David Hirst regrets not knocking on the manager’s door to force a move to Manchester United.
The striker was playing for Sheffield Wednesday when United missed the chance to sign Southampton striker Alan Shearer in 1992 and attention was drawn to the Hillsborough high-flyer.
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In fact, manager Alex Ferguson tried six times to sign Hirst, eventually submitting a British record bid of £4.5 million for the England striker – an offer that was rejected by the late Sheffield Wednesday head coach Trevor Francis.
United were at the beginning of their dominance over the Premier League and eventually signed Eric Cantona from Leeds United instead.
The fact that United found it easier to sign a player from arch-rivals Leeds, and for £1.2 million, is a shock in itself.
Hirst, who scored 128 goals in 358 games for Wednesday, never got the chance to return to Old Trafford, something he regrets.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in November 2015, Hirst recalled: “I had been talking to Alex Ferguson for a few weeks and wanted to move to Man United.
“I received a fax with an offer of £4.5 million and I expected Trevor to reply: ‘Man United, £4.5 million, let’s go’. But he said: ‘I’m not selling you’.”
“One thing I have never done in my career is knock on the manager’s door because I’m not on the team or want more money. If you’re not happy with the contract, don’t sign it.”
“If you’re not in the team, go to the training ground and do your best. There’s no point in knocking on the door and telling him what a good player you are if you haven’t done it yourself. I’ve never had a problem with that.”
“If I were sitting here now, I should have broken down the door. It was staged [nowadays] and if Man United are interested, your agent will do anything to get you there.
“Financially it wouldn’t have been much different. We didn’t have £50,000 a week back then. We all had pretty much the same.”
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“I played for Sheffield Wednesday, third in the league, in Europe, cup finals, good salary, but as a Man United player you have a different label. That’s the only thing I regret.”
In his autobiography, One In A Million, Francis gave his version of events: “Manchester United pursued David for a while when Alex Ferguson was manager and I can still hear Alex on my car phone today, absolutely furious with me for making me two offers which I turned down.”
“Then he offered £4 million and with the 100 percent support of the board I told him we weren’t interested in doing anything with David Hirst.
“I turned down £4 million and Alex shouted into the phone in his Scottish accent: ‘Do you realise this is Manchester United Football Club and you are stopping a player from joining Man United?’
“I told him that Sheffield Wednesday was a big club, although not as big as Manchester United, and that I wanted to continue the improvements I was making and that David Hirst was a big part of my plans.
“I stuck to my opinion, but I will never forget Alex Ferguson telling me what he thought of me!
“I was on the M1 motorway and he didn’t know that Helen [Francis’ wife] sat in the car and listened to him on the hands-free system.
“If she had been the referee, he would undoubtedly have received a red card for his obscene language!”
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Hirst stayed at Sheffield Wednesday until 1997 before moving to Southampton for £2 million.
However, Cantona helped United to their first league title in 26 years, in their first ever Premier League season. “I played two full seasons with him and we won a title both times, with him almost single-handedly doing the first for us,” Gary Neville, who rose to the senior team during the Cantona era, said previously.
“It was his sheer presence and his ability to set up and score goals,” Fergie said of his bargain transfer.
He left the club in 1997 as a legend whose name is still in the stands today thanks to his charismatic personality, his brilliance on the ball and his 82 goals in 185 appearances for the club.
However, the Owls have had difficult times and were relegated from the Premier League in 2000.
They recently completed their third League One campaign since those heady days and begin the 2024/25 Championship season against Plymouth, coached by one of United’s greatest ever players, Wayne Rooney.
The game will be broadcast live on The Pitch Prospect on August 11th at 4pm.