How A Broken Leg Injury Helped Start United’s Years Of Dominance Under Sir Alex Ferguson
Going into the 1992/93 season, Sir Alex Ferguson had been manager of Manchester United for 6 seasons, and had failed to deliver the elusive league title.
We’d come close to winning it in the season before, but ultimately missed out, and some fans were questioning whether we could take that next step.
The Big Signing: Dion Dublin
The big signing ahead of the ‘92/’93 season was Dion Dublin from Cambridge United for £1m.
Sir Alex had chased Alan Shearer from Southampton initially, but lost out to Blackburn Rovers.
The 23-year-old Dublin had scored the winner against Southampton in our first ever win in the rebranded Premier League, and looked set to lead the line for years to come.
The Injury And The Need for a New Striker
However, a week later, Dion broke his leg against Crystal Palace, and was out for at least 6 months.
United went into the 1992/93 season with expectations of winning the league, but they started slow, and goals had dried up.
With Dion Dublin’s long term injury, Sir Alex Ferguson was in need of a striker, and that ended up being Eric Cantona from Leeds on 26 November 1992.
The Final Piece Of The Puzzle
Eric embodied the hallmarks of what would make United so successful over the next 20 years; Aggressive attacking football, with a winning mentality.
As soon as he came to the club, he transformed us into a title-winning side, helping our young, promising squad become winners.
There’s a cliché that he was the final piece of Sir Alex’s puzzle, but it’s true; He quickly settled, and contributed greatly to the quick upturn in results.
With Eric, United took that next step and went on to win the league title in 1992/93, after 26 years without one.
His arrival kick-started our dominance over the Premier League, with 13 titles in 21 years, becoming champions of Europe twice, and champions of the world.
It wasn’t just Eric’s performances on the pitch, it was his presence around the club. Speaking in 2023, Sir Alex Ferguson recalled:
“When Eric Cantona came, it was like the messiah. Players loved him. The young players loved him. His presence, his confidence, his stature. I always remember he came on as a sub against Manchester City for his first game at half-time and he made a six-yard pass – it was the best six-yard pass I’ve ever seen in my life!
It’s something about great players, they can do something simple that looks great. He transformed the confidence factor and we deservedly won the league.
When we won our first Premier League title, that just opened the door for us. Challenging for the league is the most important thing. That’s what keeps everyone happy in the club. We tried to win every league. We were close to winning every league in that period of 18 years or something. Five times, we were second and we won it the next year.”
What If Dion Dublin Hadn't Been Injured?
So, if Dion Dublin hadn’t suffered a broken leg a month after signing in 1992, maybe there would’ve been no signing of Eric Cantona, and our story might well have been very different.
Speaking on the UTD podcast in 2022, Dion himself joked about being the catalyst:
“Back to what we were talking about with the big players, though. Eric Cantona comes in and as soon as Eric came through the door… by the way, I am the catalyst to United’s success!
I don’t break my leg, Eric Cantona doesn’t come and United are going down! Thank you very much…”