Sir Alex Ferguson phoned an in-demand striker to persuade him to join Manchester United but the player made the bold decision to decline the Scot’s offer
Arsenal hero Alan Smith once turned down Sir Alex Ferguson’s transfer approach in a phone call before making his move to the Gunners.
Smith played for Leicester City between 1982 and 1987, where he scored 84 goals. His outstanding performances caught Ferguson’s attention, with the Scot having been at Old Trafford for just a few months when he made contact with the striker.
Much to Smith’s surprise, he received a sudden telephone call from the Manchester United boss in early 1987. But the ex-England forward, who recalls watching Coronation Street at his parents’ house when his mum answered the phone, snubbed the offer in favour of George Graham’s Arsenal.
Speaking to ex-Arsenal team-mate David Seaman on the Seaman Says podcast, he revealed: “I spoke to Alex Ferguson. I was getting a bit of interest. One January evening, I was living with my mum and dad still and we were watching Coronation Street, I’ll always remember it.
“The phone goes in the hall and my mum picks it up and she says, ‘Alan, it’s Alex Ferguson on the phone for you.’ I thought she misheard the name.
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“Alex had only been at United for about a year and they were struggling. So it’s not like it was ‘the Sir Alex’ calling but he was obviously a big name, he’s the Man United manager.
“I went into the hall and spoke to him. He said he wanted me to wait until the summer when I would have been a free agent. I said, ‘Mr Ferguson, I’m sorry but I’ve made up my mind, I want to join Arsenal.’ Arsenal wanted to sign me on deadline day, I had already spoken to them in a roundabout way.
“It was a short conversation, I put the phone down and thought, ‘Have I done the right thing there, saying no to the Manchester United manager?’ But they went four of five years really without winning anything and Alex was close to getting the sack.”
Smith moved to Arsenal in March 1987 but was sent back to Leicester on loan for the remainder of that campaign. Despite his early concerns about whether he’d made the correct choice, the next few years in north London vindicated his decision.
He left his mark for the Gunners by finding the net in the historic First Division title-clinching match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Anfield in 1989. Graham’s men ended an 18-year drought to win the championship in spectacular style, with Michael Thomas scoring the second goal in stoppage time to steal the crown from Liverpool.
Smith was Arsenal’s leading scorer for four straight seasons and claimed another league title in 1991, along with a League Cup and FA Cup double two years later. He also grabbed the winner in Arsenal’s 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup final triumph over Parma. He retired in 1995 and now, aged 63, continues to work as a co-commentator and pundit for Sky Sports.
Despite a rocky start in Manchester, the failed transfer didn’t hamper Sir Alex at United as he clinched his first league title in 1992/93 after winning the FA Cup in 1989/90. The Scot, who celebrates his 84th birthday on New Year’s Eve, went on to become the most successful manager in English football history with 13 league titles.
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