a game with me for the first time would think his full name was "Gervinho What the Hell!" I wanted him to succeed at Arsenal, but he just didn't. After 2 poor seasons, Arsenal sold him at a loss to Italian team AS Roma. He did help his country win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

On August 31, the final day of the transfer window, Wenger brought in 4 players, in what was largely seen as a "panic buy." Midfielder Mikel Arteta was signed from Everton for £10 million, affecting the club in ways that couldn't yet be guessed. Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun was brought in on loan for the season from Chelsea. These acquisitions would shore up the losses of Fàbregas and Nasri.

Needing size in central defense, the 6-foot-6 Per Mertesacker was signed from German team Werder Bremen for £8 million, and "the Big Fucking German" proved very popular among Arsenal fans. Left back André Santos was brought in from Istanbul team Fenerbahçe for £6 million. He would not prove to be popular.

So, 4 players out, 7 players in, and Wenger made a profit of £23 million. Given that the debt for the new stadium had not yet been paid off, this was clever management. But would there be the necessary results on the pitch?

After a week off for an international break, or an "interlull," as Arseblog author Andrew Mangan called it, Arsenal beat Swansea City at home, 1-0. But they lost 4-3 away to Blackburn Rovers. They beat Bolton Wanderers at home, 3-0, then lost away to arch-rival Tottenham, 2-1. Played 7, won 2, drawn 1, lost 4. As late as the last day of the next interlull, October 15, they had won just 7 out of a possible 21 points. They were in 15th place out of 20. The season was 1/6th over, and they were in danger of being relegated.

But they only lost 1 of their next 12 League games, including winning their next 5. A 3-game losing streak in January was followed by a 7-game winning streak. That put them back into a chance for the PL's CL places. A run of a loss and 3 draws put that back in jeopardy, but a hard-fought win away to West Bromwich Albion on the final day preserved a 3rd-place finish and a place in the 2012-13 Champions League.

Back to August 2011: Once the sale of Fàbregas to Barcelona happened, his injury was magically cured. He reported to the Catalan club, and played in their next La Liga game. With them, he won Spain's Copa del Rey in 2012 and La Liga in 2013.

But by 2014, having got what they wanted from him, Barça had frozen him out. Many Arsenal fans begged Wenger to take him back. He refused: Loyalty matters, and Cesc had stabbed him in the back. So Cesc went for the money, signing with Chelsea. He won 2 Premier League titles in 3 years with the corrupt Stamford Bridge club.

More than Ashley Cole, Aliaksandr Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Alexis Sánchez, Cesc Fàbregas is the great unfaithful servant of Arsenal's history.

*

August 15, 2011 was a Monday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. A.J. Burnett was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and 3 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Petco Park in San Diego. The winning run was scored in the top of the 10th: Scott Hairston grounded to short, and the fielder's choice allowed Jason Pridie to score.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Randy Wolf pitched 8 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, and John Axford finished the 7-hit shutout.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 7-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-4 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

* And the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Washington Nationals were not scheduled.

May 16, 2005: Malcolm Glazer Buys Manchester United

May 16, 2005: Malcolm Glazer, owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, becomes the 1st American to buy a controlling interest in a soccer team in England's Premier League. He buys Manchester United Football Club, a.k.a. Man United, a.k.a. just "United," a.k.a. "Man U."

Born in 1928 in Rochester, New York, he developed a watch repair business, which he parlayed into a holding company that ran banks, health care companies, and food supplies, packaging and equipment. In 1995, he bought the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the estate of their late founding owner, Hugh Culverhouse. In 3 years, he turned them back into a Playoff team, and they won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. He remained their owner for the rest of his life.

The joke is that Manchester United fans live everywhere but Manchester. Their success from 1993 onward, and the growth of worldwide satellite television to broadcast their games and achievements, made them the most popular sports team on Earth -- and also the most-hated. So, like the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Lakers, Notre Dame football and Duke basketball. And, as with soccer in other countries, Real Madrid in Spain, Bayern Munich in Germany, and Juventus in Italy.

But their English base was appalled that their beloved team had been bought by a foreigner -- an American, no less. Stickers went up around Manchester, with the team's original colors, reading, "LOVE UNITED" in green and "HATE GLAZER" in gold. In the stands at Old Trafford, United's stadium in Salford, 4 miles west of Central Manchester, they sang:

We're having a party when Glazer dies!

