Sir Alex Ferguson was not a man you wanted to offend while he was managing an all-conquering Manchester United, but Patrice Evra faced the full brunt of the Scot’s fury when he refused to shake his hand following his FA Cup final omission.
Ferguson, who was born and reared in Govan, was not only a skilled man-manager and, despite popular perception, a clever tactician, but he was also recklessly fearless, which terrified many football officials and players over the years.
Among them is Evra, who played 334 games under Ferguson’s intense supervision from 2005–06 to 2012–13. Their well-documented argument nearly led to the Frenchman leaving in 2007 to pursue new opportunities.
Five-time Premier League champion Evra eventually departed Old Trafford for Juventus in the summer of 2014, but he nearly left seven years earlier when Ferguson disqualified him from their FA Cup final against Chelsea, another top division team, which they won 1-0.
The 81-cap France international was first told by Ferguson, who is considered to be one of the best man-managers in football history, that he would not be playing, but he then changed his mind and stated that he would be used as Cristiano Ronaldo’s backup left-back.
“I remember the day before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson told me that I wasn’t going to be playing,” the former left-back said on Sky Bet’s The Overlap about the 2007 FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
Five-time Premier League champion Evra eventually departed Old Trafford for Juventus in the summer of 2014, but he nearly left seven years earlier when Ferguson disqualified him from their FA Cup final against Chelsea, another top division team, which they won 1-0.
The 81-cap France international was first told by Ferguson, who is considered to be one of the best man-managers in football history, that he would not be playing, but he then changed his mind and stated that he would be used as Cristiano Ronaldo’s backup left-back.
“I remember the day before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson told me that I wasn’t going to be playing,” the former left-back said on Sky Bet’s The Overlap about the 2007 FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
“The boss told me that he couldn’t play me in the final because the Glazers advised him to leave me out after an article appeared in the press claiming that I was a drug dealer, a fighter, and a member of a gang. After turning around, he informed me that he was kidding and that Cristiano Ronaldo and I would be playing on the left.
To his ire, the Frenchman, who is considered one of the best defenders in Premier League history, told him the next day that the former Manchester United custodian had changed his mind and that Gabriel Heinze would be used in the left-back position instead. He went on:
The following day, I had a knock on the door from the manager, who informed me that Gabriel Heinze would be starting in my place. He instructed me to warm up after the final’s five minutes, but I was furious and never did.
Evra was so upset that he was left out of the Wembley-based spectacle that he took the audacious step of refusing to shake hands with Ferguson. “I grabbed my medal and tossed it to the ground. I didn’t shake the boss’s hand when he came to shake mine.
Given his stubborn nature, many were under the impression that Ferguson would punish Evra for his actions – but instead, the now-83-year-old apologised for making such a grave mistake in a high-stakes encounter against the west Londoners.
“Two weeks later, he called me to say sorry. He said he made a mistake. After that game, I called my agent and told him I didn’t want to play for United anymore and that it was disrespectful. This was the moment I was going to leave United.
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