Arsenal were an unstoppable force that
season, playing with flair and confidence. The
Gunners scored in every match that season,
were unbeaten away and managed a clean
sweep of the Golden Boot (Thierry Henry),
Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the
Year (Robert Pires), Barclaycard Player of the
Year (Freddie Ljungberg) and Barclaycard
Manager of the Year (Wenger, of course).
The fickle hand of fate decided that a trip
to Old Trafford, just before the FA Cup final,
would decide the title. Incredibly, Wenger left
Henry and Bergkamp out and was rewarded
with a magnificent masterclass from Ray
Parlour, as Sylvain Wiltord’s solitary goal
snatched the title back from the Red Devils.
Ferguson was especially livid.
“He never comes for a drink with the
opposing manager after matches,” he
claimed of his opposite number. “He’s the
only manager in the Premiership not to do
so. It is a tradition here. It would be good for
him to accept the tradition.”
Wenger, meanwhile, could well have been
too busy partying in Fergie’s own stadium to
care. But that wasn’t all Ferguson had to say
on the matter when he called the new
Premier League champions “scrappers who
rely on belligerence”.
Wenger smiled at this comment, his Gallic
grin preceding the words, “Everyone thinks
they have the prettiest wife at home.”
Little did he perhaps know that he had
truly made it personal. The rivalry was ready
to boil over, with Sir Alex believing the quip
had been aimed at his wife Cathy.
Unbelievably, the war between the two clubs
was only just beginning.
FIn ES An D FOOD FIGHTS
Just as in 1998–99, the 2002–03 title was
lost by Arsenal as much as it was won by
United. The Gunners began the season on an
unbeaten quest, compliments thrown their
way like confetti, and fittingly it was a future
United talisman, Wayne Rooney, who
delivered their first defeat of six in the
league that helped to pass the silver handles
back to Roy Keane’s grateful grasp.
And United took as much pleasure in their
rivals’ downfall as they did their own victory.
December saw a 2-0 home win at Old
Trafford, with Wenger complaining of a
handball, while an FA Cup fifth-round tie
brought tensions back to the boil early.
clattered into Vieira, provoking a kick out from
the Frenchman, who was dismissed; both
teams swarmed the referee, with goalkeeper
Jens Lehmann pointing at van Nistelrooy as
United players dragged the Dutchman away
from the melee, while Keane and Vieira came
close to blows in the centre of it all. It erupted
again minutes later when Keown was judged
to have brought Diego Forlán down in the
penalty area in stoppage time. Van Nistelrooy
stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick,
and when the ball ricocheted off the bar and
full-time was blown the Arsenal playersWenger’s ‘scrappers’ travelled to Old
Trafford to find the most physical test they’d
faced all season. Two minutes in, Paul Scholes
had slammed into the back of Patrick Vieira,
with all but two players crowding around
each other; a minute later, Ruud van
Nistelrooy charged into Martin Keown at thigh
height. Miraculously, no one was sent off as
Arsenal kept their heads to win 2-0, but in the
aftermath Ferguson famously kicked a boot in
the dressing room that connected with David
Beckham’s eyebrow.
This was just one of many high-tension
matches between Arsenal and United. Sol
Campbell was sent off in the 2-2 draw at
Highbury that effectively ended Arsenal’s
chances of winning the league, before a
frosty Charity Shield on a baking-hot day at
the Millennium Stadium in August was won
by United on penalties.
In September 2003, tempers truly spilt
over in what was later known as ‘The Battle
of Old Trafford’. Unlike the FA Cup clash the
previous season, it took longer to explode.
In fact, the match was fairly uneventful
until Patrick Vieira was given a second yellow
card ten minutes from time. Van NistelrooyTHE
STORY OF
MAn UTDTHE RIVALRY In QUOTES
“I enjoy our rivalry.
It is good for Arsenal,
good for Manchester
United and good for
both of us.”
WENGER (2002)“He’s at a big club – well, Arsenal
used to be a big club – and
maybe next year he could be in
the same situation. I wonder
what his story will be then.”
FERGUSON ON WENGER (1997)
“It’s a disgrace, but I
don’t expect Wenger
to ever apologise...
he’s that type of person.”FERGUSON ON
PIZZAGATE (2004)“He has lost all sense of
reality. He is going out
looking for a confrontation,
then asking the person he is
confronting to apologise.”
WENGER ON FERGUSON (2004)Above Captains
Keane and
Vieira regularly
came to blows
Right Wenger
and Ferguson in
the aftermath of
United’s 2-0 win
at Old Trafford in
2004, a result
that ended
Arsenal’s
49-match
unbeaten run