Jelly and ice cream when Glazer dies!

Bouncy castle when Glazer dies!

Musical chairs when Glazer dies!

Tail on the donkey when Glazer dies!

Pass the parcel when Glazer dies!

Strippers and whores when Glazer dies!

In this case, "Jelly" is what they call Jell-O.

What were they really angry at? The claim was that Glazer's purchase put the team into debt. As if that mattered: They were the most lucrative sports team in the world, and any debt was easily manageable.

Five days after this purchase, United played in the FA Cup Final against Arsenal. The game ended 0-0, and went to penalty kicks, and Arsenal won. This meant that, for the 1st time in 7 years, United won no trophies, although that could hardly be blamed on Glazer, who had just bought the team.

Two months later, on July 16, 2005, F.C. United of Manchester, a club formed by a group of Manchester United supporters in response to the Glazer takeover of Manchester United, played their first-ever match, a preseason friendly with Leigh RMI. The match ended in a 0–0 draw.

They began their 1st season, 2005-06, in the North West Counties League, Division Two, the 10th level of English football's "pyramid." These fans would rather have started all the way at the bottom than support a team owned by Malcolm Glazer.

They were slime. They had all the arrogance of Man U fans, with the added artificial sense of purity that self-appointed saints have, since they're "against modern football" and the "corruption" of the Premier League. (As if Man U weren't the most corrupt club in it well before the Glazer takeover.) Some decided they wanted to have it both ways, claiming, "2 Uniteds But the Soul Is 1."

FCUM won Division Two in 2006, and Division One in 2007, advancing to the Northern Premier League Division One North. They finished 2nd in that in 2008, gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. There, in the 7th division, they got stuck, until 2015, winning that, and getting promoted to the National League North.

At that point, after 10 years of renting Gigg Lane, the home ground of Bury F.C., FCUM opened their new home, Broadhurst Park, capacity 4,400 -- which, unlike the 75,635-capacity Old Trafford where Man U play, is actually in the city of Manchester.

Meanwhile, United had won the Premier League again in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013; and the Champions League in 2008, all while Glazer lived and ran the team. FCUM fans -- and many MUFC fans, too -- continued to sing, "We're having a party when Glazer dies." God forbid they should accept the trophies that Glazer's ownership brought them.

Glazer died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 85. Some United fans did indeed celebrate. Meanwhile, the FCUM branch of them sat in their tiny stadium -- about the same size as the one at my New Jersey high school -- and sang their vile songs about hating Glazer, Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United.

In 2019, a bad season left FCUM relegated. They will begin the 2022-23 season as they began the preceding 3, in the 7th division.

By that point, these other North American sports team owners had invested in English and European soccer teams:

* 2007: Liverpool F.C. is bought by George Gillette, owner of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens; and Tom Hicks, owner of the NHL's Dallas Stars and MLB's Texas Rangers. It proved disastrous in terms of finances, and Liverpool, along with Man United 1 of England's 2 most successful and 2 most popular teams, seemed to be replaced as 1 of England's "Big Four" clubs, along with Man United, Arsenal, and Chelsea F.C., by Manchester City.

* 2008: Stan Kroenke begins his takeover of Arsenal, which he does, piece by piece, until becoming sole owner in 2018. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment already owned the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and MLS' Colorado Rapids, and a share of the NFL's St. Louis Rams. He became sole owner of the Rams, moved them to Los Angeles, and, with Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium as a partial model, built SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California. He becomes hated by old-line Arsenal fans, though not as much as Glazer was among United fans.

* 2010: Liverpool are sold by Gillette and Hicks to Fenway Sports Group, owners of MLB's Boston Red Sox, run by John W. Henry. The group would later buy the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and a motorsports company.

* 2013: West London team Fulham F.C. is bought by Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American businessman who already owned the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

* 2014: Italian club Bologna F.C. is bought by Joey Saputo, a Canadian businessman who already owned MLS' CF Montréal.

* 2018: Miami-based 777 Partners buys its 1st European team, Standard Liège of Belgium. They would also buy Paris team Red Star F.C., Spanish team Sevilla F.C., Berlin team Hertha B.S.C., Italian club Genoa C.F.C., Rio de Janeiro team C.R. Vasco da Gama, and British basketball team London Lions. (UPDATE: Later in 2022, they bought Australian team Melbourne Victory.)

