SPECIAL ISSUE We celebrate the four-century milestone with a collection of the magazine’s best bits from the last 33 years
Starring Sir Alex Ferguson Eric Cantona David Beckham Roy Keane Wayne Rooney Cristiano Ronaldo Paul Scholes George Best bruno fernandes loads of retro vibes!
Welcome to a milestone edition of Inside United. Reaching number 400 has given us the opportunity to produce a special edition in which we celebrate the magazine with a nostalgic fiesta of vintage content.
We go back to the beginning of the magazine’s story – 33 years ago, with 1992 ticking over into 1993… a time that just happened to coincide with an almighty United winning streak, inspired by a newly arrived Frenchman with an upturned collar.
We then embark on a whistlestop tour of all that has happened since within the magazine’s pages and in the Manchester United story – a story now reflected in 400 front covers, which when gathered together provide a kaleidoscopic view of this club’s extraordinary history in the last three decades.
We salute some of the club giants whose voices were amplified in our pages along the way – Sir Alex Ferguson and George Best chief among them, representing respectively the United gospel of the
given moment and the authentic insight of a club legend of the past.
We revisit some favourite magazine formats and treatments, and hear inside stories from those on this side of the page – staff members who worked on the magazine, invariably living a dream as they mixed with their football heroes, only occasionally putting their foot in it.
And we dig out original interviews with some of the greatest names in United’s modern history, players who moved mountains in the Red shirt and built gilded Old Trafford legacies.
We hope you enjoy the romp down memory lane.
While milestones are times for celebration, they also invite reflection and pause for thought. In that spirit, and with an eye to the future while saluting the past, the magazine will be evolving following this special edition.
Going forward, it will change from a monthly magazine to a quarterly. That means that instead of coming out every four or five weeks – meaning 12 issues per calendar year – the magazine will switch to a new frequency of once every three months, so coming out four times in a calendar year.
As this edition shows, the magazine has always evolved within its pages, moving with the years and reflecting the changing face of not just Manchester United and football, but the media and magazine landscape. The time has now come for this change in frequency, with the club’s website, app, social media and other channels offering such an enormous volume of instant, regular and high-quality content to United supporters.
The new, upscaled and still 100 per cent official incarnation of the club magazine – to be launched in early 2026 – will continue to bring you a wealth of top-class Manchester United content, created by
the same highly experienced editorial team and emanating from inside the club, with the best possible access.
Its aim will be to offer a premium and detailed publication for supporters, delivering the highest level of writing and photography on a range of United themes. Somewhere for in-depth engagement and somewhere where we can really take the time to pull at different threads, and delve into different topics emanating from our great club and its extraordinary heritage.
We thank everyone who has been a reader over the last three-plus decades, and invite you to come along and enjoy the magazine in the exciting new format it will take.
One thing the magazine has always held true to is telling United stories for United fans – and that, we can promise, will not change.
Enjoy this heritage issue, and we’ll see you in a bright future.
Ben Ashby Editor
Setting the scene at the time the magazine launched – talk about timing…
Winter 1992. It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. United had still not won the English Football League title since 1966/67 – after an especially agonising submission to Leeds United earlier in the year had given up the best chance to do so since those glory days of Busby, Best, Charlton, Law and co.
One Eric Cantona, though, had just been pilfered from the very pocket of our Yorkshire foe… and things were about to change. Many things.
Cantona would be the sparkplug that ignited the potent mix of ready talent and growing winning experience –
under elite leadership – that meant United were primed to explode.
Not a bad time to throw in an all-new magazine.
The maiden issue of Manchester United – bannered ‘The magazine of Manchester United Football Club’, in case there was any sense whatsoever that this was some knock-off or an unofficial, unlicensed impostor – was produced during that early period of the 1992/93 season. It went to press just late enough for a mention of Eric Cantona to be shoehorned onto the cover (‘Ooh aah Cantona!’ – stealing just a bit of Peter Schmeichel’s thunder) and came on sale in November 1992.
The landscape at United at that time – that title albatross and the previous season’s bitter failure notwithstanding – was an exciting one. Alex Ferguson had been applying his uniquely magical managerial elbow grease since November 1986, so he was six years into a task he was taking very seriously indeed: to put Manchester United in the prizes and on the podium.
The Scot had cracked a first trophy in 1989/1990 with the FA Cup, and doubled up on it by landing the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990/1991.
Although 1991/92 didn’t end with the hoped-for title glory, it did yield another pot in the League Cup (our first-ever triumph in that competition) to keep the silverware streak going.
Moreover, this return to the winners’ circle was
achieved with panache and brio. Ferguson’s team included inspirational hero figures such as Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes, to which he had added stalwarts-in-the-making such as Steve Bruce, Denis Irwin and Brian McClair – and there was an intoxicating dash of thrilling, daring youth in there too, epitomised by Ryan Giggs and Lee Sharpe.
What’s more, a new era had dawned in the English game’s organisation and trajectory: the monied and ambitious new Premier League came into being at the beginning of the 1992/93 season, raising the profile and ramping up the razzmatazz, hand-in-glove with Sky TV.
All of which meant that the newly launched magazine serendipitously walked straight into a dazzling new epoch.
BOLD NEW VENTURE
And though there had been a distinctly average run of results between mid-September and early November in that nascent season – one victory in a dozen games, with a maddening eight draws – by the time of the first issue of the magazine’s appearance, all momentum was upward. There was
“Every month you’ll be kept informed about life at Old Trafford”
the Cantona mass-mood-boost, plus an unbeaten run installed in time for December that would last until almost the end of January.
Looking at what that first issue contained is to get a vivid snapshot of that era. The front cover – in which United fans, pictured behind Peter Schmeichel’s goal, were arguably as much the stars as Schmikes himself – promised Alex Ferguson, Bryan Robson and Ryan Giggs. And it was Ferguson himself who kicked things off inside with a personal foreword in which he introduced the mag and laid down its manifesto.
“Every month you’ll be kept informed about life at Old Trafford,” the boss promised. “The magazine will provide news and updates about players, fixtures and what’s going on in and around the ground.”
Bearing in mind that this was still an era before the dawn of mass communication as we now know it – no emails, no club website, definitely no app and absolutely no social media – Ferguson emphasised the value of the new magazine as a medium for connection; a conduit between influencer and follower. “I hope you’ll help to
“It is a magazine written for every supporter who is passionate about football and Manchester United”
establish this new venture as an essential means of communication between the club and you, our supporters.”
Between issuing its mission statement and signing off with best Christmas and new year wishes for readers came perhaps the manager’s strongest statement on the new publication.
“I believe it is a bold and important venture,” he said. “It is a magazine written for every supporter who is passionate about football and Manchester United. A magazine for every supporter who loves to watch, to discuss, to argue, to voice his opinion. It is the only magazine of its kind in the country. I encourage you all to contribute to its success by your support.”
TITLE TARGET
Another mighty name followed in Bryan Robson – Captain Marvel, midfield general and United’s on-pitch heartbeat since 1981. Robbo gave the magazine an exclusive interview, in which he addressed the previous season’s title heartbreak and stressed how hard he and the team would be working to win it in the current season –
for the club’s loyal supporters, especially.
“In the last 12 games we started to struggle and the fans were marvellous,” Bryan said, referencing the damaging defeats and dropped points amid a horrendous fixture pile-up at the climax of the previous campaign. “They’d always be trying to lift us, cheering us on, singing ‘Alex Ferguson’s red and white army’ non-stop throughout the whole second half of some games. The players loved that. We all knew how important the league was to them. We know how disappointed they all were at the end of last season. The ribbing our fans have to take from other fans about not winning the league is awful. We will all do our best to wipe away that memory and achieve the title.”
Expounding upon those title ambitions, he added: “We’ve got a great chance. Don’t write off Blackburn Rovers. They’ll be there. But if we finish above Arsenal I think we’ll win the league!” (Spoiler: as it happened, nine teams ended up finishing ahead of Arsenal…)
Among the issue’s other offerings were – as advertised on the front cover – a scarcely believable competition to train with the first team (“it’ll be an early start down at the Cliff – you’ll be put through your paces by the training staff, maybe get an insider’s view of new tactics, then recuperate with the players over lunch”), Reds
“I started working on the magazine about halfway through production of the first issue in winter 1992. That first issue sold out instantly (about 40,000 copies). And then Eric Cantona joined the club – and the fortunes of the club and the new magazine skyrocketed from there…”
Justyn Barnes – there at the launch and a future mag editor
great Paddy Crerand’s memories of his part in the legendary Matt Busby side of the 1960s, and a single page on the 1992 FA Youth Cup-winning youngsters… including the famous Class of ‘92, of course, complete with photo.
Alex Ferguson also contributed a ‘Day in the life’ feature, and naturally – a staple of the magazine craft – there was a pull-out poster for eager young readers to tack up on their walls. Ryan Giggs was chosen as the pin-up. A shoo-in.
Though it was all done and dusted, poster aside, in 32 pages – less than a third of its future fighting weight – it was a statement of intent.
What happened next? United – imbued now with additional Cantonian swagger and belief
– began making good on all their title promise. Second in the table come 1 January 1993. There and thereabouts throughout February and March. Hitting the top for good on 10 April. Crowned champions in May.
And the magazine – instant witness to history –was there every step. Only six issues in, it had a big image of the shiny Premier League trophy adorning its front cover, with the cover line ‘Hallelujah’ embodying just how it felt to be a Red in that heady moment.
The journey since has been a long and winding one. We invite you to join us over the rest of the issue revisiting some of the scenery along the way…
How the trophy count stacked up then, in December 1992 when the mag launched – and how it looks now, after three decades of silverware stockpiling…
Having Peter Schmeichel as your number one can never be a bad thing. That’s how the magazine’s cover story began, making Big Pete the first custodian of a sequence that has sustained for over three decades and has included all of the greatest names in United’s modern history.
The front cover being any magazine’s most important page – the shop window to the wares within – many an hour (and headache) has been sacrificed down the years in pursuit of a frontage to do the given moment in United’s history justice.
In the mag’s early days during the 1990s explosion, mind, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a piece of cake to knock up an irresistible canvas. After all, the cast
Graphic designer Chris Collins, the creative mind behind dozens of our magazine covers, picks his personal favourites…
of candidates was immense, and what’s more the momentum on the pitch and with the club was unstoppable.
Look, for example, at the opening year of the magazine and its stars: Peter Schmeichel, Eric Cantona, George Best, Paul Ince, Steve Bruce, the Premier League trophy, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona again, Lee Sharpe and Mark Hughes. Blessed with some of the most popular players of that era or any, and during that time racing to a watershed title and beyond towards a first ever Double. Over time, while success remained a constant, the gallery of players fronting the glory gradually evolved. As did the style of the magazine itself, moving with the changing fashions of graphic design, typography and all those machinations of magazine-making that go into the
Four hundred covers for 400 issues –and 400 chapters in United’s grand chronicle. Which is your favourite?
presentation of a front cover.
Scanning the 400-cover canvas on the opposite page, you can find times when the magazine was busy with lots of different cover lines and elements, times when it preferred a leaner and cleaner approach. Times when a single player led the charge, and times when a multi-player – or typographical, perhaps numerical – execution was the preference. The masthead, and even the name, also evolved along the way.
What is common to all is that they represent the Manchester United story during one snapshot in time – all part of the richest of tapestries that is this club’s history (since 1992/93, anyway!).
