Newcastle United faced Manchester United in the FA Cup final a quarter of a century ago, and Sir Alex Ferguson has reflected on his team’s preparations for the game.
Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that Manchester United’s preparations for the 1999 FA Cup final versus Newcastle United were’surprisingly calm’.
A quarter of a century ago, the two clubs faced off at the old Wembley Stadium, with the stakes high. Newcastle were looking to win their first domestic trophy since 1955, while Manchester United were seeking to complete a historic triple.
Stephen Glass, who came on that day, told ChronicleLive that Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit told the squad they were ‘going to be heroes’ in an effort to ‘create a positive mindset in a group of players who are about to play a side that wins the triple’. Gullit, who led Chelsea to cup triumph two years ago, even reminded the group of his nine finals victories as a player.
A strangely cool Gullit did not leave the team bus at Wembley until he concluded a game of cards with his staff, but Manchester United, who had a Champions League final to play a few days later, were not feeling the pressure either.
“Having won the league against Tottenham, the build-up going into the cup final against Newcastle was surprisingly relaxed,” Sir Alex told Amazon Prime Video. “Because we had got something behind us.”
Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes scored to lead Manchester United to a 2-0 victory. Despite their defeat, thousands of Geordies lined the streets to welcome Newcastle players and staff home. That was something Warren Barton will never forget.
“We got told we were going to do a parade and you thought, ‘Wow,'” the former defender previously told ChronicleLive. “For them to come out and celebrate us was a bit surreal. I can’t imagine any other club doing that. We were a little bit, ‘We lost, we let you down. We got to a final which was great but we wanted to win it for you like we wanted to win the title in ’96 and the FA Cup in ’98.
“That’s why all of us, whether it’s at the beginning with Philippe Albert and Les Ferdinand and then you go to Gary Speed and Alan Shearer and that generation, we all appreciated what they were like.
“We played for other clubs and no other fans in the country would do that and do it with a smile on their face and with passion and love and just wanting to celebrate what we had achieved. That’s why all of us now think, ‘We wish we would have won something.’ Not for me to pull out the medal to show the kids or anything like that – but for them.”
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