Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly made the bizarre promise to a Man United star that they would play in the 1999 Champions League final, his former assistant Steve McLaren has claimed.
Man United had headed into the Champions League final against Bayern Munich with major selection issues, with Paul Scholes and Roy Keane forced to miss the match through suspension.
According to McLaren, who joined Ferguson’s staff earlier that year, the legendary boss had further complicated his selection by promising Jesper Blomqvist a place in the starting line-up.
Ferguson was said to have made the pledge to the Swedish winger after he had been left out of the starting line-up for the FA Cup final, which had seen Man United beat Newcastle 2-0.
Speaking on the Managers’ Podcast, McLaren claimed he had tried to convince Ferguson to change his plans and rescind his apparent promise to Blomqvist.
‘He had promised Blomqvist a game, to play in the European Cup final,’ McLaren said.
Steve McLaren, second right, claimed Sir Alex Ferguson promised Jesper Blomqvist he would start him in the 1999 Champions League final
The assistant reportedly suggested ‘Well you can play [Ronny] Johnson, [David] Beckham in [the middle] and you can keep Giggs on the left’ and he said “you can’t keep Giggs on the left.
McLaren reportedly asked ‘Why’, with Ferguson said to have replied ‘Promised Blomqvist a game’.
‘Yeah but biggest game in Man United’s history, can’t you just say to Jesper, look things have changed,’ McLaren was said to have replied, with Ferguson doubling down ‘Can’t do that, promised him a game.’
McLaren claimed that Man United’s staff were left shocked by Ferguson’s determination to fulfil the promise by making a risky team selection.
Despite his surprise, McLaren suggested Ferguson’s decisiveness and willingness to gamble might have been a key reason for his sustained success as a manager.
‘I always say “What makes them the top, top ones?”. They have got bigger balls than anybody else,’ McLaren said.
‘They make massive decisions. They take risk and they’re gamblers.
‘They don’t mind taking a risk and they know the consequences and can take the consequences.’
Blomqvist lined up on the left for Man United in the final, with Ryan Giggs on the right, as Ferguson adapted to the absences of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes for the showpiece
Man United famously came from 1-0 down in the final to stunningly win the Champions League with two goals in stoppage time from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær completing their Treble.
Blomqvist had played 67 minutes of the final, before being replaced by Sheringham. Solskjær had come on for Andy Cole in the closing stages.
Ferguson’s initial team selection may have been impacted by Bayern Munich naming their starting line-up two days before the match, with injuries playing a factor in their selection.
Markus Babbel had reportedly been shifted to right wing back in preparation to mark Ryan Giggs, who Bayern expected to line up on the left.
With Blomqvist instead lining up on the left, Giggs was instead given the chance to face left wing back Michael Tarnat.
Ferguson gave insight into his team selection in an 2024 interview, where he conceded his starting line-up had not worked, before suggesting their preparation for Bayern Munich’s second half tactics had paid dividends.
‘It’s easy to say this, but the homework won us the game,’ Ferguson told TNT Sports.
‘In the analysis of Bayern, in big games particularly, they used to take the two wide players off and go into a tight midfield. We know having [Roy] Keane and [Paul] Scholes, [I] had to gamble on my midfield.
‘I wanted to make sure we had passing ability and decided to put David Beckham in midfield alongside Nicky Butt. Nicky did all sorts of jobs, and [Ryan] Giggsy wide right and [Jesper] Blomqvist wide left.
Ferguson admitted in 2024 that his starting line-up did not work in the final, but their preparation for Bayern Munich changes helped deliver Man United’s a dramatic triumph
‘Didn’t work in the first half at all. I was waiting for them to make the substitution. The minute he made the substitution, I went three in the middle and three up.
‘I brought on Teddy Sheringham. I said “Teddy, you go and play up top on the right centre-back, try and pull the right-back in”.
‘With Giggs playing in the left of midfield, it was really suited to him. Because running off the space all the time, Beckham, on the right-hand side, started to get crosses in.
‘In the last 15 minutes we made a lot of chances, having said that we could have been out long before that. They hit the crossbar, missed a couple of chances, [Peter] Schmeichel made a couple of saves. It was amazing.’
