Former Manchester United player Gary Neville has shared an incident from 2002 when “all hell broke loose” in the team’s dressing room.
Following a disappointing derby defeat against Manchester City, Neville revealed that manager Sir Alex Ferguson was furious when he saw striker Ruud van Nistelrooy wearing a Manchester City shirt.
Van Nistelrooy had exchanged shirts with an opponent as is common practice in football, but Ferguson was enraged by the sight of his player donning the colours of their local rivals.
Neville described Ferguson’s reaction as him going “absolutely mad” and “snapping” at Van Nistelrooy. The revelation came as Neville discussed the upcoming all-Manchester FA Cup final on The Overlap podcast.
The former United player said:
“So at the end of that game, I think it came out after, Ruud van Nistelrooy swapped shirts. Somebody asked to swap shirts with Ruud. Do you remember it (Roy)? Who was it that asked to swap shirts with Ruud?”
“And he swapped shirts and walked into the dressing room with a Manchester City shirt on his (chest). I mean, all hell broke loose. He snapped! “
“And basically, “None of you ever, ever, swap one of my shirts ever again”, pointing towards the City shirt. He went absolutely mad. Crazy. It went quiet.”
Gary Neville’s recent comments have surfaced online as Manchester City and Manchester United gear up for an exciting FA Cup final on Saturday.
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The Red Devils have had a successful season under manager Erik Ten Hag, securing a third-place finish in the Premier League and winning the Carabao Cup.
With Pep Guardiola’s men clinching the PL title and set to face Inter Milan in the crucial Champions League final on June 10, United is determined to claim victory in the final and prevent their fierce rivals from potentially completing a treble.