Go on, pick your favourite. And watch out for this 400-cover mosaic coming out in poster form!
“I’ve been lucky enough to design covers for some huge names – Ronaldo, Rooney, Beckham, Rashford and more – but my favourite is actually the Fred ‘signing’ cover (August 2018 issue, number 314). I really enjoyed the mix of bold type and handdrawn elements – it felt lively and full of energy, and it still stands out to me as one of the most fun covers I’ve designed.
“The Academy collector’s edition is also
up there (January 2020, number 331). It was a fold-out cover and I had to piece together individual shots of players to make it appear one cohesive photoshoot, which was a real challenge in terms of sizing and lighting.
“Then there’s the George Best cover (July 2019, number 325). Iconic, clean, modern, and a retro edge… and of course the great image of George does a lot of the work!”
So in a galaxy of United stars going back to late 1992 – who are the chosen ones to have appeared on the magazine’s front cover the most times?
Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney coming top of the pile makes instant sense. Ryan, after all, is the club’s longestserving player ever, being active in the United team for 21 of the 33 years the magazine has been in existence… and was an utterly incredible footballer, as well as someone with popular-culture crossover cachet. Giggsy’s first solo cover was in the mag’s eighth issue (1993), while his latest was in issue 236 (March 2012) – some span!
Rooney was someone else with a long Reds career, and who holds a major club record of his own: the outright top goalscoring scoring tally (253). He was also the player that carried the superstar tag after Giggsy and other Alex Ferguson-era stalwarts had retired. Wazza got his first cover in issue 147 (November 2004) and matched Giggs’s tally in issue 297, having just bagged the aforementioned scoring record (March 2017).
The talismanic power of Roy Keane shines through in his tally of 13 mag
covers, amassed during his own dozenand-a-bit years in United colours – even if he didn’t court the limelight. Eric Cantona then pips David Beckham by 12 covers to 11 – Cantona a mainstay in the early years after he arrived to unlock our title-winning potential, Beckham as perhaps the ultimate celebrity footballer, certainly of his era. Both would have surely earned even more covers had their United careers not ended earlier than they might have.
Rio Ferdinand gets into double figures with 10, followed up by David De Gea with eight covers – handy totals befitting their Reds careers: Rio totalling 455 senior appearances in all and De Gea 545, the most of any overseas player, and any goalkeeper, in club records.
Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo follow with seven covers apiece – the latter racked up over two playing spells – before four more stellar names, including Bruno Fernandes as the most-covered current player, make up the top echelon.
The rules of the game here are that covers are only counted when the player in question is the outright front-cover star – so not sharing it with anyone else, or appearing in a montage, but having it all to themselves (give or take a few other smaller images).
The below example featuring Rooney and Ronaldo (number 174, January 2007) wouldn’t count as a solo cover for either player, nor would Bruno get one for this September’s cover in which he was part of a multi-player montage.
We’re not scoring Scholesy (issue 229, August 2011) one for his ‘flip’ back cover, either. Harsh, maybe, but rules are rules!
(Yes, we are allowing Ronaldo number 140, even though Ruud is partly visible in shot; the same goes for Rio on 134 – and yes, Keano does get number 86 even though only half of his face is on there… take it up with him if you like!)
We know that this magazine walked in on things at just the right time. Not only were Alex Ferguson’s men soon to win that 1992/93 Premier League trophy, but the club was embarking on a pioneering and prolonged quest to gather enough silverware to dazzle the world. We make it 30 trophies won at the elite level, at home and on the continent (we’ve generously foregone Charity/Community Shield recognition), since the magazine’s inception. And of course, a point Alex Ferguson himself often stressed: when you win them, you should celebrate them. So the magazine lapped each up, from special editions (even with shiny covers) for the biggest wins down to mere mentions when it was a – relatively – lesser bauble.
Here’s how our magazine front covers reflect three decades of club glory – of which we can all be enormously proud, and of which other clubs can only be enormously envious…
ISSUES 6 & 7
Premier League
ISSUES 18 & 19
How the many, many trophy wins along the way were mirrored on the magazine’s front cover – it’s been a hell of a run…
Premier League and FA Cup Double ISSUES 43 & 44
Premier League and FA Cup Double ISSUES 54 & 55
Premier League ISSUES 78 & 79
Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League Treble
A compendium of notable covers from down the years, from issues where we have paused to pay tribute to others where we have saluted our mag milestones…
There have been sad occasions when the club has mourned the loss of irreplaceable individuals –and the magazine duly paid its respects at those times of sorrow.
ISSUE 15
March 1994
Sir Matt Busby
The great Matt Busby, architect of United’s remarkable post-war rise and beloved to all, died at the age of 84 on 20 January 1994. The next issue of the magazine to come out – the March edition, out in February – had Sir Matt on the cover with the epithet ‘Father of football’, and paid tribute inside to a giant of the club. “He stood above everybody and he will be sorely missed at Old Trafford,” were among Alex Ferguson’s words on his countryman, friend and mentor. “I’m just so glad that we won the league before he died, and that he was there to see us do it.”
ISSUE 163
February 2006
George Best
United lost another titan and cherished family member on 25 November 2005 when George died after illness. “Saying goodbye to a legend and a friend” read the cover line accompanying an inset image of George on the front cover of the next issue out. Inside there was a section devoted to “Belfast’s finest”, who had been the epitome of United swagger, style and panache during the 1960s – and had later been a popular mag columnist.
ISSUE 377
December 2023
Sir Bobby Charlton
The news of Sir Bobby’s death on 21 October 2023 was a devastating blow. A great servant to Sir Matt and team-mate of George, Bobby had also devoted his life to Manchester United after his retirement from the game, serving as a director and lending his considerable weight inside the club and as an ambassadorial figure. A portrait of Bobby in his youthful prime adorned the cover of the mag’s next issue, with many pages of tribute inside to a United untouchable.
ISSUE 392
March 2025
Denis Law
“Remembering The King” read the front cover of the March 2025 issue, in salute of another fallen hero in Denis Law – “a Manchester United icon and truly adored giant of the club” – who had died on 17 January. The irrepressible Scottish livewire, goal machine and fan favourite given the ‘King of the Stretford End’ title – who Matt Busby once hailed as “the most exciting player in the game” –was celebrated inside the issue’s pages.
There are many ways to execute a front cover, and once in a while in the magazine’s history we decided that an illustration – rather than the more usual photo image – was the way to go…
ISSUE 118 August 2002
Cartoon Beckham, Veron and Forlan –in national colours – front an issue that reviewed the participation of United players in the 2002 World Cup in Japan.
ISSUE 305 November 2017
Juan Mata stars – as rendered by Stan Chow in his instantly recognisable style.
ISSUE 378
January 2024
Alejandro Garnacho’s stunning overhead kick against Everton was well worth going the extra mile for.
It probably looks a bit cheesy these days, but there was a period when we threw ourselves into the Christmas spirit!
ISSUES 24, 36, 61, 111 & 136
United Women became a welcome new element among the magazine’s content offering after the team was created in 2018 and subsequently went about growing into the trophy-winning and WSL title-challenging force they are today. We were proud to give the team their first front cover in 2022, and then went big on them in 2025 with a special fold-out cover.
Just as we are in this edition, we have marked milestone issue numbers in the past with special themes or at least mentions on the cover. It’s like a birthday, so you are entitled to make a bit of a song and dance!
From Sir Alex Ferguson –who was a voice in the magazine from issue one all the way until he retired –to George Best, we have benefited from the insight of some of the finest minds and greatest Reds. Here is a small selection of the many contributions made by star turns down the years…
Whether in his own column or later taking a monthly reader Q&A, ‘The Boss’ was at the heart of so much prime mag content. Here are a few Sir Alex highlights...
Speaking days before the Reds’ legendary Treble triumph, Sir Alex was seemingly already well on the way to retirement, counting down to calling it a day three years later following his 60th birthday. In the event, he didn’t finish as manager of Manchester United until 2013 at the age of 71...
“I have always set the age of 60 as a target for when I finish as manager of Manchester United. The drive in me is hard to quell, but I have to accept the desire will eventually diminish. That’s why I’ve said 60 is my cut-off. My heart is in the club and I hope to be very active in trying to ensure that all the work I have done will go on bearing fruit.”
Despite the euphoric nature of that Treble-clinching night in Barcelona – or perhaps because of it – even the gaffer felt the need to unplug and recalibrate over the summer of 1999...
“I enjoyed my holiday. I needed it after such a long season. I didn’t completely forget about football, that’s not possible, but I had a good rest. Some holidaymakers talked to me about the game in Barcelona but I avoided that as much as possible.
“To be honest, winning the European Cup hasn’t sunk in for me, probably because I haven’t seen the game yet. It was such an emotional night that it was difficult to take in.”
Having announced his scheduled retirement for the end of the 2001/02 campaign, Sir Alex had an about-turn towards the end of the campaign and penned a new contract. Naturally, the topic came up in conversation with the mag...
“My decision not to retire was purely down to the fact my family and I thought I was too young. My wife’s view is that you should retire when you’re tired. That was the crux of it.
“Obviously I was delighted with the reaction from the players when I told them I intended to stay. I put it down to the fact that my relationship with them has always been strong. They’ve always been able to trust me. I’ve shown trust in them and built a great foundation in that. I know the players, I know what makes them tick and I know their every weakness and strength. The coaches, backroom staff and office staff at the training ground seem pleased too, although they shouldn’t be because I’m sacking them all anyway!
“I’ve committed myself to United for the next three years and in this time we have to move on as a club, improve ourselves and show that we’re world class. We get labelled the biggest team in the world but we have to prove it.”
As the manager’s involvement morphed into a monthly ‘Ask Sir Alex’ format, readers were encouraged to submit random questions which weren’t limited to football...
What’s the secret to a long and happy marriage?
“Remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint – I’ve been married for 41 years now! There’s always going to be ups and downs in any marriage, but having a family helps – it gives you something to work together for, so you’re working for them, as well as each other, and that was the case with us and our three boys. Is the missus always right? No, never –but don’t tell her I told you!”
Shortly after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s testimonial, mag staff shoehorned an in-house question into proceedings, making a thematic exception for an exceptional character...
Can you pay tribute to Ole for us?
“You would have seen how important, influential and popular a player he has been for this club in recent times by the reaction from fans at his testimonial. Even if we were playing a select team from the moon, this stadium would be full to pay tribute to a great United player. He is a respected figure at the club and has led his professional life 100 per cent correctly. He is a fantastic person and a wonderful footballer. I can’t think of a better goalscorer or a more natural finisher.”
… before reverting to type and putting the boss on the spot with a tricky poser to platform his stance as a known cinephile…
What are your three favourite films of all time (not in order)?
“When you consider that Gone With the Wind came out in 1939, the way it was made, how epic and spectacular it was, and the history of it, that really stands out as a great movie. It has to be one of my all-time favourites.
The Godfather was a fantastic movie, too. It has you gripped from the very start. And The Searchers, now that’s an excellent film. That is without doubt the best Western of all time. John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter and Natalie Wood – they were all brilliant. The main character, Ethan Edwards who is played by John Wayne, finds that in a raid, a band of Comanche Native Americans burn his house down and kill his sisterin-law and nephew. They also kidnap his two nieces. The story is about how he tracks them down and gets revenge. It’s a classic Western.”
