Mike Phelan realised Manchester United were box office from the start. He heard a commotion outside the dressing-room before his first game against Arsenal, popped his head into the tunnel and saw the club's prospective new owner Michael Knighton juggling a football in full kit ready to make a grand entrance.
'He felt it was his debut as much as mine,' chuckles Phelan at his unorthodox introduction to the Old Trafford circus.
The levels of drama haven't dipped in more than three decades. Phelan was a player when Sir Alex Ferguson won his first trophies after calls for his sacking and assistant-manager by the time the great man retired as a legend.