On the 15th of August 1992, the landscape of English football was about to change, this was the first day of the new Premier League season.
The top division in England was to be rebranded from the old First Division to the new and improved Premier League. English football was to be a given a makeover from the dark days of the 80s to a new TV audience with SKY signing a large and lucrative deal to broadcast games.
Manchester United had gone close in the 91/92 season and fell towards the end of the season, allowing rivals Leeds United to win the last First Division title. This would drive the team on to try to win it this season, but some fans felt they would not win another title again after coming so close the previous season.
United started the season losing the first two games to Sheffield United and Everton, after a 1-1 draw with Ipswich their form got better winning the next 5 straight and propelling themselves back up towards the top of the table.
In a victory over Crystal Palace there was a moment that would forever be the catalyst for the next few decades for English football, summer signing Dion Dublin broke his leg during this game. This would lead to United trying to sign a striker with no luck until a chance phone call with a rival.
Leeds Chairman, Bill Fotherby, called Manchester United’s Chairman Martin Edwards to discuss the availability of a transfer for Denis Irwin. Alex Ferguson was in the room with Edwards and dismissed this outright but scribbled on a piece of paper the word ‘Cantona’.
Eric Cantona had just handed a transfer request in at Leeds and had been a key player for them in pipping United to the post the previous season. A deal was soon struck for around £1m but this is still disputed as to be the final fee.
He made his debut in a 2-1 win over Manchester City on the 6th of December and scored his first goal in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea a few games later. His signing would be seen as the spark that helped United propel themselves towards the title and the floodgates opened goal wise for them soon after.
United were playing catch up to Aston Villa and surprise pace setters Norwich who were taking everyone by surprise, the lead kept changing from January with United hitting top spot for the first time.
In March, with ten games to go, United were level on points with Aston Villa and 1 in front of Norwich having lost away at Oldham Athletic. The title race was hotting up and it was still wide open and all to play for.
United then went on a run of three straight draws including a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford with title rivals Aston Villa. On Monday, April 5th, United would go away to Norwich and win 3-1 with three early goals all stemming from counter attacks.
This was a key win on the way to the title, Ferguson altered his line-up to perfection to counter Norwich’s possession heavy style of play using quick passing and players running from deep to exploit their high line.
The next weekend would prove decisive in the title race with Norwich losing 5-1 away at Spurs, United played Sheffield Wednesday at home and were 1-0 down to a John Sheridan penalty. But an injury to the referee meant a delay for several minutes, United knew their season could be fading as the minutes ticked down.
They pushed forward and laid siege to the Wednesday goal and with four minutes left a Steve Bruce header gave United hope and in the 7th minute of added time a Gary Pallister cross was headed by his centre-back partner Bruce to send Old Trafford into ecstasy.
United fans would be coming out of the ground on Cloud 9 after that result with the injury to the referee they would leave the ground later than normal and find out that Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Coventry. This would prove the key moment in the title race.
Victories over Coventry and Chelsea would strengthen their grip on the title, Villa would lose the next two games to Blackburn and Oldham, the latter defeat confirmed United as Champions without United kicking a ball that day.
They would win the last three games to push their margin of victory to ten points but the true cherry on the cake was a goal by Gary Pallister in the final minute of the last home game of the season. He was the only outfield player not to score and stepped up to send home a free kick to crown a magnificent season.
26 years of turmoil going from the high of the European Cup win in 68 to relegation in the 73/74 season, managers came and went and while United had cup wins there were just as many false dawns, but the wait was now over, and more was yet to come.
United had long lived in the shadow of Liverpool being the best team in the land but their power was fading and the rise of United was beginning to happen.
The city of Manchester was rising with the Madchester scene and the rise of the Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays and then the football team was beginning to turn Manchester into the place to be once again.
Sir Matt Busby was the last Manchester United manager to win a league title in 1967 and he looked on to see this new team managed by his compatriot Alex Ferguson lift the trophy.
A season which promised so much not just for United but for English football had delivered, the landscape of English football would not be the same again and unbeknownst to everyone an era of dominance was about to descend on the Premier League.