In November 2011, Sir Alex celebrated a staggering 25 years in charge at Old Trafford, lending a nostalgic vibe to his monthly column and giving him the chance to take a holistic view on his tenure to date...
In the midst of a hectic run-in which ended with an 18th Premier League title, the gaffer was pressed for his thoughts on the best away grounds in the country. Despite a recent defeat at Fulham, Sir Alex didn’t let that affect his verdict…
Which is your favourite away ground in England?
“I like grounds where the atmosphere of our fans is good. Fulham normally is a great ground. It’s always a good atmosphere and we get a full end behind the goal. Our fans are in fine voice at Craven Cottage and the stadium is very traditional. But the dressing rooms are tiny – smaller than my office! We’ve got 18 players stripping down, coaches, physios, kit men… it’s ridiculous, really. But they aren’t the only ones, there are other grounds that disappoint in that respect.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in those 25 years –words of wisdom that still ring true today?
“I always remember Sir Matt Busby telling me not to read the papers because he never read them. I think that was good advice. I very seldom read them. When you lose a game there’s no point reading the papers because the coverage is all negative anyway.”
If you could go back and change the course of just one game over the last 25 years, which one would you choose and why?
“The West Ham game, away, in 1995 when we drew 1-1. The referee missed a blatant penalty kick when their defender Tim Breacker punched the ball away. It was unbelievable. That was the one game I’d change because we really deserved to win that day. It was agony, the mayhem around that goalmouth. It just wasn’t for us. Fate goes different ways sometimes.”
As the boss continued to stack up the milestones, so too did some of his longest-serving players, with Ryan Giggs taking centre stage in Ask Sir Alex during the 2011/12 term...
Ryan Giggs is about to hit 900 appearances – how do you sum up this latest incredible achievement? “It’s amazing. I honestly don’t know how he does it. He doesn’t look any different to how he was three or four years ago. It’s amazing. Some of his performances in central midfield this season have been terrific. That is definitely his role now –he brings that quickness of thought and quickness of feet which are exceptional.”
Little did we know it, but the May 2013 edition would prove to be the final mag column for Sir Alex. By that stage, he knew his retirement was in the offing, but there was no hint given to us – even if he did allow himself a wistful look back at the man he idolised in his youth...
If you were to put together a team made up of current staff members and ambassadors in their heyday – yourself, Choccy, Robbo, Schmeichel etc – and put them up against the current squad, who would win?
“Well, they were all great players in their day. It’s always a question about former players –could they play in the modern day? Well, great players could have played in any era. Look at
Ahead of what would prove to be his final Champions League tie in management – fittingly against the mighty Real Madrid – the boss set his sights on welcoming two familiar faces back to Old Trafford: Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho...
How different is Cristiano Ronaldo as a player now, compared to when he left Old Trafford?
“Maturity brings many things, in his experiences of the game. I saw that when I went to see them [Real Madrid] play against City. Some of his decisionmaking in terms of passing was brilliant – onetouch passing, good crosses. In the six years we had him, you just saw his game grow and grow and grow all the time, and he was an absolutely fantastic player. Now you see a complete player. His decision-making, his maturity, his experience, plus all the great skills he’s got, they all make him the complete player.”
Do you have different levels of wine for different managers?
“If you’re someone who knows their wine and enjoys a glass after the game then it’s always different. The wine at Old Trafford is actually very good, though. We always produce good wine there, some terrific stuff for the managers when they come to the ground. Sometimes Jose [Mourinho] or Roberto Mancini or Carlo Ancelotti have brought wine with them as a present, and I’ve sometimes done the same thing when we’ve gone to their grounds and taken them a nice bottle for afterwards.”
Denis Law – he had a lot of issues with his knee towards the end of his career, but if you think about the advanced medical improvements in recent years, he could have played on a lot longer.
“And also they would have benefited from good pitches, and the modern-day footballs, there’s no doubt about that. It’s difficult to say. Players these days aren’t used to playing on bad pitches. In my day, when it got to November the centre of the pitch was a furrow, with divots everywhere, and it could make it difficult for you.
“But it would have been great to play with Denis, he was my hero when I was younger, even though he was only a couple of years older than me. He was the epitome of a Scotsman, he could start a fight in an empty house, he could fight his shadow, but he had such courage, and he was a fantastic Scottish player – the best Scottish player ever.”
Ten snippets of the talented Mr Best from his time as the magazine’s star columnist, which ran from 1999 to 2005…
ISSUE 88 APRIL 2000
Straight-talking George debunks the myths that a) diving is a new phenomenon and b) that it was something introduced to England by incoming foreign players…
“People say it’s the foreigners who introduced diving into our game, but British players are just as guilty of it. In my day, Manchester City had the worst diver of all time, Franny Lee. We used to give him marks for artistic impression! And I hate to pick on City players but my mate Rodney Marsh will openly tell you that he’d dive if there was a chance to get a penalty. Personally, it was a matter of pride to me that I wanted to stay on my feet and dribble around the goalkeeper to score.”
ISSUE 104 JULY 2001
George on David Beckham and playing the style game…
“He [David Beckham] reminds me of myself in that I certainly got through a few styles during my playing career. I liked to change my hair along with my mood! I tried the beard, the moustache, long hair, short hair – you name it, I had it. It’s hard to say which was the worst but I do remember the in-between stages – when I was trying to grow it from short to long for example, it just ended up not doing anything! I remember it used to be weird when we went abroad, especially to the Eastern Europe countries. It was like being an alien. They’d never seen long hair and they used to come up and touch it!”
ISSUE 109 NOVEMBER 2001
Our columnist revels in United’s famous 5-3 comeback win over Spurs in September 2001, in which all five United goals were scored after the break, having faced a 3-0 deficit at half-time. The sort of attacking onslaught George would have loved to have been involved in…
“England’s comeback [against Greece] was nothing compared to United’s against Spurs. Only one team can pull off a result like that. It’s hard to say what made the difference in the second half, although tactically Spurs got it wrong. They thought they’d done enough and they sat back. Against most sides it probably would have worked but you need to be more than three ahead before you’re safe from the Manchester United comeback!”
Best on the thrill of dribbling down the wing… especially with a full mane of hair!
“When you look back at old photographs they always look better when you’re running down the wing with long hair too. It’s the same when you see pictures of Giggsy. It makes us look like great racehorses – tearing up the pitch with that long mane flowing behind!
“It gives you an extra buzz when you’re going past players on the wing, too, because you’re so close to the fans. When it’s your own fans you can sense them holding their breath and when it’s the opposition fans you get a bit of banter going. I particularly loved playing against Liverpool because you’d always get abuse but I just used to turn around and say something back. It was all part and parcel of the entertainment. It was great theatre, and that’s the way it should be.”
Next issue, George is celebrating being awarded the freedom of Castlereagh… and herding his ‘flock of sheep’
“I’d like to thank the people of Castlereagh, near to where I was born, for giving me the freedom of the borough at a recent ceremony. It’s a great honour and, what’s more, I can now get on the buses for free and graze my flock of sheep on common land! Football has some unusual rewards!”
As the magazine celebrates United’s 2002/03 title win, George pinpoints the difference between the Reds and runners-up Arsenal…
“I could go on and on praising individuals, but the main difference for me between United and Arsenal was the level of commitment. With the United team, they took it as a personal insult if they lost the ball and they didn’t give opponents a moment’s peace until they won it back.
“Sir Alex Ferguson has now won 27 trophies in 29 years and he might just be the greatest manager of all time. Don’t forget, he was thinking of quitting a year ago, but this success could add another 10 years onto his managerial career.”
133 SEPTEMBER 2003
These famous and generous lines from George on Cristiano Ronaldo have been repeated often since, but were first said to this magazine…
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s first United game as a substitute in the season opener against Bolton was undoubtedly the most exciting debut performance I’ve ever seen.
“A few of my old team-mates were at the game and they compared him to me. There have been a few players described as ‘the new George Best’ over the years, but this was the first time it’s been a compliment to me. There have been players who have had some similarities, but this lad’s got more than anyone else, especially as he is genuinely two-footed.
“Another thing I liked about Ronaldo against Bolton was how he dealt with the physical side. As soon as he came on, he was clattered from behind, but he just got up and got on with the game. It didn’t faze him at all. That’s the right attitude. I used to relish it when defenders were trying to kick me up in the air – it only made me more determined to take the mick out of them!”
ISSUE 140 APRIL 2004
Bestie salutes Roy Keane’s influence – and sympathises with his occasional frustrated outpourings…
“Roy Keane is such a great player and when he’s not in there, we miss him. With Roy, his occasional flashes of indiscipline usually occur near the end of games, seemingly caused by frustration at United underperforming. I can empathise with that. When things weren’t going my way I felt like lamping someone… and I sometimes did, which is why I got sent off a few times!”
ISSUE 154 JUNE 2005
George is once again generous – and absolutely on the money – in his assessment of, and praise for, a supremely talented United youngster, this time Wayne Rooney at the end of
season…
“Talent and goalscoring-wise, the only player I can compare him to at such a young age is Jimmy Greaves. Wayne has awareness, skill and strength on the ball. He can generate power in headers from nothing and he’s ice-cool in front of goal.
“Once he crosses the white line, he seems to be able to put all the hype and
rubbish that surrounds him out of his mind. I was like that – I’d get a lot of flak off the pitch, but all that disappeared when I was doing what I loved.
“Apart from occasionally losing his head, he doesn’t have a flaw in his game. At United, under Fergie, he’s just going to get better and better. The Gaffer has
dealt with all sorts of characters over the years and he’ll instil the discipline that will get the best out of Wayne. He’s already shining in a star-studded squad and he could be the main man as we go for more trophies in the coming years.”
Poignantly, this passage comes from one of George’s final columns before illness eventually led to his death in November 2005. We miss you as always, George, 20 years on – you were a legend in every way…
“It’s easy to blame the manager when things go wrong, but the players have to take their share of responsibility for failure. I’ve visited the Carrington training ground, I’ve seen the facilities… everything is done for them. It’s the greatest lifestyle in the world and they can have no excuses not to perform.
“Each and every United player has got to look at himself and ask why he isn’t delivering consistently. When I came off the pitch and I was even slightly unsatisfied with my performance, I was busting to get out and do better in the next match. That’s got to be the mental attitude.”
As a player then later a coach and staff member, Brian ‘Choccy’ McClair contributed his popular and often off-the-wall inside diary from the very first year of the mag’s existence until 2013. Here are some snippets –and the cartoons of David Semple, the diary’s illustrator from 2002 on…
Brian’s first contribution was a ‘South Africa Diary’ from the pre-season tour of summer 1993. He was a senior player at the time, having been signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1987 from Celtic, famously in his maiden season becoming the first United player since George Best to score 20 or more league goals in one campaign. He sets the tone for all future columns with some dry observations, humour – and digs at colleagues…
“Travellers’ Tips: If seated next to Mike Phelan on an aircraft, make sure you either have a cold or try to persuade him to keep his training shoes on!”
“Mike Phelan and I decide to try some of the local cuisine. I have sweet-and-sour crocodile (no real taste to it) and Mick has ostrich fillet – it looks like red meat and tastes nice. Mick says he can now run the 100 metres in under six seconds!”
