“ WE HAVE ENTERTAINED THIS
SEASON... ANYONE WHO HAS
WATCHED US THIS SEASON HAS
HAD THEIR MONEY’S WORTH”
Blackburn Rovers, who were managed by Kenny Dalglish,
bankrolled by Jack Walker, and inspired by Alan Shearer’s constant
supply of goals.
Ferguson decided he needed more goals from his own side and
in January 1995 broke the British transfer record to sign Andy Cole
from Newcastle for a fee of £7 million, with Keith Gillespie moving to
Tyneside in turn.
United would beat Blackburn 1-0 on Cole’s debut with a dramatic
late winner from Cantona to fill Ferguson with confidence that his
side were destined to be champions again, but just three days later
United’s season would begin to spectacularly unravel.
During a difficult game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park,
Cantona was shown a red card for aiming a kick at Richard
Shaw. As the Frenchman walked back to the tunnel he took
offence at a Palace fan shouting abuse at him and assaulted
him with a flying kick and a punch. As Ferguson has
reflected, “Eric took us to heaven with that wonderful goal
to beat Blackburn... we were now taken to hell.”
Cantona would not play for United for another eight
months as he was subjected to his club’s initial ban, an
extension from the Football Association and a court case
that handed him a two-week prison sentence, which on
appeal was commuted to community service.
While United were denied their main inspiration, they
now had a cause, and they would only lose twice
in their final 16 league games without him, which
included a record 9-0 victory over Ipswich Town at Old
Trafford that featured five goals from Cole.
On the final weekend of the season, United were a
point behind Blackburn, and knew if Dalglish’s side
failed to win at Liverpool they could steal away the title
with a win against West Ham at Upton Park.
Blackburn would indeed stumble, losing 2-1 at Anfield,
but United could not manage more than a 1-1 draw in
east London, where they laid siege to West Ham’s goal in an
increasingly frantic second half. One more goal would have made
them champions, but it didn’t come, and instead they finished a
solitary point behind Blackburn.
Six days later, an emotionally and physically drained United
were not able to overcome their intense disappointment and
fell to a 1-0 defeat to Everton in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
“It’s five years since we’ve won nothing,” reflected Ferguson
at the time. “Sometimes players forget what defeat is like.
They know now. But we have entertained this season, we
never shut up shop or wasted time. Anyone who has watched us this
season has had their money’s worth, and I’m proud
to say that.”
United still had a settled squad ready to win the title again, and so
it came as a huge shock when Ferguson began to dismantle it in the
summer with the sale of three important and popular players.
United’s best midfielder, Paul Ince, was sold to Inter Milan; Andrei
Kanchelskis, top scorer with 15 goals in the previous season, left for
Everton; and club legend Mark Hughes was sold to Chelsea.
“Ferguson was attempting to do something that football history
has shown to be the most difficult of all tasks: completing a smoothAbove Eric
Cantona at
Croydon Crown
Court in March
1995 after
successfully
appealing his
prison sentence
for kicking
a Crystal
Palace fan
Below Eric
Cantona
celebrates
scoring against
Chelsea in a 3-0
win for United in
April 1993 on
their way to
winning the
Premier League78 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com