‘Sir Alex Ferguson rang during Corrie – I said I was joining Arsenal’ | Football | Sport
Arsenal icon Alan Smith once turned down Sir Alex Ferguson in a phone conversation before signing for the Gunners. Smith represented Leicester from 1982 to 1987, scoring 84 goals during his time there. His outstanding performances for the Foxes caught the attention of Ferguson, who was just months into his Manchester United reign when he contacted the striker.
Much to Smith’s surprise, he received an unexpected phone call from the United boss in early 1987. However, the former England international, who remembers watching Coronation Street at his parents’ house when his mother took the call, rejected the offer in favor of George Graham’s Arsenal.
Speaking to his former Arsenal colleague David Seaman on the Seaman Says podcast, he revealed: “I spoke to Alex Ferguson. I was starting to get a bit interested. One evening in January I was still living with my mum and dad and we were watching Coronation Street, I’ll always remember that.
“The phone comes down the hall and my mom picks it up and she says, ‘Alan, it’s Alex Ferguson on the phone to you.’ I thought she heard the name wrong.”
“Alex had only been at United for about a year and they were struggling. So it’s not like it was ‘Sir Alex’ calling, but he was obviously a big name, he’s the manager of Man United.
“I went into the lobby and spoke to him. He said he wanted me to wait until the summer when I would have been a free agent. I said: ‘Mr Ferguson, I’m sorry but I’ve made my decision, I want to join Arsenal.’ Arsenal wanted to sign me on deadline day, I had already spoken to them in a roundabout way.”
“It was a short conversation, I hung up and thought: ‘Did I do the right thing there, saying no to the Manchester United manager?’ But they went four or five years without winning anything and Alex was about to be sacked.”
Smith moved to Arsenal in March 1987 but was sent back to Leicester on loan for the remainder of the campaign. Despite his initial doubts about whether he had made the right choice, the following years in north London vindicated his decision.
He made his mark at the Gunners by finding the net in the legendary First Division title-deciding clash between Arsenal and Liverpool at Anfield in 1989. Graham’s side ended an 18-year drought to win the championship in spectacular fashion, with Michael Thomas scoring the second goal in the dying moments to steal the title from Liverpool.
Smith became Arsenal’s top scorer for four consecutive seasons and won another league championship in 1991, as well as a League Cup and FA Cup double two years later. He also scored the decisive goal in Arsenal’s 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup final triumph over Parma.
He retired in 1995 and today, aged 63, he continues to be a co-commentator and analyst for Sky Sports. Despite initial difficulties at Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson was undeterred by a failed move to United, winning his first league title in the 1992/93 season after winning the FA Cup in 1989/90.
The Scot, who celebrates his 84th birthday on New Year’s Eve, went on to etch his name in the annals of English football as the most successful manager, with an impressive haul of 13 league titles.