“Before the game we meet Nelson Mandela. Everyone is really honoured to have had their photo taken with him”
After his musings from South Africa, Brian soon becomes a regular under the column name: Life of Brian –Choccy’s Soccer Diary
“Three hours to Budapest. Sod’s Law – stuck next to Mike Phelan and his trainers. It seems that Lee Martin does not like Danish Blue cheese…”
“Play my first full game of the season. After the game Pally and Robbo discover, to our amusement, that someone has cut off the toes of their socks, which reminded me of a prank I was told about by Lou Macari. What a strange coincidence!”
Choccy’s final diary as a United player, as he is soon to make a transfer to former club Motherwell after 11 loyal and successful seasons as a Red…
“Day off. Went out and bought the new Jesus and Mary Chain single. It is great, nice to see them back in top form.”
“Kiddo has just told me this tale. He had got Pele’s autograph for his son, Mark. Mark mumbles, ‘Dad, what have you got me Pally’s autograph for?’”
Choccy’s Diary continued to be a regular feature in the magazine for over a decade, with Brian’s final entry coming in the September 2013 issue, ‘hanging up his quill’, as he put it, after Sir Alex’s departure as manager. Here are half-a-dozen of our favourite cartoons from the period…
Having returned to the club at the outset of the 2001/02 season as Reserves manager, before long Brian gets his diary up and running regularly again – now with the brilliant cartoons of Dave Semple to embellish them…
“Couldn’t believe I was approached by a very nice girl and asked if I would be interested in writing for this esteemed publication. I was told I didn’t have to restrict it to football, I had carte blanche. And I could write about anything I wanted. ‘This girl is mad to let me loose,’ I thought. ‘Does she know about my sense of humour?’”
Snippets from some of the others – whether journalists, current or former players – to have reached out to readers as mag columnists…
The stalwart Manchester Evening News correspondent and United reporter was the mag’s first columnist
“Perhaps Oscar Wilde was really thinking about Manchester United and the championship when he talked about the love that dare not speak its name! Certainly he could not have described more poignantly the feelings of Old Trafford fans as the league title beckons this season.
“No-one’s going to thank me for tempting fate and saying it, but I truly think that this is going to be the year.
“I have reported in Manchester for 35 years this month and the present team and squad is the best they have had since the glory days of the Sixties and their last championship success in 1967. They all but did it last season and now they are just that little bit stronger at a time when again there is no one
The Busby-era midfielder had a column replying to readers in the popular letters pages – Pat was billed as someone ‘not shy of telling it like it is’…
Q: Graham Kelly [FA chief executive] recently spoke of United as having a bad disciplinary record. Why did he choose to single out United when in last year’s disciplinary table we were in the middle? When the FA deal with United, can they be trusted?
Cassandra Colley, Liverpool A: “After the way they treated Cantona, I don’t believe the FA can be trusted. It’s not fair for Mr Kelly to name a specific team and he should get his facts right. It seems that nobody will listen to what you have to say unless you mention United.”
The Dutch defender penned a column during the 1998/1999 season – when quite a bit happened, capped off by the final goal of 128 scored that magical campaign…
“I don’t remember much about Ole’s winner, it all happened so fast. I remember I was behind Ole when he hit it. I probably had the best view of that goal as it went in. You tell me what happened, we all went crazy! All the Bayern players looked devastated, they fell to the floor and I think they just wanted to crawl away and go and hide somewhere. If I was in their position I would have felt the same.”
Gary, well known as a talkative individual even back as a player, also had a regular column for a period of time, making his debut in the April 2001 edition…
“Team spirit is essential and we’re fortunate to have such a good spirit at United. We try and maintain that by having regular team activities away from the club too. Once a month or so, we’ll all go out and do something like karting or paintball, which I normally organise after running it by the rest of the team, especially Roy.
“As you can imagine with our squad, these days out often get pretty competitive. We went paintballing recently and although you’re only supposed to shoot people once, ours turned into a bit of a free-for-all and, I can tell you, it does hurt! There’s a few sadistic members in our team – David May springs to mind – and afterwards, the paintball guy said: ‘I’ve never seen anyone go through so much paint!’”
ISSUE 103, JUNE 2001
“The players, the manager, the coaches – all the staff would die for Manchester United. I don’t think the identity of this club has been so well represented by a set of people since the Busby Babes.”
ISSUE 112, FEBRUARY 2002
“Other teams have bad patches and while they probably get a little bit of criticism, it’s nothing compared to what we get when it happens to us. We are Manchester United players and we know we’re going to receive fierce criticism. There’s not a club in the country that gets as much coverage as us.”
You loveable readers have always been important contributors too – for example in sending your images in for the Red Planet pages across so many years… as this lucky-dip blizzard of entries proves!
SEP 2004 ISSUE 145
Classic Red Planet fodder: the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Nice one Nathan
NOV 2005 ISSUE 160
We’d agree with that scoring –a bit of ingenuity and bravery were always welcome, well done Matt
FEB 2009 ISSUE 199
Erm, Josh… might want to get a wriggle on! Safari has also been a good source of Red Planet pics down the years.
OCT 2004 ISSUE 146
Erm… hope this one was all above board, Mick!
NOV 2004 ISSUE 147
Pool or sea, in or by: staple Red Planet locations! Lucky Tom was in the Maldives.
JUL 2005 ISSUE 155
We from time to time got submissions from our service people – like Joshua and Sgt Dunkley (116th Brigade Combat Team).
JUN 2006 ISSUE 167
Madame Tussauds made numerous appearances – here Ryan poses with the Prince of Darkness’s wax likeness. Rest in peace, Ozzy!
FEB 2005 ISSUE 150
Bringing on an animal was another trick guaranteed to give you a chance of featuring – and perhaps being named the month’s winner, like camel-riding Andy
AUG 2005 ISSUE 156
Having a pop at another team was always welcome, like Chris and friends – in Everton, Australia.
AUG 2009 ISSUE 205
More military kit on Red Planet, from David in Afghanistan at the time.
FEB 2010 ISSUE 211
A definite 10 out of 10 for Jac Lyn – for guts, mostly!
SEP 2011 ISSUE 230
The location needn’t be glamorous or glitzy, as Esty proves.
SEP 2013 ISSUE 255
More nuptials gatecrashed by the magazine, courtesy of Jared and bride.
MAR 2012 ISSUE 236
Textbook contribution, Sheldon: world-famous landmark, nicely framed, mag in view!
OCT 2012 ISSUE 243
Believe it or not, quite a few people even made time for Red Planet around their wedding days, like Chris and Magdalena!
the dummy-suckers.
AUG 2014 ISSUE 266
JUL 2013 ISSUE 252
A celebrity appearance never goes amiss – like when reader Rob met (and donated an issue to) the great Usain Bolt in Jamaica.
FEB 2015 ISSUE 272
Some Red Planeteers were serial contributors – like Simon, who sent in numerous shots of different Manchesters down the years. Here’s his first.
MAY 2015 ISSUE 275
There’s also been space for this sort of thing! Thanks, James OCT 2015 ISSUE
APR 2017 ISSUE 298
Definitely in the mix for best animalrelated entry (or most animals, maybe) – Hirni in Antarctica.
JAN 2016 ISSUE 283
Amira, a contender for Red Planet’s cutest ever!
APR 2018 ISSUE 310
Shots while out skiing have been a true staple of Red Planet entries –as repped by Emma and Bob
Theme parks were always popular spots for readers’ pics – Jamie came up with one of the more arresting executions… you recognition – well played, Atsushi, at Osaka Castle.
JAN 2017 ISSUE 295
We love a Red pet – say hello to greyhound George
Taking readers behind the scenes – at The Cliff in the early days, at Carrington, at Old Trafford – has always been one of the magazine’s key missions. Next we hear from some of those staff members whose job it was to do that – and we get the inside track on what went on between the lines…
JUSTYN BARNES worked on the very first edition of the magazine in winter 1992 and went on to become its editor, presiding over the mag during the glorious Treble season…
“Looking back, I feel ridiculously fortunate to have been the magazine’s editor during the greatest season in the club’s history. I attended virtually all the games in 1998/99 with my deputy editor and dear friend Sam Pilger, and I witnessed first-hand the best goal ever (Giggs at Villa Park), the most inspiring performance ever (Keane in Turin) and best three minutes ever in Barcelona. Unforgettable. And I got to enjoy it all while working with a friendly, talented bunch of people.
“Funny story from that year (well, to quote Morrissey, I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible). Alex Ferguson banned the magazine from interviewing the players halfway through the season. Peter Schmeichel had taken exception to a question we’d asked him and it had got back to Alex. I can’t recall what the offending question was, but the boss didn’t want us upsetting his key players at a pivotal time, so, unbeknown to anyone outside the club, for the next few weeks the official club magazine was the only publication that couldn’t interview
the club’s first-team squad players! Our next couple of issues had to be cobbled together. Meanwhile, our indefatigable editorial co-ordinator Rebecca (see p54!) kept asking if we could come back. Thankfully, one day the boss relented, otherwise our Treble-winning coverage would have been a lot more outsider than the insider’s view we aimed to give.
“Just before the ban, we’d published the biggest exclusive of my time on the magazine: the first interview David Beckham had given since his sending-off against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup finals. A brilliant portrait photographer, Alistair Berg, took the cover shot of Becks and the cover line simply said: ‘The Interview.’ That was a nice one.
“For some players, interviews were a real chore. Some really hated doing them – for example, Paul Scholes, now such a relaxed media pundit, was notorious for driving away after training when he was supposed to be speaking to us or other journalists. We did our best to make the experience less of an ordeal. I once interviewed Gary Neville over a game of snooker – and won a fiver off him (which I still have). And some players, like Teddy Sheringham, were up for doing more. After the Treble win, he gamely agreed to a ‘Medallion Man’ cover shoot dressed in a frilly silk purple 1970s-style shirt open to the navel, wearing his three medals and posing with the Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup trophies. Another time, I went to the greyhound races at Belle Vue with Teddy and his then-partner Nicola for a feature.
“My favourite interviewee was Roy Keane. Spoke a mile-a-minute, very witty, a bit scary and fearless in giving his opinions. Memory like an elephant when it came to perceived slights, though. In the introduction to an interview in the February 2000 edition, I wrote something about him wearing a sweatshirt that ‘looked like it had been through the wash a few times’ – my point being that there was nothing flashy about him compared to the more designer-label-conscious players of the time. A year later, when I rocked up for another interview with him, the first thing he said was: ‘What was wrong with that sweatshirt?’
“We were always trying to do something different with photoshoots to accompany our interviews. For instance, after his famous comment about the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ among supporters,
“Paul Scholes, now such a relaxed media pundit, was notorious for driving away after training when he was supposed to be speaking to us”
someone (it might have been me…) thought it would make for a great cover if we could get Roy to pose ironically with a dainty cup of tea and a prawn sandwich. He wasn’t keen on posing for photos at the best of times, so our plan was to have the photographer primed, a platter or prawn sandwiches ready, and for me to ask him after the interview. If he was up for it, I’d give the signal to bring in the sarnies. The interview went well, and as he was signing shirts for a competition, I explained our exciting concept. No reply. Total silence. Mission aborted. (Note: read that retro interview in full later in the issue!)
