'They were visionaries' - The Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United partnership that was 20 years ahead of its time
manchestereveningnews.co.ukIt's August 1998 and the Royal Antwerp team bus is rolling back into the club's Bosuilstadion home, but Danny Higginbotham can't believe what he's seeing.
The 19-year-old is the first Manchester United player to be packed off to Antwerp as part of a new link-up between the two clubs, but the Belgian giants are somehow marooned in the second tier and their season has started disastrously with three straight defeats.
This is the latest, a 5-0 thrashing away from home. But hundreds of Antwerp fans are still waiting for the coach to return and Higginbotham is amazed by the level of support until his new teammates put him right.
The teenage Mancunian is the last to get off the coach and he's quickly surrounded. "F**k off back to Manchester" is the message and Higginbotham intends to do just that.
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