I was Alex Ferguson’s first Man Utd signing, I’ll never forget how my career ended – they left me like a crisp packet
ALAN TONGE still carries the weight of that fateful day when Sir Alex Ferguson shattered his Manchester United dream.
A local lad — who was Fergie’s first acquisition when he signed as a schoolboy in January 1987 — received the gut-wrenching news he was not going to be offered a new contract.
It was the summer of 1991 when a then-19-year-old Tonge reported to the manager’s office at The Cliff, United’s old training HQ, where Ferguson informed him of his decision.
And he had to quit playing altogether three years later due to a serious back issue.
Tonge, 52, said: “Fergie told me, ‘We’re not going to renew your contract, son’.
“I was sick to the stomach and felt like I had taken a punch from a heavyweight boxer.
“I didn’t know how to act — I just remember muttering, ‘Thank you for the opportunity’.”
The abrupt end to his time at United left him in emotional turmoil.
Tonge, a full-back, admitted: “I felt like I’d let my family down.
“I’d avoid people in the village where I lived as I didn’t want to tell them I was no longer at United.
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“I was discarded like an empty crisp packet after four years there.”
Yet Tonge went on to rebuild his life, gaining a degree in sports science, a masters in philosophy and a PhD focused on critical times in footballers’ careers.
And he lectures at the University Campus of Football Business, which has different sites in Manchester.
He reveals all about his journey from Old Trafford to the higher echelons of education in his book, From Red to Read.
Tonge, a lifelong United fan, was a regular in their youth and reserve teams.
He was part of a group known as Fergie’s Fledglings, which featured such names as Russell Beardsmore, Derek Brazil and Lee Martin, who all played for the first team.
Martin scored the winner in their 1990 FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace.
After the Fledglings came the famed Class of ’92, which boasted Gary Neville, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, to name a talented few.
On one occasion, Tonge recalls travelling with the first team to help out.
It was then he first encountered Fergie’s infamous ‘hairdryer’.
Tonge said: “United were playing Newcastle in the FA Cup at St James’ Park.
“It was 0-0 at half-time and he let rip at a number of players, grabbing one who he tried to hang on a peg! When Fergie lost his temper, he really lost it — I was just a young kid and had never witnessed anything like it.”
A certain Ryan Giggs was also a year behind him.
Tonge said: “Everyone at United knew about this precocious youngster.”
But Tonge’s United adventure came to an end after his chat with Ferguson.
He said: “At the end of the season we had pipped Manchester City to win the Lancashire League title and Fergie told me I’d done brilliantly.
“That was on a Saturday and he called me in three days later to tell me my contract wasn’t being renewed.
“I had to take part in an eight-a-side training session with some of the first team after. But I had tears in my eyes and kept giving the ball away, which Paul Ince had a real go at me about.
“I don’t think that was the correct way to treat a young player who just had his dreams shattered.”
A spell at Exeter, under England’s 1966 World Cup hero Alan Ball, saw him win their young player of the year award in 1992-93 season.
But when he was forced to quit a year later, he worked in a warehouse and then as a delivery driver.
As he navigated the uncertainties of post-pro football life, he realised he was gifted academically, having picked up a number of GCSEs at school and a BTEC while an apprentice at United.
That led to his degree, Masters and PhD – as well as deciding to write a book.
Tonge said: “Writing it was a cathartic experience. Football is not just about the Premier League.
“It is an interesting and unique world – it can be lucrative and exhilarating, but when that is all over, the difficult void to fill can be immense.”
He also hopes to shed light on the fact that even today players with mental health issues are still afraid to speak out.
Tonge said: “I spoke to 212 ex-footballers for my PhD.
“A high percentage, even if they had a mental health issue, preferred to keep it to themselves because they worried that it would count against them in regard to team selection.”
A couple of years ago, Tonge, who also covers Exeter’s games in the north for BBC Radio Devon, bumped into Ferguson at an Association of Former Manchester United Players’ dinner.
He wasn’t sure whether the Scot would recognise him, but he did.
“My son, Sam, was with me and he was a good footballer, to which Fergie said, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘I hope you’re a better player than your dad!’.”
Red to Read: The Story of Fergie’s First Fledgling (Pitch Publishing, £19.99)