It's been 10 years since Manchester United reigned as the champions of England. In the decade since their last triumph, their fans have been forced to watch the title head to the other side of Manchester.
Pep Guardiola's side have been imperious and completed the unthinkable last season. United's tag as treble winners is no longer an exclusive one.
Manchester City will undoubtedly be the favourites for the Premier League title again in 2023/24. That would make it four in a row for City, a feat that has never been managed in English top-flight history.
However, had it not been for two costly refereeing decisions, City would again be following in United's footsteps. In the peak of their powers, Ferguson's United were controversially denied a fourth title in a row.
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The 2009/10 season, in fact, marked the beginning of the end for Ferguson's great United team, which had conquered England for the previous three seasons. United had been forced to watch on for three seasons as Arsene Wenger's Invincibles and then Jose Mourinho's Chelsea took a stranglehold of the Premier League.
After finally overthrowing 'the Special One', United were rampant. With Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez spearheading their new-look attack, there was no stopping them.
They had the best manager in the world, the best player in the world and the status to allure any player. But the summer of 2009 was a bump; a crash down to Earth.
United had reigned supreme once more, with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal confirming their 18th league title. It would turn out to be Ronaldo's last appearance at Old Trafford in a United shirt until he returned for his second ill-fated spell.
The Portuguese star saw his £80million move to Real Madrid confirmed after a year-long saga. Ferguson stuck true to his word and allowed him to move on, having pleaded for another year.
Carlos Tevez also departed, swapping United red for City blue and further depleting the frontline, having had his nose bent out of shape by arrival of Dimitar Berbatov. It left United with two holes to fill and they tasked Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen with doing that, perhaps unwisely.
Having lost two of their star men and missed out on becoming the first side to retain the UEFA Champions League after a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona, United entered the season licking their wounds. It was a period of unknown after three years of stability and success with two big figures gone.
In the capital, it was the start of a new dawn too. Liverpool had been United's closest challengers the season before with Chelsea in disarray.
Roman Abramovich's plump for Luiz Felipe Scolari went terribly, with Gus Hiddink brought in temporarily to salvage their season. They were a club still struggling to move on from Mourinho; lacking identity and a character large enough to fill the void.
Enter Carlo Ancelotti, with a CV as impressive as his slick Italian persona. It was a positive omen for the Blues when they beat United on penalties in the Community Shield in the traditional curtain raiser.
From the early weeks of the season, it was clear that United had a serious threat to contend with. Chelsea were reinvigorated and playing with style and swagger.
In October, Chelsea thrashed Blackburn, Bolton (2) and Atletico Madrid, putting behind recent blips at Wigan and Aston Villa. They led the Premier League by two points heading into the first title decider at Stamford Bridge.
Premier League titles are never won in November but they can be lost. The controversial match at Stamford Bridge would leave Ferguson reeling at the full-time whistle.
With the match finely poised at 0-0, two critical errors from referee Martin Atkinson would earn him the fury of Ferguson at the full-time whistle. The match official first penalised Darren Fletcher for a clean tackle on Ashley Cole before failing to spot Didier Drogba's foul on Wes Brown as John Terry headed in the decisive goal from the resulting free-kick.
"Clearly Darren Fletcher has won the ball," Ferguson fumed. "He's never touched Ashley Cole who just jumped up in the air, and then Drogba has pulled Brown to the ground at the goal.
"The referee's position to make a decision there was absolutely ridiculous. He can't see it. There was a Chelsea player standing right in front of him and he doesn't even move.
"It was a bad decision, but what can you do? You lose faith in the refereeing sometimes. That's the way the players are talking in there. It was a bad one. That goal should not have been allowed."
United's defeat left them five points behind Ancelotti's side, shifting the momentum firmly in Chelsea's favour. It was not an insurmountable lead by any means but an uncomfortable position for United; chasing after three years on top.
Of course, there were many more twists and turns to come. Chelsea wobbled in December with draws at West Ham, Birmingham and at home to Everton before returning to form in the New Year.
United stepped their foot on the gas after Christmas, as they so often did under Ferguson. With the two teams neck and neck, their second meeting at Old Trafford in early April was destined to play a pivotal role in deciding the destiny of the trophy.
On matchday 32, Chelsea came to Old Trafford a point behind Manchester United in the title race. With seven games to go, there was little doubt of the significance of the fixture.
United were depleted in attack with Wayne Rooney only able to watch on from the Directors' Box. The Englishman had relished the goal-scorer mantle passed to him following Ronaldo's exit and finished the season with 34 goals, 26 of those in the Premier League.
Berbatov led the line with Valencia, Nani, Giggs and Park as the supporting cast. Chelsea, who boasted the better goal difference after dishing out several thrashings, started with Joe Cole, Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka in attack.
It would be the Englishman who gave first blood to Ancelotti's men, delicately backheeling the ball through the legs of his marker and into the far corner. A decisive blow.
But the title-deciding moment didn't follow until the 79th minute. Substitute Didier Drogba was threaded through after a flowing move and fired in for 2-0.
United's defence stood still, hands in the air. Edwin van der Sar might have done far better, with the sheer pace of Drogba's shot beating him at his near post.
But the appeals went unanswered. The linesman kept his flag down and Chelsea were in control. Replays of course showed that he was well beyond the final defender and the goal should have been chalked off.
Frederico Macheda gave United hope by reducing the arrears two minutes from time but by then, the damage was done. It's fair to say, after his grievance with the officials at Stamford Bridge, Ferguson was not amused.
"When you see it is Mike Dean today you worry," he raged "A lot of people criticise him but I won't go down that road.
"What I can't understand is that the assistant referee was directly in front of him [Drogba] for the second goal and there is no player near him. In a game of this magnitude you need quality officiating. We didn't get that today, I'm afraid. It was a poor, poor performance.
"It's happened to us twice. We had it at Stamford Bridge and we've been on the wrong end of them this season. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't but the quality of officials causes it."
United would go on to miss out on the title by a solitary point. A 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers a week later opened the gap to four points, with Chelsea's superior goal difference.
Ferguson's men were handed a lifeline after a last-minute header from Paul Scholes earned them victory in the Manchester derby and sparked scenes of jubilation. It was too much for Gary Neville, who planted one on his United team-mate in those iconic celebrations.
Tottenham would later beat Chelsea at White Hart Lane and increase the drama with two matchdays to go. United did their job with a 1-0 win at Sunderland but a mistake from Steven Gerrard put Chelsea on their way to a 2-0 win at Anfield.
It was a simple final-day scenario. Victory for Chelsea and the title was theirs, at home to Wigan Athletic. There was little jeopardy with the Blues 2-0 up at half-time with a man advantage. They eventually smashed the visitors 8-0.
For Manchester United, they beat Stoke 4-0 but surrendered their title. A solitary point was the difference and looking back on those two title-deciding games, it's clear that United didn't get the rub of the green.
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