“Another time, we had the bright idea of photographing Ryan Giggs ‘walking on water’. A photographer took on the challenge with what, in fairness to him, was a wholly inadequate production budget. The shoot took place in the pool at Carrington training ground, and I still
shudder at the memory of Ryan being helped across a ladder over water to a makeshift platform that the photographer had constructed in his garage. As it turned out the platform was slightly too low, so it looked like Ryan was paddling rather than the divine image we’d envisaged. And, dear God, if Sir Alex had walked down the corridor overlooking the pool and seen what was going on…
“It is the connection between the past and present that makes the club so special – from the Busby Babes to Fergie’s Fledglings and beyond – and we always tried to reflect that rich history in the magazine. I used to love talking to the former players like Wilf McGuinness and George Best, who both did monthly columns for us. In February 1998, on the 40th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, our team put together a beautiful, moving feature with former players, long-standing
“Sir Bobby showed me where he scored direct from a corner in a youth team match. What a privilege it was to work for this extraordinary club’s magazine”
club employees, local reporters and fans sharing their personal memories of that unimaginable tragedy, and the impact it had on the city and the world. And every time I went to Old Trafford and looked up at the Munich memorial clock, I felt the weight of that history.
“Years later, off the back of my work on the magazine, I got to spend a surreally delightful morning at The Cliff with Munich survivor Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. Sir Bobby showed me where he scored direct from a corner in a youth team match back in the 1950s. What a privilege. And what a privilege it was to work for this extraordinary football club’s magazine.”
ANDREW WARD contributed to the magazine back in the day – and many years later is now United’s director of media relations and public affairs…
“As a lifelong United fan who wanted to be a journalist, writing for the magazine in the late 1990s was a dream come true. It wasn’t always glamorous. I was responsible for covering Reserves and youth fixtures, which took me across the north of England in my battered Nissan Micra to empty stadiums and windswept training grounds.
“But it gave me a privileged peek behind the scenes of United’s talent factory as future stars including Wes Brown and John O’Shea came through, as well as some standout opponents such as ‘Liverpool’s highly-rated Steve Gerard’ – my first typo in professional journalism. Which players to highlight in match reports and profiles was a sensitive matter requiring discussion with the Academy coaches, who were always wary of building up players too soon. John Curtis, Jonathan Greening, Danny Webber and Luke Chadwick were among those who caught my eye but ultimately had
to take a step down to find regular first-team football.
“The player I most enjoyed watching was an impish forward called Jimmy Davis, whose mercurial talent would illuminate even the greyest winter morning at Littleton Road in Salford, where the Under-18s played. He looked a certainty to make it, either at United or a high level elsewhere, until he was tragically killed in a car accident while playing on loan for Watford in 2003, a loss still mourned by those who remember a young man who lived life with a smile on his face.
“I also wrote features for the magazine and these would sometimes take me to The Cliff in Salford, where the first team trained before the move to Carrington in 2001. As a first-time visitor, Sir Alex – just plain ‘Gaffer’ back then – would narrow his eyes and scan you like an X-ray machine to judge friend or foe. The sense of entering a walled kingdom united against a hostile outside world was tangible.
“I avoided any face-to-face run-ins but on one occasion received word that the Gaffer was angry about a piece I had written headlined ‘War of the Roses’ (left) on our bitter rivalry with Leeds United. He felt the article could harm the team by fuelling tensions before our next visit to Elland Road, and I was duly given a virtual ‘hairdryer’ by my flustered editor.
“Back then, the magazine was produced from an office in London where the club’s publishing partner was based. Once a month, I would get the train down to Euston with our other Manchesterbased writers, including Paul Davies, now editor of United Review, and Andy Mitten of United We Stand. We would arrive brimming with ideas for the editorial meeting with editors Justyn Barnes and Sam Pilger, who sent us back north with our commissions.
“For all of us, it was a great grounding in journalism within a trailblazing publication that set the standard for the emerging genre of club-specific media, which has evolved into the array of digital channels available to United fans today. Happy 400th issue to the magazine and thanks for the memories!”
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United will get to grips with Arsenal again in New Jersey
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SAM PILGER looks back with great fondness on his time on the magazine in the late-1990s…
“I
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t was a few days into the new millennium when my time on the magazine came to a close in Rio de Janeiro as I stood on a hotel rooftop with a view of Sugarloaf Mountain and the spectacular sweep of Copacabana beach. My final assignment had been to cover United at the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in January 2000 to finish off a breathless and thrilling three-and-a-half years following the team across the world, from Brazil to Monte Carlo to Barnsley, which included sitting with Sir Alex Ferguson in his office, spending the afternoon in the pub with George Best, and David Beckham making me lunch.
“A year out of university, this was my first proper job, and as a United fan, I couldn’t have wished for a better one. I was suddenly thrust inside the club and granted a ringside seat to witness its inner workings. It always felt like I had won a golden ticket.
“Starting in August 1996, my first job was to
interview a relatively unknown Norwegian striker called Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (right). He had just signed, and was shy and charming. We took him to Giorgio Armani on King Street to kit him out in designer gear for a photoshoot when truth was he was happier in his tracksuit and flip-flops. The previous night he had scored against Rapid Vienna in the Champions League and could easily have had a hat-trick. He confided in me he was glad he only scored one as he didn’t want to put pressure on himself. He quickly learned to deal with all of that and three years later scored United’s most famous-ever goal.
“This was a time before the constant hum of Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, before the club even had a proper website or MUTV, and before the rolling news of Sky Sports. The magazine was then the main source of news for the club, and the biggest-selling sports title in the country, shifting over 200,000 copies in some months, usually when Beckham or Eric Cantona were on the cover.
“The players were more accessible and less guarded. It was just them and us. We provided them with a platform to speak to the fans at a time when no one of them had a social media account to bypass us. There weren’t even any press officers or entourages; we would approach them directly at the training ground to arrange to meet for an interview and photoshoot the following week.
“In the autumn of 1996, while I was interviewing a 21-year-old David Beckham in the Red Café at Old Trafford he saw a new group called The Spice Girls on a television mounted on the wall. ‘Here, I do like that one in the black dress,’ he told me. Six months later he and Victoria would meet for the first time and become one of the most famous couples in the world.
“A year later, Beckham met me after training, drove me to his home where he made me a sandwich and we watched MTV together, as he chatted and played with his new puppies Snoop and Puffy. Afterward
he told me not to worry about ordering a taxi, and instead gave me a lift to Piccadilly station in his Porsche.
“Favourite interviewees include Andy Cole – always a warm and generous character, who would stay and chat long after our interview had finished – Ryan Giggs, Jaap Stam (a formidable presence on the pitch but a gentle soul off it, who I travelled to Eindhoven to welcome to the club days after he signed in 1998), and for sheer honesty, Roy Keane, who never ducked a question.
“The last time I interviewed Sir Alex
“Beckham met me after training, drove me to his home where he made me a sandwich and we watched MTV”
Ferguson was at The Cliff in the summer of 1999. He was there alone, the players hadn’t returned yet for pre-season, and I naturally expected him to be basking in the glory of winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, and having just been knighted. But no, not at all, that was the past, it was all done, and he now had his steely focus on the new season and new trophies to be won.
“As a fan, and writer, I was happier to revel in that incredible 1998/99 season when United won the Treble. I missed only seven of the 62 games United played that season. The best game I have ever attended in any season, even better than the final in Barcelona, was the FA Cup semi-final replay win at Villa Park.
“Growing up I had gorged myself reading about the history of the club, and now at the magazine I had a chance to bring that all to life and speak to some of the players and managers themselves. I had been at Wembley in 1985 to see Norman Whiteside score his winner in the FA Cup final against Everton, and two decades later he would show me how he did it over lunch with the use of salt and pepper pots and a bottle of ketchup.
“Probably the greatest privilege was the afternoon I sat in a hospitality box in the East Stand overlooking Old Trafford with Sir Bobby Charlton as he talked about training on the same pitch with Jimmy Murphy and playing with the Busby Babes. His voice
cracked when he recalled how so many of them didn’t survive Munich.
“We recruited George Best as a columnist for the magazine, which frankly was an excuse to sit with him once a month at his local pub, The Phene Arms in Chelsea, as he nursed a glass of white wine crammed with ice cubes and reminisced about his career. Both Best and Charlton,
“Both Best and Charlton, alongside Law, were such gentlemen, warm and easy talkers with no discernible ego. They always spoke with an almost childlike enthusiasm”
since immortalised as statues outside Old Trafford alongside Denis Law, were such gentlemen, warm and easy talkers with no discernible ego. Though they must have looked back on their career countless times before, they always relished it and spoke with an almost childlike enthusiasm.
“These days whenever I am at Old Trafford for a game I always admire that statue of Best, Law and Charlton and marvel at my good fortune at how I was able to spend time with all of them, as well as covering the club in the late-1990s as another set of players lifted trophies and made their own glorious history.”
REBECCA NEWTON was the mag’s editorial co-ordinator, joining early in the Treble season – and still works for the club to this day, now in the Foundation…
“I
t was August 1998 and I was working at the club selling executive matchday packages for our Champions League qualifier against LKS Lodz, when a fax came through with details of an editorial co-ordinator position on the magazine. And that was it – within a couple of weeks I was racing up the stairs of The Cliff training ground having heard ‘REBECCA!’ roar out from inside Alex Ferguson’s office.
“I remember it like yesterday. Sir Alex wasn’t yet a knight, but he was already an absolute legend and I was about to gain unique access to an unprecedented season in Manchester United’s history.
“I was racing up the stairs of The Cliff training ground having heard ‘REBECCA!’ roar out from inside Alex Ferguson’s office”
“It scares me to think that I must have done some kind of Q&A with him on my first day, as I’m not journalist-trained.
Throughout my seven or so years on the magazine, I approached all my interviews as just having a good chat about a mutually beloved topic, Manchester United. That informal approach is great, but I did get caught out by some good stuff being told ‘off the record’ or after I’d switched off my dictaphone.
“In one of our title-winning seasons, I remember asking the boss in his monthly column if we could catch topof-the-table Arsenal, after the team had
started the season slowly, but began to build momentum for the run-in. He gave me chapter and verse on the team’s improvement, but having left it too late to mount a challenge. After I’d switched off, I said, ‘Do you mean it?’ And he laughed and just said, ‘No, of course we’ll beat them, but I’m not going to tell them that!’ Inevitably, he was correct!
“Working on an official club publication meant it was never about a major scoop, but the trade-off was our access to the first-team squad. It was all built on good faith and an understanding that we wouldn’t cross the line, and it was my job
to ensure we upheld that trust.
“I was pretty much given a free rein to wander around The Cliff and then Carrington to ensure I could arrange the main interviews and photoshoots for the feature writers. When it came to nailing down a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ from a player, I spent many a lonely hour hanging around their car park. One thing that hasn’t changed in the last 20-odd years is that doing media is not top of any professional footballer’s list.
“What I loved about the job was that it was never dull, and it allowed me to work creatively. Coming up with concepts for
player photoshoots when 90 per cent of the time the shoot would have to be at Carrington was the ultimate challenge.
I don’t think there is a nook or cranny of that training ground where we didn’t do a player shoot; you name it, the boot room, stairwells, balconies, even the lift! Once we photographed a young Cristiano Ronaldo in the laundry room. I think the headline was a pun on a washing powder advert, ‘New and improved’ (above).