* 2018: Aston Villa of Birmingham, England is bought by Wes Edens, already a part-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. 

* 2019: AFC Fiorentina of Florence, Italy is bought by Rocco Commisso, who owns the rights to the currently dormant New York Cosmos.

* 2019: Venice-based team Venezia F.C. is bought by Duncan Niederauer.

* 2020: Rome team A.S. Roma is bought by Dan Friedkin. 

* 2020: Italian club Parma Calcio is bought by Kyle Krause.

* 2022: Italian club Atalanta B.C. is bought by Stephen Pagliuca, a former part-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics. And Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who had owned West London team Chelsea F.C. since 2003, sold it to Los Angeles-based BlueCo, led by Todd Boehly, the main owner of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.

Since Glazer's death, MUFC have won the FA Cup in 2016, the UEFA Europa League and the League Cup in 2017. Let the record show that it was only after Glazer died that things began to fall apart.

Meanwhile, both the Buccaneers and MUFC continue to be owned by the 6 children of Malcolm Glazer, with eldest son Bryan Glazer having the most control. 

UPDATE: United have since won the League Cup in 2023, and the FA Cup in 2024.

After this posting date in 2022, Italian team A.C. Milan, once famously (or infamously) owned by corrupt media mogul, and 3 times Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, was bought by New York-based Redbird Capital Partners. And Bill Foley, owner of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, started buying soccer teams, with English team A.F.C. Bournemouth.

In 2023, Edens bought Portuguese team Vitória de Guimarães. Foley bought French team F.C. Lorient, and established Auckland F.C. of New Zealand, an expansion team in Australia's A-League. And Boehly bought French team R.C. Strasbourg Alsace.

In 2024, Milan's intracity rival, Internazionale Milano, was bought by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management. And Dan Friedkin bought Liverpool team Everton F.C. Foley bought Hibernian F.C. of Edinburgh, Scotland.

And FCUM will begin the 2026-27 season in the 7th division. They haven't become the new Manchester United. They haven't even become a 2nd Wrexham A.F.C.

*

May 16, 2005 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The NHL team owners had locked their players out, resulting in the cancellation of the entire season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played on this day. These Major League Baseball games were:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Chien-Ming Wang was the winning pitcher, outpitching Aaron Sele. Bernie Williams hit a grand slam. Derek Jeter went 2-for-6. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2 at Shea Stadium. Kris Benson outpitched former Met Paul Wilson. Cliff Floyd hit a home run.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

May 8, 2002: The 3rd Arsenal Double

Sylvain Wiltord

May 8, 2002: In 1971, North London soccer team Arsenal won England's FA Cup, completing "The Double," just 5 days after winning the championship of the Football League First Division. In 1998, under manager Arsène Wenger, they clinched the Premier League early, and finished The Double 13 days later.

This time, the FA Cup Final had been scheduled for May 4, and they won it, defeating West London team Chelsea. But they had 2 PL games left, with the next-to-last being against defending PL Champions Manchester United, at United's 75,000-strong Old Trafford, just 4 days after the Final.

Arsenal led United by 5 points with 2 to play, so a draw in either game, or United failing to win both games, would have given Arsenal the title. Still, winning the Cup and then clinching the title 4 days later would have been the most grueling feat of all. (They would, however, have one more chance to take the title the following Saturday, at home to Everton.)

This game featured 5 members of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup: For Man U, goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and Laurent Blanc; for Arsenal, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord. It would not feature David Beckham, Gary Neville, Denis Irwin or Nicky Butt for United. Nor, for Arsenal, would it feature the soon-to-retire Captain Tony Adams, or their 2 best attacking players, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. All 7 of those were injured.

United wore their traditional home red shirts, while Arsenal wore gold instead of their home red shirts with white sleeves. Just 1:21 into the game, Wiltord nearly scored a magnificent goal, but it was deflected by Blanc. Paul Scholes shot over the crossbar in the 6th minute. After this glittering start, things calmed down a bit.

But in the 56th minute, Wiltord got control of the ball, and crossed it to Freddie Ljungberg, who, with Ray Parlour, had scored in the Cup Final. He fired a shot that Barthez could only deflect. It went right to Wiltord, who, because of Barthez's dive, practically had an open net, and he put it in with his left foot, at 55:42. He ran to the seating section with the visiting Arsenal fans, did a kneeslide, and pumped his fist. Nigerian star Nwankwo Kanu jumped over him, and hugged him as he got up.

