20 years ago

4 November 1986. League Cup 3rd round replay. Attendance 17,914.

Southampton 4 Manchester United 1 (Davenport).

Ron Atkinson's last game in charge and I was there. The United team that night was:

• Chris Turner
• Mike Duxbury
• Arthur Albiston
• Paul McGrath
• Graeme Hogg
• Remi Moses
• Jesper Olsen
• Norman Whiteside
• Frank Stapleton
• Peter Davenport
• Colin Gibson
• Subs: Kevin Moran, Nicky Wood

I was partly responsible for Ron Atkinson's departure. The seeds were sown the previous season when United won the opening 10 games of the 1985-1986 season, fueling expectation that United might actually win the title. However, I was foolish enough to attend game number 11. Inevitably, that game was a 1-1 draw at Luton and ended the run. United finished 4th that season behind Liverpool and the writing was on the wall for Ron Atkinson.

Favourite Ferguson quote: 'My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that.'