“Once David Beckham was having shots done while being interviewed and to add some colour to the feature I waltzed out with a birthday cake and we serenaded him with a really awkward rendition of Happy Birthday. He was very gracious and made sure he took his cake home with him. Looking back, this is where monthly magazines could have punishing timelines – I’m pretty sure he gave an interview about staying at Manchester United and he was at Real Madrid by the time we came out on sale.
“I’ll always remember nailing a brilliant Christmas cover for the magazine one year (below), supporting our charity team’s shoebox appeal. I’m not sure where photoshop was at in 2002, because the snow that gently fell down on Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and Seba Veron involved me and a colleague standing on ladders and throwing artificial snow on their heads! Keano looks festively cheerful on the cover – that’s not the look
“During my time on the mag we won the league four times, the FA Cup twice, plus a Champions League, and became world champions. It was a crazy time and I look back thinking there is nothing I didn’t do”
I got in between takes. I honestly thought he was going to kill me!
“During my time on the mag we won the league four times, the FA Cup twice, plus a Champions League, and became world champions. It was a crazy time, and I look back thinking there is nothing I didn’t do. I loved watching and working with the youth teams, discussing talent and tactics with the coaches, exploring a day in the life of staff members, meeting some very witty and wise supporters, and of course reminiscing with the very best. From talking about the 1948 FA Cup final with John Anderson, joining Denis Law and
Sir Bobby Charlton in Singapore, organising lunches with Norman Whiteside and former team-mates such as Martin Buchan and Paul McGrath, setting up an exclusive interview with Eric Cantona while he recorded us on a camcorder, to finally – and something I will never forget – making tea and crumpets for George Best.
“I loved every magazine chat I ever had, but my last one – with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the spring of 2005 – didn’t go quite as planned. I was about to go on maternity leave, and when I got in my car thinking all had been said and done, I realised that in its final hour my dictaphone had given up on me and none of the interview recorded!
So after confessing my problem to the press office, Ole only comes back, does the whole interview with me again and politely says, ‘I think it was better that time.’ That’s no scoop – every Red knows what a class act Ole is.
“If I have one regret about my time on the magazine it’s that it pre-dated the women’s team. They bring such value to being a Manchester United supporter and since their formation have given me experiences I will never forget.
“But the biggest bonus I take from my time on the magazine is that it led to me getting my communications role working for the club’s charitable arm, Manchester United Foundation. I’ve gone from talking to the Manchester United community about Manchester United, to talking to the Manchester United community about its community – and nothing makes me prouder.”
Helping our young people tell their stories.
FOLLOW ALONG
NICK JUDD served as the mag’s deputy editor and recalls a young Cristiano Ronaldo correctly predicting a very big future for himself…
“I
joined the magazine in August 2003 as deputy editor, having previously worked at a League One football club. After spending the previous three years travelling around the nether regions of the Football League, I had a little chuckle to myself whenever I found myself watching United in places such as Milan, Porto, Athens – wonderfully historic cities, proper footballing cathedrals around Europe.
“The thing that will last with me was the people I met. There were the player interviews, of course, and Cristiano Ronaldo is the obvious standout.
I spoke to him when he first joined, and remember thinking, ‘yeah, all right’, when he said he’d be the best in the world. The next time I spoke to him, he was.
“I found Alan Smith, George Best and Phil Neville the friendliest and most engaging interviewees. Rene Meulensteen was also a fascinating character. I still have the
diagrams he drew on random bits of paper when discussing tactics.
“I spent the day on the set of Shameless, and once played darts – and didn’t disgrace myself – with Alan ‘Iceman’ Warriner-Little. Best match?
The 7-1 win against Roma in the Champions League in April 2007. I hadn’t experienced an atmosphere like that before, and haven’t since.”
“I still have the diagrams Rene Meulensteen drew on random bits of paper when discussing tactics”
STEVE MORGAN was the mag’s features editor and still contributes in 2025, specialising in evocative historical storytelling…
began life as features editor in February 2006 – issue 163 to be exact. IU’s cover star was a young Wayne Rooney, still six months shy of his 21st and staggeringly, looking back, already well into his second season in Red. Elsewhere in my first edition of what was then still United, our Roy Keane retrospective opened by recalling the time he’d knocked back our offer of a monthly column for the mag, pondering why anyone would be interested hearing his opinions as a pundit.
STEVE BARTRAM bought the mag’s very first issue and went on to become its features editor –and he still contributes to this day, as a freelance writer…
“The greatest thrill was invariably getting the chance to sit down with Sir Alex Ferguson for his monthly Q&A. One particular occasion sticks in the memory because, were I feeling particularly prone to a bout of main-character syndrome, it was also the time I shaped Premier League history, set United on course to an 18th league title and decimated Liverpool’s title challenge. Taking a more reasonable, less sociopathic stance, I helped Sir Alex do all the above, although it was already on his to-do list and would have happened with or without my intervention.
“Around the turn of the year, December 2008, Liverpool were narrowly leading the table. United had a couple of games in hand, so the title race was finely poised but, having never seen the Premier League trophy head to Anfield, I was spooked and wondered if there was a way to help.
“Going into any Ask Sir Alex session, you’d be armed with readers’ questions and have a couple more of your own prepared in case he seemed open to chatting further. On this particular day he did, so I
It was a very different world then.
“I was thrilled to be working on the magazine. It was a wonderful playground in which to revel; the chance to open up such rich stories, both past and present. History, the part of the game in the wider social fabric, had always been one of my real passions as a fan, and the club positively dripped in it.
“There were so many highlights across five or six years in the role. Perhaps the standout for me was putting together the supplement alongside the 50th anniversary issue of the Munich Air Disaster, something I was desperate to get right tonally.
“In particular, I loved writing about the Busby era, trying to recreate the feel of a world on the cusp of changing from blackand-white into colour – bringing those great old names off the page, revelling in their deeds, giving them context for the
(inexplicably under the guise of ‘Isobel, from Bury’) put it to him: ‘Against West Ham earlier this season [a goalless Anfield draw at the start of December], Liverpool seemed affected by the chance to forge on in the title race – is it difficult to win a title when you’re not used to leading the way?’
“We both knew what was happening. We both grinned.
“‘There’s no doubt that in the second half of the season, they will get nervous,’ he duly explained, with an authority that suggested nobody had been surer of anything, ever. ‘With the experience we’ve got at our club, having won a couple of titles in the past couple of years especially, it helps you. There’s no doubt about that. They’re going into the unknown, and if you make mistakes, then you get punished.’
“That was in the February 2009 edition, released in January. Liverpool drew all three of their Premier League games that month, against Stoke, Everton and Wigan, then took a point from games against (then-average) Manchester City and Middlesbrough in late February. In the midst of that costly period, somewhere in mid-January, Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had taken the bait, very publicly, addressing Sir Alex’s comments and embarking on his now-infamous ‘facts’
modern reader. Tasks like this were made a lot easier thanks to the friendships one made, notably with the octogenarian but pin-sharp Jack Crompton, United’s goalkeeper in the 1948 FA Cup final, who trusted me and lent me reams of his own wonderful, priceless photographs. I treasured the regular chats with Jack and his wonderful wife Sheila – and recall the Cromptons’ answerphone message, which played Glory Glory Man United when they were out.
“Then there were the trophies – so many, such a decorated age. Though I wasn’t in Moscow in 2008, I was covering it back at base with a blow-by-blow account for the next issue – the ‘Gold Stars’ (number 192, July 2008) cover was my favourite. Thinking about John Terry’s penalty slip still makes me smile. There’s only one United, and I was lucky to be an Insider.”
provide a late-season scare once the pressure was virtually off, winning at Old Trafford and ultimately finishing four points off the top after a run of 10 wins from the last 11 games. But they’d left an impressive sprint finish too late, having previously tied themselves up in knots –just as Sir Alex had foretold. While he savoured the silverware, everyone could reflect on his self-fulfilling prophecy and I could tell myself that I got to play the role of accomplice in it all.
Happy days.”
ADAM MARSHALL has been contributing to the mag for many years and has conducted countless interviews – in all kinds of circumstances…
“I’ve been lucky enough to conduct many interviews for Inside United, including a number that featured the cover star. I’ll never forget my first oneto-one with Sir Alex Ferguson, unhelpfully coming the morning after an opening-day defeat to Everton in the Premier League in 2012/13. I’d had contact with the great man before in the mid-1990s, but this was the first time since working here at United and it felt like a daunting introduction.
“When I suggested I’d try to be quick to kick things off, his reply of ‘good’ set the tone a little, but we shared some common ground when I offered the opinion that
match-winner Marouane Fellaini had got away with too many fouls the night before.
“Anyhow, it all went well in the circumstances. It was soon after the Olympics and we chatted about all sorts, including what great odds Usain Bolt was to win his gold medals. The first indication that the Jamaican would be invited to play in charity games at Old Trafford led to it featuring on Newsround the day after the magazine’s release.
“Another of my favourites was speaking to Wayne Rooney. Again, the timing was far from ideal. We’d just lost, badly, 2-0 to
Olympiacos in the Champions League, but United’s press officer at the time, Karen Shotbolt, kept to her promise of organising the chat with Wazza by ushering me to first-class at the front of the plane.
“As we prepared for take-off, he was open on all the key issues after signing a new contract, including why he never fancied moving abroad, but was forthright in his desire to not only take over the club captaincy from the departing Nemanja Vidic but also the England role, when Steven Gerrard would step down. It made for a strong piece and backpage headlines in the newspapers on the back of the mag coming out.”
A key strength of the magazine has always been its ability to bring big interviews with big players directly to readers. Here we raid the archives and pick one interview each from six massive Reds legends of the past – Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo – and also salute today’s king of the field and the Q&A, Bruno Fernandes…
“The press writes a load of nonsense about me – my name is always associated with scandal”
2 & 3 FEB & MAR 1993
When Eric delivered on his enigmatic reputation in his very first United interview…
With United aiming for the title in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/93 – which would be a long-sought first championship win since 1966/67, having fallen just short to Leeds the previous campaign – Alex Ferguson, seeking more goal power, made a surprise swoop for French striker Eric Cantona from our Yorkshire rivals in December 1992.
An interview Cantona, then aged 26, conducted (in French, with Maurice Biriotti) after becoming a Red was run over two issues of the mag in its earliest days –numbers two and three – introducing our newcomer to United supporters. Eric spoke candidly – and at times with his trademark gnomic mystery. Readers might not have known fully what to make of it at the time – but looking back now, it makes so much sense and is recognisable as classic Cantona…
“I left Leeds because it was time to move on. That’s all”
“Deep down, in the privacy of their own homes, the British are more welcoming than the French”
“It’s one of the most famous clubs in the world, and it’s wonderful to be here”
“If the media are fascinated by me, that’s their problem”
“A football team is not eleven players, it’s one”
“Admiring people is one thing, following them or imitating them is something else. I have no role models”
“I have no time for longevity. Living fast and hard, that’s what interests me”
“I especially like the atmosphere you get at English games. It’s unique”
“English football is more spontaneous than any football in the world”
“I’m afraid of everyone and no-one”
“You can’t be an avant-gardist in football, it’s a team game”
“I am an attacking player, it’s in my nature”
“I bring what I am. You all know what I am”
“Being successful requires a lot of different ingredients. Confidence is one of them. But doubt and fear are important too”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Having made his competitive debut on 6 December in the derby victory over Manchester City and netted his first goal away at Chelsea on 19 December in his third game, while this interview was out Cantona was already quickly endearing himself to United fans.
