1995 AND ALL THAT

From The Sunday Times

Remember Tim Breacker? Sir Alex Ferguson does. Breacker’s playing career was forgettable, what he is doing now (Queens Park Rangers reserve coach) is forgettable, but Ferguson never forgets. Even now, eight years after the agony, the manager still gets out a certain video and plays it, sure that this time the outcome will be different.

"I watched the tape three months ago and couldn’t believe the chances we had and the penalty we were denied," Ferguson said. "Breacker flicked the ball away with his hand. We should have won by six. Bloody hell!" The game was Manchester United’s draw at Upton Park on the final day of the 1994-95 season. Simultaneously, Blackburn Rovers were losing at Anfield, and victory over West Ham would have given United the title. In a career that has had its disappointments, despite all the glories, Upton Park, May 1995, Breacker’s handball, is the moment that pains Ferguson most.

Now another League campaign is hurtling towards the wire. He is doing everything to ensure no heartbreaker can thwart United again. If Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs have hit top form at the right time, so has their manager. Since United entered the tough run of fixtures that forms the endgame of their season, the corridors of Carrington have crackled with mirth and chirped with song. Ferguson has been the instigator, breezing through the foyer crooning an old film tune, or wafting into a press conference to tell a gag, his good humour indomitable.