Sir Alex Ferguson slammed phone down on me after swapping Manchester United for Newcastle

Few would have been brave enough to snub Sir Alex Ferguson for relegation haunted Newcastle in 1988 – but one man made a brave move

Liam O’Brien has recalled the moment Sir Alex Ferguson put the phone down on him in disgust after he quit Manchester United for struggling Newcastle United in 1988.

The former Republic of Ireland star wanted extra security for his family and refused the terms of a deal offered to him by Fergie. In O’Brien’s emotive new book Pass Master he talks through the struggles of a professional footballer in the 1980s and why even being a fully-fledged Old Trafford star did not guarantee a bright future.

O’Brien would go on to become a Newcastle legend after his goals against Sunderland at Roker Park, while he was also a key part of Kevin Keegan’s Entertainers. But after turning down an offer of just £400 per week from Fergie, O’Brien – before the days of agents – was forced to meet both Willie McFaul and Colin Suggett for transfer talks at Hartshead Moor service station and shook on a deal by the side of the motorway.

However, it was only after explaining to Ferguson what had gone on, the legendary Man United boss blasted him down the phone. Looking back on the moment he agreed his move to Newcastle, O’Brien said: “I didn’t expect him to be impressed with the news I had to tell him.

“I have something to tell you,’ I said. ‘I’m after signing for Newcastle United.’ There was a moment of silence.

“A pregnant pause. He wasn’t one bit impressed. He went through me. Who did I think I was walking out of a club like Manchester United?

“After he had his say, the phone went dead. Suddenly.

“It took some time for Alex Ferguson to talk to me again. When I met him a few months later, he didn’t speak. Eventually, the ice did thaw – although it took a couple of years.

There were suggestions made that Alex and myself had this big bust-up before I left Old Trafford but that wasn’t the case. There was no big row

“Did I have regrets that I left Man United – especially considering what they achieved later under Ferguson? No, I didn’t and don’t now, all these years later.”

O’Brien will always be deemed one of the vital cogs in the wheel at Newcastle as they went from a near brush with relegation in Division Two to Europe in two years. The former midfielder was a crowd favourite – helped by goals against Sunderland – but still talks with enthusiasm now about Sir John Hall’s vision that almost handed the Magpies the Premier League title.

O’Brien told Chronicle Live: “Sir John Hall and Kevin Keegan drove it and the stadium shot up from old terraces to all-seater. There’s a video somewhere of Sir John with one of those time capsules burying it into the ground.

“That was when the Leazes End was being built and he said: ‘In 100 years time when this is knocked down they’ll find this and people will wonder what it was all about’.

“But it happened so quickly. The stadium is now magnificent. The atmosphere is brilliant, but that was the start of it.

“Outsiders questioned Kevin Keegan coming in but the Newcastle fans already adored him for what he did as a player.

“He was a man coming into the club who had not managed and been living in Marbella! He didn’t know any of the players to be honest.

“He was taking a massive gamble really, if it hadn’t worked out for him it was his career.

“When he came in, it could not have gone better. We staved off relegation in the old Second Division then the next year we couldn’t believe how well we started.

O’Brien departed Newcastle in 1994 for Tranmere Rovers but by then had played his part on Tyneside. In his new book there is a picture of Keegan hugging the Irishman at Filbert Street just moments after a 2-1 win in 1992 that secured the club’s place in the Second Division and laid the foundations for the Premier League challenge ahead.

The ex-Toon midfielder said: “We went into that game at Filbert Street knowing we needed a win and couldn’t afford to lose it. We didn’t know what would happen to us if he we lost.

“So there was a lot of tension and nerves at Filbert Street between the players. We actually conceded a late goal and didn’t know what it would mean for us.

“But luckily enough Steve Walsh scored an own goal. It caused all the fans to run on the pitch.

“We were worried that the game would get abandoned because time wasn’t quite up but in the end the result stood, we stayed up and the rest is history.”

Despite leaving Old Trafford on frosty terms with Sir Alex, O’Brien also reflects on the moment in which the ex-Man United chief backed him when he thought his world was crumbling. After a red card playing for Man United away to Southampton live on TV, and long before broadcasting saturated our screens with too much football, O’Brien’s tackle on Mark Dennis was placed firmly under the microscope.

His early bath even led to Bobby Charlton storming the dressing room to lambast him, but Ferguson was kinder on the team bus.

O’Brien said: “I played on ITV against Southampton. Sir Alex Ferguson gave me my debut for Man United down at the Dell.

“In Ireland, it was the first time I think live football had been on from England, so all my friends and family were watching. I got told to watch out for Mark Dennis in midfield and that he was ‘nasty’.

“I went in for a tackle and Dennis came off worse, I thought it would be a yellow card, back in the day you’d get a caution.

“Then the ref pulled out the red card after 85 seconds! I went back to the dressing room knowing everybody had been watching at home.

“It brings you to a dark place and you wonder how things will go for you at a club like Man United. Fergie actually thought I’d insulted the ref.

“He watched the video back with me on the team bus. But he didn’t fine me because he knew it was the wrong decision.

“All managers have good sides and bad sides. You have to show some type of ruthlessness to be a manager.

“But Fergie cared about his players first. He was like Keegan and would always back his players.”

O’Brien’s new book is the perfect Christmas present for any Newcastle legacy fan but one of his decisions to write the book was so that his family have something to treasure in future years.

He said: “I got approached to write a book because I was told I had a good story to tell. I spoke to my wife and kids and they were behind it and wanted me to have a legacy to pass down.

“I enjoyed looking back on my career. My ma used to keep a few scrapbooks for me which was the start of it.

“The front cover has me in a Newcastle jersey because it was such a special time in my career. I enjoyed my time there and loved living in the city.