(Manchester United News)
Two decades on, Manchester United’s 9-0 obliteration of Ipswich Town on 4 March 1995 remains a Premier League record. Our feature looks back on a unique afternoon in the club's illustrious history...
Midway through his pre-match team talk on Saturday, 4 March 1995, Alex Ferguson suddenly fell silent, aware of another sound vying for his players’ attention. The room collectively turned towards Britain’s most expensive footballer, little over two months a Manchester United employee, and stared.
Andy Cole answered his mobile phone.
Noting the stunned expressions of his colleagues and management, the £7million man quickly curtailed the call and hung up. His day would improve markedly thereafter.
Dumbstruck, Ferguson delivered the remainder of his instructions. The Scot needn’t have worried about motivating his side for the afternoon’s visit of Ipswich Town, however. For some, the incentive to overcome the struggling Suffolkers had been established six months previously, when the sides met at Portman Road.
“We lost 3-2 at Ipswich earlier in the season,” recalls Brian McClair, who started both games. “We were 2-0 down at half-time that day and, although I can’t remember that specific instance, there’s no doubt we would have had the hairdryer from the manager at half-time. But, after we got back to 2-2, we lost it late on. It always stuck with me that Sir Matt Busby once said you have to be humble and gracious in defeat or victory, and Ipswich were not on that day. They were delighted to win, of course, but they were more than exuberant in their celebrations, so that stuck a bit.”
The Tractor Boys had enjoyed that winning feeling just five times in 30 Premier League games and, already seven points from safety, were leading candidates for relegation alongside Leicester City, the only team below them in the table. Defending champions United, meanwhile, were in the thick of the title hunt, trailing leaders Blackburn Rovers by three points and boasting an ominous record of 12 wins, a draw and a solitary defeat from 14 previous home league games. Peter Schmeichel, who had missed the two games in which points were dropped, had not conceded a Premier League goal at Old Trafford all season.
