PRESS BOX VIEW – TIMES

‘The Glazer heart beats with such passion for Manchester United that, on the day that the empire was in greatest peril, not one member of the family bothered to cross the Atlantic. No doubt they watched the match on television, but that was no substitute at all for witnessing the stirring of a mighty beast within Old Trafford.

Not Roy Keane (absent with injury) or even his hugely impressive understudy, Alan Smith, but the United crowd, of course. They have been mocked down the years, even by Keane, but their raucous revival yesterday was every bit as stunning, perhaps more so, than the superb performances of Smith and Paul Scholes, among others.

Accustomed to jeering Rio Ferdinand, booing their “heroes” or watching in silence, yesterday they reminded the world that Old Trafford can still be one of sport’s great cathedrals. “The crowd was the turning point,” Sir Alex Ferguson said, shortly before turning the airwaves blue by describing talk of the worst crisis of his 19-year reign as “absolute b*****ks”.

Whether or not this turns out to be a victory of lasting significance — and only a brave man will rush to predict Chelsea’s decline — this was a magnificent, memorable occasion witnessed by an estimated 750 million viewers worldwide. One that the Glazers should have attended if only to realise how much this great institution can stir the soul. “Caring for the club is done in different ways,” Ferguson said.

Staying at home to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said everything about the devotion of the new owners.’