Police warned Rio Ferdinand not to show his face in Leeds after his Manchester United transfer for fear of retaliation.
Ferdinand was only at Leeds United for 20 months after arriving as the world’s most expensive defender for £18m from West Ham United.
By the time a line was drawn under his Old Trafford switch the Whites had made a profit of around £11m, but even if the numbers made sense, the direction of travel did not.
The England international’s move down the M62 provoked nothing like the reaction to Rothwell’s Alan Smith making the same transfer later.
However, there was anger and vitriol enough for Ferdinand to receive a personal warning from West Yorkshire Police for what he should do to remain safe.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Ferdinand, to this day, pleads ignorance on the kind of crime he was committing in fans’ eyes by moving to Manchester.
“I didn’t see it like that. I didn’t understand or know the extent of the rivalry between the two clubs until I signed,” he said.
“Until I signed for Man United I didn’t realise at all. My whole mindset was strictly ‘I want to play for Man United because that’s the place I believe I’ve got a chance of winning trophies’.
“Then I signed and it was like lighting a bonfire. It went off. It was crazy. The police in Yorkshire rang me, just said ‘don’t come back for a while’ because it was just crazy.
“I didn’t realise it was such a heated rivalry, if I’m honest.”
