Former Manchester United forward Alan Brazil has said he was relieved to have not been seriously injured during his infamous fight with ex-Ipswich Town manager Bobby Ferguson.
Brazil, 64, appeared for the Red Devils between 1984 and 1986, contributing 10 goals and one assist in 35 appearances for the club. But the now TalkSPORT pundit is best known for his five-year spell with Ipswich Town, where he won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.
Initially, he was playing under legendary manager Sir Bobby Robson, becoming one of the Tractor Boys’ most important players. Unfortunately for Brazil, the relationship with his next manager in East Anglia was anything but plain sailing.
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Ferguson took over the reins at Portman Road when Robson became the England manager in 1982. Brazil would only play under the Northumberland native for one season.
While speaking on the Formula for Success podcast, Brazil recalled their huge argument that almost turned into a bloody fight. “What happened was Bobby Robson went off to do other things, and there was this new guy came in [as Ipswich manager] called Bobby Ferguson, and we did not get on, okay,” he said.
“A couple of times in the baths – you know these big communal baths – he’d come in and have a go at me, and eventually I just thought: ‘Come on, let’s have it.’ And he’d get up and say: ‘Come on then, give us your best shot’.
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“Then another time I was up the gymnasium, and we were arguing. And I said: ‘What’s wrong with you? You just hate me’. He said: ‘What’d you say?’ And he was a Geordie, people thought because his name was Bobby Ferguson he was Scottish. But he wasn’t, he was a Geordie.
“And I ended up saying: ‘You’re a Jock with no brains,’ and that was it. He had a bag of about 20 keys on him. He threw it at me, and if he hit me, he’d have killed me.
“He’s ordered everyone out, picked the keys up, ran over, locked the gymnasium door. And everyone ran down the stairs, round the corner, up the other stairs to a viewing balcony – it was like the meerkats, little heads popped up to see who was going to win the fight. It was chaos, I had to get out of there.”
Fortunately for Brazil, he got out of the way of Ferguson and his big bag of keys. The now 64-year-old would go on to play for Spurs, before moving to United after barely one year at White Hart Lane.
Then United manager Ron Atkinson acquired his services in a hefty £700,000 transfer deal. But while he did go on to win the FA Cup in 1985, Brazil’s time at Old Trafford was derailed by a nasty back injury that disrupted his progress. He would be ruthlessly sent to Coventry City in a swap deal which saw Terry Gibson move to Old Trafford.
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