Over the course of 23 matches during the second half of 1992/93 after signing, he added the tangible – nine goals and numerous assists as he brought a new dimension to United’s attacking play – but also the intangible: an infectious attitude of belief, confidence, swagger and… je ne sais quoi. It was just what the Reds needed to this time get over the line – and deliver a watershed league title.
When Keano spoke to the mag in the wake of his infamous ‘prawn sandwich’ comments…
AT THE TIME:
Roy Keane – at this point in the eighth of his 13 stellar seasons as a Red, and a regular (and candid) mag cover star and interviewee –came into this particular Q&A amid something of a storm in a teacup, following comments he’d made after a 1-0 Champions League win over Dynamo Kyiv in November 2000.
Keane’s words on fans needing to get behind the team were actually fairly lengthy and came with plenty of context, but of course what was leapt upon was his reference to ‘prawn sandwiches’. “Away from home our fans are fantastic, I’d call them the hardcore fans,” Roy had offered. “But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don’t realise what’s going on out on the pitch. I don’t think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell football, never mind understand it.”
Come this sit-down with the mag at Carrington, Roy didn’t shirk the questions on supporters and crustaceans. And the mag didn’t shirk the headline opportunity, either…
“I felt it had to be said. The other players probably agreed with me, but maybe as captain I had to say it”
“If I go to a match and a player is not producing, I’d be like, ‘Bloody hell, he should have done better there.’ It’s only natural”
“My only regret is that people keep bloody mentioning it to me!”
“I’m letting Becks get all the goals from midfield! If you ask any of the lads, they’d say most of my goals last year were deflections anyway”
“I have no comment about that. You’ll have to speak to my solicitor…”
“To me the big domestic rivalries on the pitch are with Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds. But I talk to a couple of United fans and I know to them it’s City”
“I think Manchester needs two teams in the Premiership”
“I just lost my rag. He caught me late, but I’ve been caught late before and I’ve caught enough people late in my career too”
“I think a lot of players go out to upset certain players in the United team”
“I appreciate the fans’ support over the years. They’ve been brilliant ever since I signed for the club”
“I can name three or four players off the top of my head who try to wind me up”
“I know in my heart when I’ve been out of order”
“You’ve put me in a bad mood now!”
“I have a go at players if I don’t think they are trying hard enough, but I will never have a go at a player who is giving 100 per cent”
“I have a prawn sandwich every now and then myself…”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Roy was right about the prawn sarnies remark following him around, as the phrase seems to have stuck despite his explanation in this interview.
On the pitch, United strolled the 2000/01 Premier League to make it three titles in a row (winning by 10 points, despite easing off and losing the final three league games). The disappointment came in Europe, however, going out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage to Bayern Munich.
Keane played on at United until 2005, and enjoys legendary status. You might remember him involved in the launch of the 2023/24 white third kit… complete with prawn sandwiches gag!
NEXT DAVID BECKHAM
David Beckham has just emerged in the players’ lounge to begin an interview with the club magazine…
“THE FACT IS THE MANAGER WAS RESTING ME”
When Becks – at age 26, and well over 300 senior appearances into his United career –was in his Reds prime…
Appearing in the April 2002 issue, Becks was an even hotter topic than usual. Not only had he almost singlehandedly dragged England to World Cup qualification with his virtuoso display against Greece at Old Trafford, but he was locked in long-running negotiations over a new contract.
As the piece explained, the hold-up stemmed from the need to structure the deal in such a way that more mirrored the kind of contracts penned by major sports stars in America, recognising Beckham’s unique status in football at the time. Not that he had allowed it to impact on his performances; in addition to his England heroics, 2001/02 was his best goalscoring season at United, with 16 from 43 outings.
“I’m not one of those players that if they’re not picked wants the others to do badly. That’s why Manchester United have had the success that they’ve had: the team spirit”
“If I go a match without a good free-kick or without passing a ball 40 yards to feet then I’m off my game”
“I’ve always been under pressure – as a Manchester United player you expect to be under pressure to perform”
“I ADMIT I HAVE GOT USED TO THE ENGLAND CAPTAINCY QUICKER THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD”
Netting against Sunderland in February 2002 – one of 16 goals for David that season
“I’d love for it to have been sorted in a week but it hasn’t”
“United fans will never lose me”
“The United fans kept me at the club”
“THERE WERE A COUPLE OF THEM TRYING TO TAKE MY BOOTS OFF AS I WAS BEING CARRIED”
“I’d say that of all the stories about me, less than 10 per cent have any truth in them at all”
“Recently they said Victoria and I were getting bronze statues of ourselves to put in the garden”
“I PLAY FOOTBALL. THAT’S WHAT I LOVE DOING”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Curse of the front cover? Becks soon endured a season-ending setback, suffering a broken metatarsal against Deportivo la Coruna in the Champions League quarter-final second leg tie at Old Trafford in April. His stupendous opening goal in the Riazor against the Spanish side in the first leg would sadly prove to be his final goal of 2001/02, but there was still time for a happy ending and he was back in the headlines again in May after signing his three-year extension.
Explaining the unique structure of the deal, which included a hefty pay hike and the inclusion of image rights, chief executive Peter Kenyon stressed: “The process of every player contract negotiation is different and one of the unique aspects of David’s was understanding how his global image could best be utilised to the mutual benefit of Manchester United and David himself.”
Despite that new deal, though, Becks had just one season left as a United player, before his move in summer 2003 to Real Madrid.
When 18-year-old Wayne gave his first full interview as a United player –before he’d lit the red touch paper on his career with a debut hat-trick…
Though he had long been on United’s radar, Wayne Rooney’s hastily arranged transfer to Old Trafford meant that the Reds actually recruited damaged goods. The bull-necked teen tyro, who had taken the Premier League and Euro 2004 by storm, was still recovering from a broken metatarsal when he completed his headline-grabbing signing from Everton on 31 August 2004, meaning that when IU in his early days at the club, he had no point of reference, no debut to look back on – only a future to contemplate. Ostensibly shy and quietly spoken, the 18-year-old Scouser let slip his competitive character by accepting his interviewer’s opening gambit of an arm wrestle challenge, before going into detail on press scrutiny, his relationship with boyhood club Everton, and his ambitions for the future with United…
“It’s just the fans being football fans”
“I never doze off!”
“I did get told about it, but I think I was too young and wanted to play for Everton then”
“It’s not just natural ability”
“I never even had a bike. I used to get a lift off my dad!”
“Being in the public eye doesn’t get me down”
“Hopefully I’m worth it”
“I wanted to leave to further my career and play at a higher level”
“I want to win trophies. That’s why I’m here”
“Cantona was a brilliant player. It’s flattering to be compared to him”
“Obviously there’s going to be expectations... I am confident that I can fulfil them”
“I’m fed up of talking about it now, I just want to start playing for United, get out there on the pitch and get my first goal”
The once-in-a-lifetime debut against Fenerbahce that soon followed made Rooney just the second player in club history to augment his first outing with a hat-trick (with a nod to Charles Sagar), and the tone was set for a truly special Old Trafford career thereafter. Wazza’s generational ability and ferocity made him a cornerstone of the success that would punctuate the vast majority of his time with the Reds (even if he did end his first
term empty-handed), and his two-goal star turn in the 2006 League Cup final proved the launchpad for a period of utter dominance for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
“I hope I can stay here for the rest of my career”
In amassing a haul of 12 major honours over the course of 13 seasons at Old Trafford, Wazza also rose to the ranks of club captain, team talisman and all-time Reds record scorer on 253 goals, delivering more than anybody could have imagined when he first sat down for an arm wrestle with the
club magazine.
While this was Wazza’s first big mag interview, there would be plenty more to come (after all, he did have the front cover to himself 15 times). Towards the other end of his stellar Reds career, a couple of other Rooney mag features stand out.
In our May 2015 issue (number 275), for example, Wayne – by now captain, and with 229 United goals to his name – gave us some great insight into his game. He also modestly talked us through three great goals we’d picked out for him – his 2011 overhead kick v Manchester City (“I just thought I’d try it”), his 2014 own-half bomb against West Ham (“I had a little glance and just tried it”) and his silky 2007 chip against Portsmouth (“I thought I’d try it”).
Come our March 2017 edition (297), we were hailing Wayne as a record-breaker, having recently netted his 250th United goal against Stoke. Given that Sir Bobby Charlton’s mark of 249 had stood for over 40 years, we duly went big on saluting a truly historic achievement.
When the elusive Mr Scholes – not known to be a huge fan of media duties – gave generously to the mag in 2005…
When this issue of the mag was released in the early part of the 2005/06 campaign, midfield schemer Paul Scholes was –unknowingly – between rare setbacks during his glorious Reds career. He had been the only player to miss in the 2005 FA Cup final penalty shoot-out against Arsenal at the end of the previous season, while after the turn of 2006 the 31-year-old would be sidelined by an eye injury that decimated his campaign. Nevertheless, this rare cover conversation – the sixth and final time Paul adorned the front cover alone – was true to form, showcasing a metronomic, no-nonsense presence in the United dressing room, and typically describing his own elite abilities in run-of-the-mill terms. Having recently penned a new long-term contract extension, Scholesy – with five Premier League titles to his name at the time – was determined to do just one thing: keep winning trophies.
Rarely, if ever, will you find a player who’s keener just to play football
“In midfield, you only have to run off one man to find a bit of space”
“I feel all right wherever I play, to be honest”
“It comes naturally, really”
“You need to know where you are when you receive the ball”
“You just have to look forward and try to do better”
“Once you’ve experienced winning, you just want to keep on doing it”
“What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch”
“No, I don’t think so, not in terms of those sorts of awards”
“I’ve always been that way so I don’t know any different. I just like playing football and that’s all I want to do”
“I definitely don’t want to play for anyone else”
“I don’t have one big aim. I just want to win as much as possible”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
The goals Paul mentioned eventually came against Portsmouth (a header), Benfica (a scruffy one!) and West Brom (a left-footer) that December, before that season-stymieing eye injury. Even though he sat out almost the entire second half of 2005/06, appearing just once more in May, Scholesy didn’t have to wait too much longer to deliver on his promise of more silverware.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s measured use of Scholes and his fellow veterans, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, was paramount to the success that returned to Old Trafford from the 2006/07 Premier League title onwards. Though in his thirties when Ferguson’s third great Reds team took a stranglehold on the English game, Scholesy would go on to cram in another eight major honours before retiring in 2011. For good measure, he returned for another 18 months midway through 2011/12 and added another league title to his haul of 11(!), before definitively bringing down the curtain in 2013 – his legend indelibly written.
“It was a fantastic year”
“I know what I can do, and mostly I think anything is possible. At the start of the season I have in my head that it’s a new challenge, and I have to do better than before”
ISSUE 200 MARCH 2009
When CR7 looked back on 2008 – an annus mirabilis that included a title win, a Champions League triumph… and Ronny becoming the first serving Red to win the Ballon d’Or since George Best...
