Manchester United’s historic treble in 1999 confirmed Sir Alex Ferguson’s team as the greatest of the Premier League era – and their return to European glory.
Manchester United’s historic treble in 1999 confirmed Sir Alex Ferguson’s team as the greatest of the Premier League era – and their return to European glory.
But it might all have been so different for United, and Ferguson, had it not been for Mark Robins, a 20-year-old striker who in 1990 scored the winning goal against Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup.
Since Ferguson’s arrival at Old Trafford in 1986, his teams had lacked consistency and a lowly league placing in January 1990 had prompted calls for him to be axed.
Robins’ goal saved his bacon, as United progressed to the FA Cup final and won it.
That victory heralded a remarkable upturn in their domestic fortunes during the 1990s, coinciding with the demise of the once invincible Liverpool, who won the last of 18 league championships in 1990.
United had not won the league since 1967.
In the same period Liverpool had done it 11 times, becoming the most successful club in British football history.
At the time, English football was at a low ebb.
Hooliganism and a series of disasters – including the Bradford City fire in 1985 and the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 – had tainted its reputation.
But it was transformed by the introduction of the FA Premier League in 1992.
The introduction of all-seater stadia and a huge influx of TV money from BSkyB turned the new league into the national obsession the old one had once been – as well as a highly successful global product.
Manchester United won the inaugural title, their first in 25 years, and didn’t look back.
Former youth team talents such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and David Beckham mixed with more experienced stars such as Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes and the mercurial Frenchman Eric Cantona, whom Ferguson had bought from Leeds for a bargain £1.2million in November 1992.
They dominated the Premiership for the rest of the 1990s, ending the decade with a dramatic last-gasp 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final which secured an unprecedented treble (League, FA Cup and European Cup).
United continued to dominate domestic football, winning another two Premiership titles before their only real challengers, Arsenal – then emerging as an increasingly attractive and fluent side under Frenchman Arsene Wenger – won in 2002 and 2004.
The Ferguson/Wenger duel dominated the Premiership for seven years.
The arrival of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who bought Chelsea in 2003, heralded a new era.
Already wealthy footballers began to receive even more money, with top players earning in excess of £100,000 per week.
Hungry for an immediate return on his investment Abramovich discarded manager Claudio Ranieri after one season for the highly-rated Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
He, aided by seemingly unlimited funds, helped Chelsea win the Premiership in 2005 and 2006, but he was one of a string of managers discarded as Abramovich chased his dream of winning the European Champions League.
Chelsea were knocked out by Liverpool in the semi-finals twice, in 2005 and 2007. They reached the final in 2008, losing on penalties to Manchester United.
But Abramovich's dream finally came true in 2012 when Chelsea triumphed in a penalty shootout against German giants Bayern Munich.
Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005 after engineering a famous comeback against AC Milan, to whom they were losing 3-0 at half-time. They levelled the scores, then won a penalty shoot-out.
Liverpool reached the final again in 2007, but this time AC Milan were too strong.
After Manchester United's European triumph in 2008, their success continued with further final appearances in 2009 and 2011, though they lost to Barcelona both times.
