David Beckham’s World Cup fall-out, spitting, missiles, changing Elland Road entrances, Roy Keane's cruciate and 30,000 Leeds United fans at an FA Youth Cup final.
Some of the Manchester United players from Sir Alex Ferguson’s era have recounted their memories of previous clashes with the Whites, who of course host the Red Devils on Sunday.
David May played for Ferguson’s Old Trafford outfit between 1994 and 2003. Speaking to MUTV, he said: “It wasn’t pretty, I’ll tell you that now.
“I remember in 1998, just after David Beckham got sent off in the World Cup. We had to go in a totally different entrance because we were getting spat at, things were being thrown at us.
“I don’t think that love is lost. Alright, there’s going to be no fans this year, but next year Leeds are still going to be in the Premier League, which is fantastic.”
Wes Brown was a cornerstone of the Manchester club’s success under Ferguson around the turn of the century, playing between 1996 and 2011 for them.
His debut was actually against Leeds in 1998 at Old Trafford.
“It was always a tough one, for me,” he said. “I was young obviously when we were playing Leeds and the crowd was hostile.
“You would get stuff thrown at the windows. It was my first experience really of a hostile crowd and then you start to learn the history and why the clubs hate each other.
“It’s a great game to be involved in.”
Ben Thornley, who played far less for the Whites’ old enemy, was at Elland Road on the day Roy Keane and Alf Inge Haaland’s spat began.
“I was at Elland Road, on the field actually, when Roy Keane did his cruciate in that tangle with Alf Inge Haaland [in 1997],” he said.
“Prior to that we played in the 1993 FA Youth Cup final with 30,000 Leeds fans in there and that wasn’t nice.
“That was coming off the back of a semi-final, winning at Millwall! I think we’d seen the best and worst of fans even at that early age.”