United had to score twice to keep Arsenal from winning the title in their house, but Arsenal controlled the game thereafter. One United player who didn't like that was Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who came on as a substitute, and tussled with Arsenal centreback Martin Keown. They would come into conflict with each other again. Kanu came close to adding a goal in the 75th minute. United kept fighting to the end, but an Arsenal counterattack in the 93rd and final minute resulted in Barthez having to save a shot by Parlour.

Sky Sports announcer Martin Tyler saw the referee, and saw him blow the whistle. Tyler said, "Paul Durkin looks at his watch. History in the making for the club from Highbury. They are the Champions! They have taken the title away from Manchester United! And they have done it here, at Old Trafford! It does not get more conclusive than that! Arsène Wenger's team, every bit as good as the manager's word!"

They finished the season winning 26 games, drawing 9 and losing 3: 2-1 at home to Yorkshire team Leeds United on August 21 (only the 2nd game of the season), 4-2 away to Southeast London team Charlton Athletic on November 4, and 3-1 away to North-East team Newcastle United on December 18. They were unbeaten in their last 21, won each of their last 13, and were not shut out all season long. They finished with 87 points, 7 ahead of Liverpool, and 10 ahead of Man United.

They did not, however, match United's 1999 feat of a "European Treble": Though they reached the Second Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League, an inability to win any games on the road -- losing to Deportivo de La Coruña of Spain and Juventus of Turin, Italy, and drawing with Bayer Leverkusen of Germany -- stopped them from qualifying for the Quarterfinals.

As far as I know, Arsenal are the only team ever to win the League (either the old Football League Division One or the Premier League) at Old Trafford, other than United themselves.

Arsenal (1971, 1998, 2002) also joined United (1994, 1996, 1999) as the only English teams to win 2, let alone 3, domestic Doubles. Lancashire team Preston North End won it in 1889, Birmingham team Aston Villa in 1897, the other North London team Tottenham Hotspur in 1961, Liverpool in 1986, Chelsea in 2010, and Manchester City in 2019. (UPDATE: Man City won a 2nd Double, and a European Treble, in 2023, to go with their unique domestic Treble in 2019.)

*

May 8, 2002 was a Wednesday. American-style football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 85-77 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

There were 2 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat their Provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators, 2-1 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa. And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-1 at the Compaq Center (now the SAP Center) in San Jose.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-2 Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher. The Yankees got 2 home runs from Alfonso Soriano, and 1 from John Vander Wal. Derek Jeter went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 8-2 at Shea Stadium. Kirk Reuter outpitched former Giant Shawn Estes. J.T. Snow and ex-Met Jeff Kent hit home runs. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. How many Rockies pitchers does it take to pitch a 6-hit shutout? Apparently, 5: Shawn Chacón allowed 5 over 6 innings, Chris Nichting pitched a perfect 7th, Kent Mercker got 1 out and allowed 1 hit, Rick White finished the 8th, and Dennys Reyes pitched a hitless 9th. The Rox got home runs from Todd Helton, Larry Walker and Todd Zeile.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Florida Marlins beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 14-5 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 5-3 at The Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Mark Buehrle was the winning pitcher. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 12-6 at the Network Associates Coliseum, as the Oakland Coliseum was then known. Nomar Garciaparra went 2-for-6 with 4 RBIs. Jason Varitek went 3-for-5 with a walk and 5 RBIs. Rickey Henderson, in his only season with the Red Sox, went 2-for-5 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. John Olerud grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Ichiro Suzuki with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ichiro went 3-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI.

May 2, 1993: Fergie's Fledglings

May 2, 1993: Manchester United Football Club end a 26-year league championship drought -- without even taking the pitch.

The Premier League's 1st season was 1992-93. It replaced the old Football League Division One, which Manchester United -- known for short as "Man United," or just "United," or "Man U," or to their rivals' fans as "ManUre" -- hadn't won since 1967. They had a near-miss in 1992, the last season of the old League.

Manager Alex Ferguson was building a team around youth, with players known as "Fergie's Fledglings." There is no definitive list of them, but they are generally said to include right back Gary Neville; centreback Wes Brown; and midfielders Phil Neville (Gary's less talented, but no less dirty, younger brother), David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Lee Sharpe and Nicky Butt. Giggs was Welsh, and Keane Irish, but the rest were all English.

