Nightmares of York keep Everton FC captain Phil Neville sharp

29 August 2012 06:55
IT WAS the night when Alex Ferguson’s infamous hair dryer may well have blown a fuse – and one Phil Neville will certainly never forget. He was just a raw 18-year-old on Wednesday, September 20, 1995, and Everton’s future skipper learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of underestimating lower league opponents Amazingly a United team featuring Neville, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Lee Sharpe and Gary Pallister were defeated 3-0 at Old Trafford by lowly York City, then lingering near the bottom of the third division.

The Red Devils recalled Eric Cantona for the second leg but still bowed out of the competition, and for the young man from Bury it was a deeply sobering experience. Neville is not the type to become complacent in life anyway, but that formative example of the harsh footballing fates and the subsequent tutelage of David Moyes means that the Toffees are always well versed in the need to never drop their focus on potentially awkward evenings like tonight, when they host League One strugglers Leyton Orient in the Capital One Cup at Goodison Park.

Source: liverpool_echo