How Sir Alex Ferguson responded when a Manchester United lineup was leaked

December 24, 2025 Oliver Obel

Before leaked team news became a near-weekly occurrence in elite football, Sir Alex Ferguson treated any breach of trust inside his squad as a serious threat to authority. For the long-serving Manchester United manager, discipline was not symbolic — it was enforced.

Ryan Giggs has recalled one episode that captures how Ferguson responded when he believed control inside the dressing room was slipping.

A message delivered without debate

Speaking in a retrospective interview with SPORTbible, via BetSelect, Giggs described how Ferguson reacted after learning that a United lineup had emerged publicly before kick-off.

“I remember him taking our phones away from us once,” Giggs said. “I think we were playing City. In the previous game, the team had been leaked. So he took everyone’s phone off them before he named the team.

“We got our phones back after the game. They’re the things that he would do to negate any negativity.”

The punishment was temporary, but the message was unmistakable. At a time when social media was only beginning to influence football, Ferguson treated leaks as a preventable problem — not an inevitable one.

Control built over time

Ferguson retired in 2013 after nearly 27 years at Old Trafford, a spell that reshaped both Manchester United and the Premier League. His teams won 38 major trophies, but former players have often suggested that his lasting influence came from clarity rather than charisma.

Giggs, who spent more than two decades under Ferguson, has repeatedly pointed to communication as the foundation of that authority. Rules were laid out early, he said, and enforcement was consistent.

“One of the manager’s real strengths was communication,” Giggs told SPORTbible. “He would communicate right at the beginning of each season what the rules are, and if you broke those rules, you would be punished. It’s as simple as that. So you would know exactly where you stood.”

There was little ambiguity, and even less room for negotiation.

Why it feels different now

Modern Manchester United, like many top clubs, has faced recurring reports of internal disputes, leaked information and public friction between players and management. Those developments reflect broader shifts in player power and media access — but they also highlight how unusual Ferguson’s level of control now seems.

Giggs suggested that similar behaviour would have carried clear consequences during his former manager’s reign.

“Whether the players playing under him then would try some of the things that are being tried today, I’m not sure, because you knew the consequences,” he said. “If you said something about him or a teammate or the club, you would have been punished.”

The phone confiscation incident may sound minor by modern standards. In context, it was something else entirely: a reminder that under Ferguson, authority was asserted quickly, publicly, and without apology.

Sources: SPORTbible, BetSelect