Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has recounted the story of a Sir Alex Ferguson dressing down for Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Ferdinand, speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel, explained how Ferguson took issue with van Nistelrooy's shirt exchange with a Manchester City player after a Maine Road derby in 2002.
City had just beaten United for the first time since 1989 and it was the final Manchester derby at Maine Road before the hosts' move to the Etihad Stadium.
Nicolas Anelka opened the scoring after five minutes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalised three minutes later.
An action-packed opening half an hour saw Shaun Goater put City ahead again in the 26th minute with the Bermudian then netting five minutes after half-time to round off the scoring.
Ferdinand was playing in his first Manchester derby since his £30 million arrival from Leeds United earlier in the year and would see just how much it meant to Ferguson.
"We got beat 3-1 at Maine Road with Shaun Goater scoring two goals," Ferdinand began.
“That was the first derby I played and the moment I realised how big it was in the changing room after.
“We walked in and the manager shut the door. It was quiet and then all of a sudden he just erupted.
“Ruud, who was the God then, walked in with a City shirt in his hand and I remember Sir Alex just absolutely unloaded on him.
“He destroyed him saying ‘if I ever see any of you walking with a City shirt ever again you'll never play for this club’.
“That's how he was, he was just mad. That's when I sat there and thought ‘this is a big game, isn't it’.
“I didn't realise before that game and ever since then, whether you win more or less, I knew that week leading up to a derby was all or nothing."
