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Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge and the season wasn't going too well.
And as assistant manager Archie Knox told the Scotsman an incident involving a mis-heard whistle in the game against Hereford could have ended Ferguson's career at Old Trafford.
In the end Manchester United won the FA Cup that season, Ferguson's first trophy.
"With that trophy, Alex was on his way," said Knox.
In November 1989 United just beat Nottingham Forest in the previous round. The press were not impressed, the Daily Express headlined their report ' Fergie The Flop'.
In the next round Ferguson took his squad to Edgar Street. It was a 'glue pot of a pitch' and the score was goal-less at half-time. But then a remarkable incident in the second half.
“As a ball came over the top of our defence a guy in the crowd blew a whistle and some of our defence stopped thinking the referee had stopped play,” said Knox.
“But the Hereford striker didn’t stop and he had a clear sighting of goal, only for Jim [Leighton] to make a double save. If they had scored then when we were struggling who knows.
“It just shows you that you never know what is round the corner.”
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A goal lost then might have sent them over the edge but an 86th-minute Clayton Blackmore goal saw off the Fourth Division team. It temporarily warded off the vultures, but Knox maintains there was more understanding within the club than was portrayed at the time.
“Before that Forest game I know the directors said they understood what Alex was doing and they would stand by him. Obviously you wouldn’t have wanted to test that backing...” said Knox,
Sir Alex later commented on the game.
"Being drawn against a little club can be a nightmare. When we won the FA Cup in 1990we played Hereford United on a quagmire of a pitch," Ferguson wrote in a column later that year.
"There was an incredible extravaganza with marching bands and a big bull - the Hereford emblem - out on the pitch.
"There was a sell-out crowd, tickets changing hands on the black market and of course television - they hadn't seen so many cameras since they beat Newcastle in the FA Cup in 1972.
"So our visit made it a big day for them.
"It was so wet that the car park was flooded and some cars were marooned for days.
"We only won with a goal in the final minutes."
13,777 watched the game.
Hereford United: Elliott, Jones MA, Devine, Hemming, Peacock, Pejic, Jones M, Narbett, Robinson, Benbow, Tester.
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