THE
STORY OF
MAn UTD“ MARK HUGHES WAS DETERMIn E D
TO SHOW HIS FORMER CLUB WHAT
THEY WERE MISSING An D PUT
U nITED In FROn T ”
Five days later United lined up at Wembley with the same side
except for one crucial difference; Jim Leighton, who had been
culpable for two of Palace’s goals in the first game, had been dropped
by Ferguson for his back-up goalkeeper Les Sealey, who was on loan
from Luton and had only played twice for United that season.
The replay offered significantly less drama than the final, with both
sides less willing to pour forward. It was settled 1-0 after exactly an
hour when Webb found Lee Martin’s surging run from the back with a
brilliant pass before he smashed his shot past Nigel Martyn.
“I will always remember the relief on Ferguson’s face and among
all the players as we travelled back on the train to Manchester with
the FA Cup as company,” Webb remembered later. “There was a
feeling that we had survived the dark days and this club could enjoy a
lot of success again.”
Initially this would not manifest itself in the league; after only
signing Denis Irwin in the summer, United made good progress to
finish sixth in the table, but again it was in the cup competitions
where United performed best.
While United’s defence of the FA Cup would end in the fifth round
with defeat to Norwich City, in the League Cup highly impressive
victories over champions Liverpool and Arsenal in the earlier rounds
would see them face Sheffield Wednesday in the final at Wembley.
Wednesday, led by former United manager Ron Atkinson, proved
to be stubborn opposition and frustrated their favoured opponents,
who could not summon up the same spirit shown at Wembley 11
months earlier and fell to a tepid 1-0 defeat. “We should have
murdered Sheffield Wednesday... [but] made the fatal mistake of
underestimating them,” Ferguson said.
There was some consolation to be found in Europe. After UEFA had
lifted their five-year ban on English clubs, United would go one step
further in the European Cup Winners’ Cup to claim their first European
trophy for 23 years.
They had a relatively easy passage to the final, overcoming Pécsi
Munkás, Wrexham, Montpellier and Legia Warsaw, but in the final in
Rotterdam they faced a revered Barcelona side managed by the
Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, who had just won the first of four
consecutive La Liga titles that season.Top left Mark
Hughes
attempts a
spectacular
volley against
Tottenham at
White Hart Lane
in October 1988
Top right United
line up before
the 1991
European Cup
Winners’ Cup
against
Barcelona in
Rotterdam
Above
Manchester
United celebrate
winning the FA
Cup in May 1990
Left Mark
Hughes with the
1991 European
Cup Winners’
Cup trophy40 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com