Steve Bruce was a serial winner during his time at Manchester United, but his glittering Old Trafford career ended in controversial circumstances in 1996
Imagine being a key player in the journey to a domestic cup final, only to be left out of the squad for the final at Wembley.
That’s exactly what happened to Steve Bruce when Manchester United faced off against Liverpool in the 1996 FA Cup final. Just a week after clinching the Premier League title with a 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough on the last day of the season, United headed to Wembley with their sights set on a legendary double win.
Despite not having won either of their league matches against Liverpool that season – a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford and a 2-0 defeat at Anfield – the final was anyone’s game.
However, United managed to edge past their Merseyside rivals when it mattered most, thanks to an 86th-minute goal from Eric Cantona. His fifth goal of United’s FA Cup run proved to be the most crucial.
Yet, captain Bruce wasn’t on the field to celebrate the club’s ninth FA Cup victory with his team-mates, having been omitted from the matchday squad. Sir Alex Ferguson broke the news to Bruce on the Wembley pitch itself, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Cantona, who wore the captain’s armband in Bruce’s absence, tried to persuade Bruce to join in lifting the trophy, but Bruce declined the offer. After nearly a decade with United, amassing close to 400 games, Bruce was conspicuously absent from the Wembley squad, which signalled the end of his silverware-stuffed stint at Old Trafford. Under his leadership, Blackpool’s current boss had netted 11 top honours.
The decision by Ferguson to snub Bruce for that final match evidently didn’t sit well with the erstwhile skipper who’d led the team just a week prior in their win against Middlesbrough.
Post-final, and almost pronto, Bruce bid farewell to Old Trafford, setting off for Birmingham City. Though left out of the final as a hint from Ferguson he wasn’t part of United’s plans anymore, the now-63-year-old voiced his remorse over his departure earlier this year.
“The one regret in all my time was leaving Man United, I left in a bit of a huff because I didn’t get picked for the cup final,” Bruce reminisced earlier this year. “Looking back on it now, I hated it at the time but I fully understand it. I was 36, I wasn’t injured and didn’t get back in the team for the cup when I thought I should have. I left within two or three days, but can fully understand it from afar now.
“I didn’t want to sit on the bench or be a squad player any more. I made that pretty clear to the manager himself. I left within two or three days and I left under a bit of a cloud.
“My contract had finished, but that took me over the edge that I didn’t play in the 1996 cup final. Man United won 1-0 and Eric Cantona scored in the last minute, nobody gives a stuff if I played in it. Man United won.
“The manager made the right call and had done the same thing with Bryan Robson a few years before that. It was his way of telling you quietly that your time was up.” Having participated in five FA Cup matches that season, Bruce was still eligible for a medal, yet he doesn’t hold it in high regard.
He added: “I couldn’t even tell you whether I got a medal. Apparently I did, but I don’t regard it as the same, because I didn’t take part in the final.
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“I suppose if you play in the earlier rounds, you deserve it, but everyone wants to be involved in the final. That’s just human nature.” Despite the bitter end to his tenure at United, Bruce has reconciled with Ferguson over time.
He shared: “With Sir Alex, I still have conversations with him,” and “I haven’t seen him for a while, he’s been all over the place. I can always pick up the phone to him. He was instrumental in me taking a job to start with and was always someone you could pick up the phone to.”
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