Roy Keane has looked back on Manchester United’s decision to withdraw from the FA Cup in 2000, opting to play in the Club World Cup instead, admitting he should be ashamed.
Roy Keane has admitted he was “quite ashamed” of Manchester United’s decision to withdraw from the FA Cup in 2000, when they were defending champions, opting instead to play in the Club World Cup.
The Red Devils won the domestic cup in 1999 as part of the famous Triple Crown, but the following year they became the first team in history not to even try to defend the title. They instead chose to compete in the first World Team Championship, now known as the Club World Cup.
United accepted the Football Association’s offer to withdraw from the competition. Chelsea won the championship by defeating Aston Villa in the final at Wembley.
The decision drew widespread criticism from supporters and the media, with the Manchester team accusing it of degrading the world’s oldest football competition. Former chairman Martin Edwards said at the time that he had “no other choice” and had taken the decision “in the national interest”.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side won just one of their three matches at the eight-team World Club Championship in Brazil, finishing third in Group B behind Mexico’s Necaxa and eventual runners-up Vasco da Gama.
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Keane’s comments came after Gary Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast:
The Irishman, who would go on to win four FA Cups in his career, said: “I think the last few years have brought a little bit of the magic back. If you think about when I was at United, we should be pretty ashamed that we dropped out of the FA Cup. We know it wasn’t our fault, but as players we accepted it. How upsetting it must have been for your team to drop out of the FA Cup.”
United claimed that even if they failed to take home the trophy, this was an opportunity to “compete for the ultimate honor of being the inaugural World Club Champions”. However, this did not deter them from their ultimate goal of retaining the Premier League title, which they achieved by an 18-point margin.
“We can’t go for it all. We can’t go to the FA Cup, we can’t go to Brazil. That’s impossible. We’re in a no-win situation here. I can’t imagine the criticism we would have had if we hadn’t gone (to Brazil). This is a Scottish story,” Ferguson said at the time.
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