Manchester United and Liverpool share one of the fiercest rivalries in world football. Whenever the two come up against each other, there is never any love lost.
Throughout his 26 years in charge of United, Sir Alex Ferguson enjoyed some epic battles with the Merseysiders, and isn’t remembered too fondly, given the success he delivered to Old Trafford. However, there was a moment in time when Ferguson put the rivalry aside and showed his true colours.
It came back in the 1980s, when the Hillsborough disaster occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Tragically, 96 Liverpool fans didn’t return from the cup clash, while another suffered life-changing injuries from which he would never recover.
It’s considered one of the darkest days in English football, and in the dugout for Liverpool that day was Ferguson’s compatriot, Kenny Dalglish. The Scot has since revealed that the first person on the phone offering support was Ferguson – a touching gesture that Dalglish has never forgotten.
Writing in his 2012 Mirror column, Dalglish explained: “When the Hillsborough disaster happened back in 1989, Sir Alex Ferguson was straight on the phone to offer his help in any way he could.
“People out there have different opinions about him. Some love him, some hate him, but when something terrible happens, like Hillsborough, Alex is one of the first asking what he can do. So although there is an intense rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool, it would never prevent Alex from offering his assistance, which is exactly what he did back then.”
Ferguson both managed against Dalglish as a player, as well as going head-to-head against him in the dugout. Regardless, Dalglish reiterated that he never felt any animosity towards his countryman.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sporting Giants podcast, Dalglish explained: “A lot of the time it was psychological to throw things out there to try and wind up. Sometimes you felt like you were falling for it and other times you would not give it back.
“That was not just with Fergie, but with everybody at the time. There was never a time he came back with something [in the media] and I regretted it. There was never any animosity between us. As soon as the game was played, that was it and we would have a drink.
“There has always been respect from my side – but you did get great satisfaction when you beat him!”