Man Utd and Arsenal stars in 21-man brawl sparking great rivalry between clubs | Football | Sport

“No one wants to see things go too far but in dressing rooms if a teammate is in trouble you make sure you defend one another and you do that as a team. That was all to do with Fergie’s personality and probably George Graham too. Two fiercely competitive Scotsmen who wanted their teams to mirror them and that was pretty evident to see on that day.

“We’ve seen that recently with [Tottenham boss, Antonio] Conte and [Chelsea boss, Thomas] Tuchel. It’s great to watch it, of course it is. It makes the headlines for a start but I think people like to see passion and that it means something to players and managers.

“Maybe it was a bit over the top.  When everyone gets involved it’s usually handbags – no-one usually throws punches although there might have been a few that day! Looking back it got out of hand but it’s because the rivalry between both sets of players was so intense. 

“We wanted to win so did they and it spilled over. For football fans there’s nothing wrong with that and we have to maintain that kind of passion.”