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2 months ago
19 Former Manchester United player Michael Stewart has recalled how Sir Alex Ferguson almost kicked him out of the club due to his conduct while on international duty.
The former central midfielder emerged from the Man Utd youth system at the turn of the millennium, making 14 senior appearances for the club between 2000 and 2003 before continuing his career elsewhere.
Stewart went on to represent Nottingham Forest, Hearts, Hibernian, and Charlton Athletic before retiring in 2011, while he was also capped four times at senior level for Scotland.
Stewart recalls how Sir Alex nearly booted him out of Man Utd
Stewart felt the famous wrath of Sir Alex Ferguson. (Photo by Gary M. Prior/Getty Images)The 43-year-old has now reminisced on an episode while on duty for the Scotland youth national team that almost saw Ferguson boot him out of Old Trafford — which will come as no surprise given the legendary manager’s famous hot temper.
“I was playing for Scotland u21s in Paisley against Northern Ireland, and it was right at the end of the game and we had battered them but it ended up being 1-1,” said Stewart, who picked up three Premier League medals during his time with the Red Devils, despite making just seven top-flight appearances for the club (via Sportskeeda).
“We were breaking forward. The ref had given a foul, which was never a foul, and I picked the ball up. I went to slam it on the ground, but it had been chucking it down, and as I went to slam the ball on the ground, it came flying out of my hand and smacked the ref, and I got red-carded.”
Stewart’s petulance didn’t go down well upon his return to Manchester, with Ferguson renowned for his high standards and lack of patience for emotional outbursts.
He continued: “The next day, when I was travelling down to Manchester, I’m thinking ‘that wasn’t great, but there won’t be any problems.’ I got into training, and as soon as I pulled into the training ground, one of the guys came into the changing room and said ‘the gaffer wants to speak to you.’
“I went up to his office, and he just tore strips off me and he said ‘if you ever think about doing something like that again, your backside will be out that door before it touches the ground.’ He said ‘you represent this club, and if you think you can get away with that, there’s not a chance.’ And he also said ‘don’t ever think that I don’t know what’s going on (on international duty), cause I know everything that’s going on.’”
Top photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
