MU fans can shake their heads about the tragic plunge of the club under Erik Ten Hag and Ruben Amorim. However, this is nothing if compared to the darkest time of the Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson …
In 1989, Pete Molyneux raised a controversial banner calling MU's head coach to resign. But in 2011, he was happy because the Scottish strategist stayed.
When Sir Alex Ferguson came out of the honor and the whole Old Trafford stood up to praise him, the moment was completely different from the one day in December 1989 – the darkest time in his dynasty at MU.
At that time, a banner was raised in the stands calling him to resign. On it stated: “3 years full of defense but still bad … Goodbye Fergie”. The text was like a knife crashing into the heart, and perhaps now sounded ridiculous when it once received a large, spontaneous and cruel applause from the audience.
The man with an old bed sheet and a box of paint can now smile bitterly at Old Trafford, when he and everyone applauded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ferguson leading the team. Molyneux was still sitting in the chair he used to sit on that fateful day, when MU lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace and he decided to act in his own way.
“I was just glad that he had stayed, because what he brought later was far beyond our deserted dreams,” Pete Molynuux said in 2011. “He took us out of the bottom to reach the peak that I think he deserves to be ordained.”
At the age of 57, Molyneux was the one who left a controversial mark in MU history that day. And after 22 years, he was ready to admit that he had underestimated the ability to revive Sir Alex's team, when the legendary Scottish coach gradually made MU become the power to dominate English football.
“I have been teased for years,” he confessed. “I went to see the ball and my fans introduced me to 'Pete, the old man who raised the banners in the past'. Many people thought it was just the impulsive act of a fans who were easy to change, but actually I followed the team, both home and away, for more than 20 years at that time.”
“It is the result of the pentils. The first three years under Ferguson were really dark days. Liverpool was so dominated, and we did not see any progress. Before that, the failures of Dave Sexton and Ron Atkinson in winning the championship, and I felt that fans need to do something, because the club was accepting second as a matter.”
It was the season that Man United lost 1-5 before Man City. On the stands, there were protestes such as: “Bryan Robson's Red and White Army” (roughly translated: the red and white army of Bryan Robson), and the Fanzine Red News published a special number titled “crisis”, calling for Ferguson firing. A pen also bluntly wrote: “Please resign. Do the right thing for MU”.
Molyneux said that he initially intended to raise the banner on the occasion of the 3 -year anniversary of Ferguson leading MU. “We met forest, but that day there was a minute of memorial for Sunday to commemorate so I found it inappropriate, so I kept the banner in the plastic bag at my feet. The next match against Chelsea – a big opponent – I did not want to do it at that time. At the match against Palace, the performance was so bad, one day was too bad. We opened the score but then Mark Bright scored two goals and I thought: '
“I was trembling. I love this club and afraid people will turn to protest me, but the reaction is unexpected. The effect spreads throughout the yard, like the Domino effect, when people realize the words in the banners, the whole stands rang in cheers and clapping.”
The inspiration to write the banners from the origin of Molynuux's Salford. “On the movie Coronation Street, Bet Lynch always told Mike Baldwin as 'Ta-Ra Cock'. I felt that for 3 years filled with the reasons for defense and the team was still the same. So I wrote 'I came to Fergie'.”
Molyneux said he later met Ferguson, “but never introduced himself to the banner that day.” By 2011, he felt extremely happy because he was wrong. “I have never thought that we can have a coach comparing to Sir Matt Busby, but now we have a person even overcome him.”