Along with veterans, and players acquired from outside the United youth system, like Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, centrebacks Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, Irish left back Denis Irwin, midfielder Paul Ince, and Welsh forward Mark Hughes, it looked like this "Class of '92" might be the answer.

But the fanbase was antsy. They wanted to win now, having not won the League in 26 years, with only FA Cup wins in 1977, '83, '85 and '90 in the meantime. The last of these was Ferguson's only trophy since taking over as manager in 1986.

On the last day of the 1991-92 season, a win by Leeds United, combined with Man U's 2-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield, gave Leeds the League title. The Liverpool fans, having won the League title 13 times since United's last one in 1967, and having a longstanding rivalry with United, taunted them, singing, "You'll never win the title! You'll never win the title! You'll never win the title!"

That burned Ferguson up. The gum-chomping Scot was determined that nothing would stop him from winning the title in the new Premier League in 1992-93. In particular, he was quoted as saying he wanted to "knock Liverpool off their fucking perch" -- not as the League Champions, which they were not going into the 1992-93 season, but as the definitive leading football club in England. But by November 7, 1992, a 1-0 loss away to Birmingham team Aston Villa left United with a 7-game winless streak: 0-5-2.

Then came the key to the season, and to an era of English football. French forward Eric Cantona, a big reason why Leeds won the title, got into one of his moods, and wanted out. Ferguson purchased him on November 26, 1992, for £1.2 million. Although the rivalry between "Man U" and Leeds is a nasty one -- with echoes of the ancient rivalry between the Duchies of Lancaster (to which the region of Greater Manchester once belonged) and York (Leeds United remains the biggest team in Yorkshire).

But Cantona, a man whose great talent was exceeded by his ego, had made a nuisance of himself at Elland Road, and manager Howard Wilkinson -- who, through the 2021-22 season, remains the last title-winning manager in the English top flight who was born and raised in England -- sold him just to get rid of a headache.

It didn't have to be that way. On November 6, 1991, Liverpool beat French club Auxerre, 3-0 in the 2nd Round of the UEFA Cup at Anfield. Afterward, Liverpool manager Graeme Souness was met by French soccer legend Michel Platini, who told him that Cantona, then playing for French club Nîmes, was available for sale. Thinking he had a strong selection of forwards, Souness turned the deal down.

This decision changed the course of soccer history, because, later that season, Cantona was sold to Leeds United; and then, after another year, to Man United.

After the loss to Villa, United went on a 10-game unbeaten streak: 8-0-2. On January 9, 1993, at Old Trafford, their huge stadium just outside of Manchester, in Salford, they beat North London team Tottenham Hotspur, 4-1, with Cantona opening the scoring. That put them in 1st place for the 1st time that season.

A 2-1 win away to Liverpool on March 6 was huge. But they faltered: A 1-1 home draw to Villa on March 14 hurt, a 1-1 draw away to local rivals Manchester City on March 20 dropped them to 2nd behind Villa, and a 0-0 draw at home to North London team Arsenal on March 24 dropped them to 3rd, behind Villa and Norfolk team Norwich City.

That draw with Arsenal seemed to wake them up, though: They went to Norwich on April 5, and won, 3-1. They hosted Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday on April 10, and trailed, 1-0, before Bruce scored in the 86th minute. Then, in the 96th minute of a game that the 4th official said would have at least 93, Bruce scored again to win it, 2-1, vaulting United back into 1st place. It is remembered by United haters as the 1st "Fergie Time," in which United always seemed to get enough stoppage time to get the goal they needed.

A popular anti-United meme 

They went to Midlands team Coventry City on April 12, and won, 1-0. They hosted West London team Chelsea on April 17, and won, 3-0. They went to South London to play Crystal Palace on April 21, and won, 2-0.

On May 2, Aston Villa hosted another Manchester-area team, Oldham Athletic. Oldham, in a rare top-flight season for them, were desperate to stay up. Apparently, that need was greater than that of Villa to win the title, which they'd done in 1981, but only that once since 1910. Oldham beat Villa, 1-0. That all but confirmed that they would stay up, and it meant that Villa could no longer catch Man United: The Red Devils became Premier League Champions that day, without even taking the pitch.

