The record books show that Viv Anderson was the last big name player to be transferred from Arsenal to Manchester United in 1987 but two earlier signings proved to be just as significant. Few players have shown the knack of finding the net better than former great David Herd did in the sixties. During his seven years at Old Trafford, the Scotland born striker scored 145 times in 265 appearances. Then there was the Irish centre forward Frank Stapleton who had been rejected by United as a teenager. It was therefore ironic that Ron Atkinson had to pay the Gunners £900,000 for his signature in August 1981. Both Herd and Stapleton proved to be inspirational signings for which the Arsenal contribution has to be recognised.

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Tuesday nights European Champions League first round clash with Glasgow Rangers at Old Trafford is the second so called ‘Battle of Britain’ in the last seven years. The two sides met at Ibrox on October22, 2003 where United took the three points with a Phil Neville goal after just five minutes. The English champions did not have everything their own way however as Rangers threw everything at United and were considered unlucky not to at least get a share of the points.

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Former Manchester United defender Kevin Moran will be watching Saturdays clash at Goodison Park with special interest – and not because it will be Wayne Rooney’s first appearance for United since his ‘troubles’ erupted. Moran had his own troubles a quarter of a century ago when he set an unwanted record by going  into the history books as  the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup Final during Manchester United’s 1-0 extra time defeat of Everton in 1985.

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Former Manchester United striker Frank Stapleton grabbed plenty of goals for the Reds in the 80’s so he knows when he sees a special one. As far as Stapleton is concerned, new signing Javier Hernandez has all the qualities to be one out of the box. Many United fans were asking ‘who?’ when Sir Alex Ferguson shelled out £10m for the 22 year old Mexican towards the end of last season but goals for his country against France and Argentina at the World Cup soon gave them an emphatic answer.
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