MANCHESTER UNITED flop Jesper Blomqvist started the 1999 Champions League final because Sir Alex Ferguson refused to break his promise.
That’s according to Fergie‘s former assistant, Steve McClaren, who admitted that he and the rest of the coaching staff were dumbfounded when United‘s legendary former manager kept his word.
Left-winger Blomqvist’s 1998-99 season – his first in English football after signing from Parma – was neither here nor there.
He had only scored once in 25 Premier League games, with Ryan Giggs the undisputed first choice in his favoured position.
But Ferguson promised him a start in the famous treble-winning match after leaving him out in the FA Cup final four days earlier.
McClaren recalled the pre-game chat when Sir Alex and his coaches were talking through a team selection complicated by suspensions to central midfielders Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.
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He said on The Managers podcast: “[I told him], ‘Well, you can play [Ronny] Johnsen, [David] Beckham, keep Giggs on the left.
“[Ferguson] says, ‘Can’t keep Giggs on the left.’
“I asked why and he said, ‘I promised Blomqvist a game.’
“But it’s the biggest game in Man United’s history, can’t you just say to Jesper, ‘Look, things have changed.’? He said, ‘I can’t do that. Promised him the game.’ All the staff were [shocked].”
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The match turned out to be Blomqvist’s last act as a United player as a knee injury sidelined him for the next two seasons.
He was 25 years old in 1999 and would play fewer than 50 more professional games before hanging up his boots.
Ferguson sticking to his guns ended up paying off as Giggs was shifted to central midfield and Blomqvist played almost 70 minutes of the 2-1 win over Bayern Munich – made famous by stoppage-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Reflecting, McClaren added: “People always say, what makes those top, top [managers]? They’ve got bigger balls than anybody else.
“They make the massive decisions. They take risks. They’re gamblers. They don’t mind taking a risk and can take the consequences.”