The next day, a Bank Holiday Monday, United came onto the pitch at Old Trafford as Champions. To the tune of "Go West," a Village People song recently covered by British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, the fans sang, "Stand up, for the Champions!" United beat Lancashire team Blackburn Rovers, 3-1. ("Go West" would inspire countless more English football chants over the years, including, "One-nil to The Arsenal," "Two-nil, and you fucked it up!" and "You're shit, and you know you are!")

Unfortunately, like baseball's Boston Red Sox in 2004, football's New England Patriots in 2002, hockey's New York Rangers in 1994, college basketball's Duke University in 1991, and English soccer's Chelsea in 2005, United had a fanbase that turned a long period of struggle into a burst of arrogance. After years as sore losers, they were completely obnoxious as winners. As a result, while, like many other newly winning teams, they gained a great number of bandwagon fans, even more fans began hating them. Cantona became a target of their ire, and the media labeled him "Le Brat."

But United fans adored him, calling him "King Eric." Many of them cut their hair very short like him. When playing in their neighborhood games, they turned their collars up like him. Men with a "unibrow" saw that he had one, and were no longer ashamed of their own. He was the latest in a string of United stars who had worn the Number 7 shirt, including George Best and Bryan Robson. The string would later extend to David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Starting in 1993, over the next 19 seasons, United would win the Premier League title 12 times. They would also win the FA Cup 4 times, including 1994 and 1996, also winning the League, to "do The Double." They won the UEFA Champions League in 1999 and 2008. They won all 3 in 1999, which remains the only "European Treble" in English football history, and led to Ferguson being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Indeed, one year to the day after winning the 1993 title, on May 2, 1994, history repeated itself: United won the title without taking the pitch, because the team in 2nd lost. That was Blackburn. In 1995, needing to match United's performance on the last day to win the title, Blackburn lost -- but so did United, and Blackburn won the title.

But United resumed their dominance the next season. nd it didn't have to be that way. In hindsight, it wasn't Ferguson who "knocked Liverpool off their perch." It was Souness, through his poor management of Liverpool.

In English football history, the truth that dares not speak its name is that Sir Alex Ferguson won none of these trophies fairly. Referees have looked the other way when United have scored offside goals and made dirty tackles. They have ruled good opposing goals off for false reasons, given yellow and red cards for offenses far less than what United players had done. And they had given United excessive stoppage time, leading to the term "Fergie Time."

Ferguson retired after the 2013 title. Since then, United's trophy haul has consisted of the 2016 FA Cup, the 2017 League Cup, and the 2017 UEFA Europa League. That's it. They finished 2nd in the Premier League in 2018, but 19 points behind Manchester City; and in 2021, 12 points behind City.

They have seen Chelsea, then City, take over the League and surpass them for relevance, and seen Liverpool win the League for the 1st time since 1990, in 2020. United have become like the New York Yankees: Still good enough to deserve the attention, but not good enough to seriously challenge for trophies.

Ferguson is still alive, and still goes to the games. But he can no longer seem to affect the outcomes.

UPDATE: United won the League Cup again in 2023. But, also that year, Man City matched their 1999 "European Treble."

*

May 2, 1993 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Bernie Williams drew a bases-loaded walk to win it in the bottom of the 10th inning. This made a winning pitcher of John Habyan, in relief of Jimmy Key. Don Mattingly went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Ken Griffey Jr. did not play for the Mariners in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Dwight Gooden went the distance for the win. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Harold Baines singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks. George Brett, in his final season, went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

* In a game between the season's 2 new National League expansion teams, the Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 2-1 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-3 with 3 stolen bases.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Robin Yount, in his final season, did not play for the Brewers.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 6-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Montreal Expos, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

There were 4 games played in the NBA Playoffs:

* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 101-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 117-102 at the Chicago Stadium. The Hawks got 37 points from Dominique Wilkins and 26 from Kevin Willis, but the Bulls got 29 from Michael Jordan and 25 from Scottie Pippen.

Both "Air" Jordan and Wilkins, "The Human Highlight Film," were known for their spectacular dunks. But both were originally known as selfish players, "ball hogs." There was a joke about a new road in Atlanta: The Dominique Wilkins Highway, with no passing allowed. The main reason Jordan went on to win 6 NBA Championships is that he was eventually paired with Pippen, while Wilkins never found such a teammate. If Jordan hadn't, he might now be considered on the same level as Wilkins, instead of a finalist for the title of "Greatest Player Ever."

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 86-81 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Utah Jazz beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 89-85 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* The New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.