Remembering Man Utd's FA Cup Withdrawal & FIFA Club World Championship Venture

Manchester United rocked English football in more than one way in 1999.

The club completed an historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, becoming the first (and still only) English team and one of only a handful in Europe to have done so.

But barely a month after being crowned champions of Europe, United had taken the controversial decision to withdraw from the following season’s FA Cup in order to compete for a world title in a brand new tournament FIFA dubbed the Club World Championship.

There was already the historic Intercontinental Cup, which had pitted the champions of Europe against the champions of South America since 1960 – United would go on to beat Palmeiras in a one-off game in Japan in November 1999 anyway – but FIFA wanted something more global.

Hosted in Brazil, the timing of the new competition in early January promised to put an enormous strain on United in terms of fixture congestion at what was already a busy time of year.

Seemingly with one eye on England’s 2006 World Cup bid and the hope of currying favour with FIFA, the FA actually encouraged the club to go, even if that meant other concessions being made.

United felt that participating would be too much to handle, which led the FA to propose dropping out of the cup. The decision was made on 29 June 1999 and United chairman Martin Edwards said there was ‘no alternative’ and that it was in the ‘national interest’.

The FA was grateful, but Sir Alex Ferguson described it as a ‘no-win situation’ for the club, lamenting, “We can't go for them all. We can't play in the FA Cup and in Brazil. That would be impossible.”

In a way, it was fitting that Manchester United, the first English club to compete in the European Cup back in 1956, should also be the first to compete on a global club stage over 40 years later. They had defied the Football League and FA the first time round, but the second time was different.

The backlash was furious though. It was seen as a move that compromised the integrity of the FA Cup and a potentially dangerous precedent that could allow other clubs to withdraw in future.

On 14 July, the Daily Mirror ran a front page splash that read, ‘Is there anyone left in Britain who does not think Man Utd should be in the Cup?’

The tabloid had bizarrely gathered comments from anyone and everyone for an opinion, including the prime minister, a Falklands War veteran, an American model, a lottery winner, a socialite, a film critic, a singer, a television personality and even the widow of a murder victim.

That season also saw the FA bring the third round, usually a post-Christmas tradition on the first weekend in January, forward to 11/12 December. United, having travelled to Japan and back less than a fortnight earlier and playing a Premier League game on their return, got the weekend off.

When the third round draw was made, one ‘lucky loser’ from the second round was given a reprieve to make up for United’s absence from the pot. That club was Darlington, who had been knocked out by Gillingham. They were paired with Aston Villa and were promptly knocked out again.

It was the fourth round of the FA Cup that was the direct clash with the new FIFA Club World Championship in early January. As it happened, the FA’s plan to permanently move the third round to December was only short-lived and things immediately returned to normal the next season.

To make matters worse for United, the furious criticism for pulling out of the FA Cup was eventually compounded by a poor showing in their bid for global glory in Brazil.

The tournament had something of an experimental feel to it. The line-up was confirmed and the draw was made before the 1999 Copa Liberatdores had been concluded, so reigning South American champions Palmeiras weren’t there. Instead, it was 1998 champions Vasco da Gama.

Real Madrid were also invited as ‘reigning world champions’, having won the 1998 Intercontinental Cup. Al Nassr attended as 1998 Asian Super Cup champions, rather than Pohang Steelers, who were 1998 Asian Club Championship winners, or Jubilo Iwata, who won it in April 1999.

United struggled, labouring to a 1-1 opening draw against CONCACAF champions Necaxa of Mexico – Dwight Yorke scored a late equaliser and David Beckham was sent off. Two days later, they were torn apart by Vasco da Gama front pair Romario and Edmundo in an infamous 3-1 defeat.

A 2-0 victory against semi-professional Australian club South Melbourne wasn’t enough to avoid the embarrassment of an early exit, with Vasco da Gama progressing to the final as group winners. They met fellow Brazilian club Corinthians, who had been invited as ‘hosts’ as 1998 Brazilian champions.

Corinthians won on penalties after 120 minutes of 0-0 at the Estadio Maracana to be crowned the first ever FIFA club world champions. It was ultimately a title they actually held for five years.

FIFA did organise a follow up that was due to be played in Spain in the summer of 2001, assembling a new line-up that included the likes of Deportivo La Coruna, Real Madrid, Galatasaray, Boca Juniors, Palmeiras, LA Galaxy and others. But it was cancelled two months before it was due to begin owing to financial problems and fixture congestion, with all planned future editions postponed until 2003.

Following a merge with the traditional Intercontinental Cup, which continued as normal under 2004, it was actually 2005 before another FIFA tournament was held, when the Club World Cup as we know it today came into being. It has been a regular fixture of the football calendar ever since, although 2021 will mark a re-shuffle into a new 24-team tournament on a multi-year cycle.

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