AT THE TIME:
In early 2009, just weeks after winning the first Ballon d’Or of his career, Cristiano Ronaldo sat down to relive his superhuman exploits of 2008. By that stage a Premier League champion, Champions League and Club World Cup winner, the Portuguese was midway through his sixth season at the club when he joined MUTV’s Stewart Gardner to chew the fat. Having undergone surgery over the summer and missed the start of 2008/09, Ronaldo was playing catch-up, but he was still gearing up nicely for the months ahead, passing the 100 United goals mark with a pair of free-kicks against Stoke City and showing flickers of his top form as the Reds continued to covet a clean sweep of honours…
“I’m in a good position because I’ve worked hard for that”
“I’m at the best club to be the best”
“It’s amazing to be part of the history of the club in that way”
“It’s hard, but I have a few!”
“The best players like to play big games, and so the final of the Champions League in Moscow – wow!”
“I remember crying, thinking about what we had achieved”
“When I touched it I felt like a baby touching a doll, or something like that!”
The clean sweep didn’t materialise in 2008/09, but it was a close-run thing to which Ronaldo was central. We retained the Premier League title despite Liverpool’s strong challenge – Ronny’s brace before Kiko Macheda’s winner against Aston Villa proving priceless – while we added the League Cup at the expense of Spurs.
An FA Cup semi-final shoot-out defeat against Everton ended hopes of a historic campaign, but galvanised the Reds in Europe, where Ronaldo truly came alive. Netting (from more than 40 yards!) against Porto and against Arsenal in the knockouts, the Portuguese also repeatedly came close against Barcelona in the Champions League final, only for the Catalans to nab a 2-0 win in Rome.
That would be Cristiano’s final appearance for the club before a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. Of course, Ronny returned in 2021, finally bowing out on 346 Reds appearances and 145 goals.
“If it doesn’t happen I’m thinking, ‘Why aren’t they booing me?!’”
“People think I signed here just because of what I did in that [friendly against United], but it’s not true”
“THERE’S ALWAYS SPECULATION IN FOOTBALL”
“I think that’s why the team works well, why we win things”
Rewinding the best part of six years to when Ronaldo arrived at United, the club magazine had the honour of the first interview with the 18-year-old – a few days before he made his famous substitute debut against Bolton Wanderers. The mag’s Paul Davies (nowadays editor of matchday programme United Review) tailed the new youngster – with the little blond fronds in his hair, remember them? – on his maiden journey to Carrington, where he met his new team-mates for the first time, saw the facilities, was measured up for kit and so on. After those formalities came the interview – and here are some telling soundbites from that day 22 years ago. And Ronny is still going…
“When a club of the stature of Manchester United want to sign you, you don’t think twice”
“I think my game will suit the English way of playing”
“I am especially proud to be the first Portuguese player to join United”
“Lots of young players have triumphed at United, so why can’t it happen to me?”
“Manchester United are the greatest club in the world and for that reason I picked them”
“It’s a great joy to have signed for Manchester United but it’s also a great responsibility”
“I hope things will go well. I hope to answer everything that’s asked of me and I hope that everybody is proud of me”
“The number seven shirt is an honour and a responsibility. I hope it brings me a lot of luck”
“I’m living a dream I never want to wake up from”
“I did not come to replace Beckham. I don’t want to be compared to anyone”
“Sir Alex Ferguson said to me to just be calm, be tranquil and then things will happen naturally”
“I feel comfortable playing as a striker or on either of the wings”
IU’s Joe Ganley explains why not only has Bruno Fernandes donned the mantle in the last nigh-on six years as United’s main man and driving force on the field – he has also led the way as an interviewee and spokesman, readily engaging with club media to offer honest and insightful views. Including on many occasions in this magazine…
Bruno Fernandes is the greatest Manchester United player of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and I’ll stand on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s coffee table and say that. I’d also say that the creative Portuguese genius is the best interviewee of that time period, too.
I’ve chatted to Fernandes on a handful of occasions and it’s always been a joy. It intrigues and baffles me that fans of other clubs seem so riled by the man, often citing his on-field demeanour or the fact he remonstrates with referees (hardly an uncommon trait within football during the last, ooh, 30 years or so). Because in person, Bruno is a gem.
When you sit down to speak to him you feel a friendliness and a warmth, but also a type of relentless, concentrated energy and enthusiasm. He says the right things, but he always says interesting things too, both on and off camera.
I’ve seen him joke and talk with players around Carrington before and after these interviews too, and he’s just the same with them. You get the clear
and undeniable picture of a top-class captain (and I’ll stand on Roy Keane’s coffee table, etc…).
He’s fun and popular, but he radiates with concern for the interests of the club and its culture. I remember interviewing him after he’d signed a new contract with the club in 2024, with his whole family in tow, and he was honest and answered every question with personality and purpose, explaining clearly why he had decided to continue with United and what the intimate conversations had been like within the family unit. He didn’t need to do that, really. He could have given dull, pat answers with less flavour than a service-station sandwich. But he didn’t. He gave the best of himself, as always. And that’s Bruno. Many players are guarded, and understandably so.
There is greater scrutiny on Manchester United’s first-teamers than perhaps any other group of footballers in the world right now, due to both the stature of the club and the nature of our difficulties in the last few years. Any comment can be twisted or stretched out of shape, and weaponised by social media accounts desperate for engagement and willing to do anything to get it. But Fernandes’s force of conviction means he gives it to you straight, because he’s happy to stand by his comments.
I remember him giving me toe-curling details about playing through injury, snatches of revealing conversations between him and team-mates and opponents, and plenty more. He’s a true football nut. So if you have a question for him
about a tactical or technical issue – his approach to penalties, for example – he will hungrily go through it with you in microscopic detail.
Funnily enough, I remember mentioning how well his former club Sporting were doing under a little-known manager called Ruben Amorim when I chatted to him back in 2023, and he instantly started to reel off an analysis of their playing style. He’d watched every game they’d played so far that season, I think. I fondly remember a conversation about his love of collecting football shirts too. About how precious his Andres Iniesta jersey was. How he was desperate to get an Andrea Pirlo equivalent.
The feeling you get after such interactions with the United captain are so reassuring: here’s a world-class footballer who thinks like a fan, and who treats fans and non-playing staff as he would a senior team-mate. There always seems to be external debate about Fernandes: is he playing in his best position, would he be better if he did this or that? Maybe it’s human or collective social instinct to always try to find what’s apparently missing or lacking in everything. What’s negative. But in my honest opinion, it would be near impossible for the Manchester United of 2025 to find a better captain. Or for an interviewer to find a better subject.
All the magazine covers on which our magnifico has either starred outright on his own, or shared the honours with one or more team-mates. It’s been a Bruno-fest since he signed in early 2020…
Quizzing has long been part of the fun in this magazine (check out this ‘Quiz of the Year 1993’ from the January 1994 issue, for example!). We thought about giving you 400 questions on this special occasion, but… that would have been bonkers, so we’ve settled for 40. Good luck!
Quizmasters Steve Bartram/Ben Ashby
The answers here are all linked to this publication… you can find most them within this issue, by the way!
1. Which player adorned the very first Inside United magazine cover?
2. And which player has the most solo magazine covers to their name?
3. At which issue was the magazine renamed Inside United?
4. What three pieces of information, aside from a pithy quote, are carried on the magazine’s spine?
5. Why does Brian McClair, author of Choccy’s Diary, have the nickname ‘Choccy’?
All you have to do is decide which of these mag-era pairs of players made more first-team United appearances than the other…
6. Roy Keane or Michael Carrick?
7. David Beckham or Patrice Evra?
8. Cristiano Ronaldo or Marcus Rashford?
9. Nemanja Vidic or Chris Smalling?
10. Antonio Valencia or Anthony Martial?
Can you identify the United signings – who all joined during the magazine’s existence – by the clubs they arrived from and later departed to?
Joined from Transferred to
11. Athletic Club (2014) PSG
12. Blackburn Rovers (1997) Blackburn Rovers
13. Atletico Madrid (1999) Bolton Wanderers
14. Spartak Moscow (2006) Inter Milan
15. Fulham (2004) Everton
16. Sporting Lisbon (2003) Real Madrid
17. Vitesse Arnhem (1996) West Ham United
18. Leeds United (2002) Queens Park Rangers
19. Chivas Guadalajara (2010) Bayer Leverkusen
20. Southampton (2015) Everton
Since the magazine’s formation, United have been in the shake-up for countless honours, going without a league title or cup final appearance in just five out of 33 seasons. The following questions relate to the Reds’ silverware –or near-misses – during that period…
21. After the mag’s formation, what was the first major honour United won?
22. In that same timeframe, how many FA Cups have United won?
23. And how many Champions League finals did the Reds reach?
24. Can you name the five of 33 seasons in which United didn’t win the league or reach a major cup final?
25. Between our Doubles of 1993/94 and 1995/96, which two teams pipped the Reds to the Premier League and the FA Cup respectively?
26. United contested silverware (or semi-finals) at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on eight occasions – which London team most often provided the opposition?
27. The Reds made a whopping 40 trips to Wembley in the mag’s lifetime – facing one team a jaw-dropping nine times. Which team? a) Chelsea b) Manchester City c) Tottenham Hotspur
28. During that time, which talismanic player was our top scorer at Wembley, netting five goals in six appearances at the national stadium?
All about the managers, bosses, gaffers, head coaches – and interims…
36. As of the start of 2024/25, how many permanent managers have the Reds had since the magazine was launched?
37. In that same timeframe, including interim or caretaker appointments, how many former United players have taken the club’s managerial reins?
38. Which team provided the opposition in both Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game at Old Trafford and David Moyes’s first Premier League fixture in charge of the Reds?
29. How many of United’s Charity/Community Shield appearances from 1993 onwards were settled by penalty shoot-outs? a) Four b) Seven c) Nine
30. Which two players featured in the matchday squads of both United’s Champions League triumphs of 1999 and 2008?
All about away games and grounds since the mag’s inception…
31. United have visited 65 away grounds in the Premier League era (only travelling to Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park once, before the mag was released). Anfield becomes the most visited in October with a 34th trip, putting it ahead of which other two stadia on 33 (both opponents play in blue!)?
39. Which future United boss was the only person to manage against the Reds in the 1998/99 Champions League without suffering at least one defeat?
40. Which round number of matches managed did Sir Alex Ferguson finish on when he retired in 2013? a) 1,000 b) 1,500 c) 2,000
Aborempo rrovidic tem ventorum ressinis ut et rem vidi dolectis dolorporest audisci amustin imincimus utectius necatus ducipicto etur? Exerit enitam cum rere nulparcid milit ut ratio debita veratur si te modiciatur maximusdanim ne la volorem ea dolo et odi aut officia volore dolo bla vendel iusdand
32. In that timeframe, the Reds have been hosted by one Premier League club at three different stadia for league games – which club?
33. In 1993, in which country did United return to European Cup action for the first time since 1969? a) Italy b) Denmark c) Hungary
34. Since 1993, how many times have the Reds played at the same stadium more than once in a European competition in the same season (think finals!)?
35. Over United’s three successful European campaigns during the magazine’s lifespan – 1998/99, 2007/08, 2016/17 – only two clubs inflicted continental defeat on the Reds. Who? (One Dutch, one Turkish!)
times; 27. a) Chelsea; 28. Eric Cantona;
2001/02, 2014/15, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2021/22; 25. Blackburn Rovers,
Henandez; 20. Morgan Schneiderlin; 21. 1992/93 Premier League; 22. Six: 1993/94, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04, 2015/16, 2023/24; 23. Four: 1998/99, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11;
25/26 THIRD JERSEY
25/26 THIRD JERSEY
