Man Utd cult hero who saved Sir Alex Ferguson from sack told his tragic story in lost tapes found years after his death
Goalkeeper played just 24 DAYS after horrific injury at Wembley
LES SEALEY helped save Sir Alex Ferguson from the Manchester United sack.
But it came at a cost when a shocking Wembley injury nearly proved fatal.
Now his story has been unearthed thanks to lost tapes found 23 years after his death.
Sealey joined United on loan from Luton in 1990 and had played just twice under Ferguson – with Jim Leighton the clear No1.
However, Fergie decided to drop his Scottish compatriot for the FA Cup final replay after he shipped three in the initial 3-3 draw.
Ferguson said: “Sealey was cocky and sometimes downright arrogant, so I did not foresee a failure of his nerve at Wembley.”
That decision permanently wrecked Leighton’s relationship with the boss but proved to be a smart call as United ran out 1-0 winners, in turn landing Ferguson his long-awaited first trophy since taking over at Old Trafford in 1986.
His heroics earned Sealey a permanent transfer to Manchester United and he became first choice in 1991.
But another Wembley appearance 11 months later would change his life forever.
United faced Sheffield Wednesday – led by captain Nigel Pearson – in the 1991 League Cup final.
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John Sheridan gave the Owls a half-time lead but it was an incident in the 78th minute that had a far greater impact.
Sealey was caught in a challenge with Wednesday striker Paul Williams which “sliced right through to the bone” of his knee.
He revealed: “You could actually see the workings of my knee inside the skin.”
The animated shot-stopper got into a furious row on the pitch with the United physio, as skipper Bryan Robson tried to calm him down, while blood poured from the joint.
Incredibly, though, Sealey CARRIED ON – because there was no sub goalkeeper on Fergie’s two-man bench to call upon and replace him.
He was treated after full-time but his condition deteriorated on his way to hospital as an ambulance was called.
And that quick intervention may have saved his life.
Sealey went under the knife but woke up in the early hours of the morning and recalled in the tapes dug out by his family: “I always remember him saying, ‘Who’s a lucky boy then?’”
But it then transpired that the wound had been stitched up with dirt inside and subsequently got infected.
Any further delay getting to hospital could have been life-changing – by virtue of needing his leg amputating – or even life-ending if he contracted blood poisoning.
Within 24 DAYS, though, Sealey made a dramatic and extraordinary comeback and started in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Barcelona in Rotterdam – with Leighton exiled by Fergie.
So the East Ender began between the sticks despite no training sessions and not “handling a ball” since his Wembley ordeal.
Mark Hughes scored twice for United in the second half before Ronald Koeman curled home a free-kick 11 minutes from time – but the Red Devils held on for Ferguson’s second major honour.
On Koeman’s free-kick, Sealey said in his memoirs: “I’d have saved it with my nose if I’d have been fit, but I just couldn’t get across the goal.”
The pair were reunited after the game when they were called in by drugs testers and Koeman saw the extent of the damage to the goalkeeper’s knee, prompting a “total look of amazement” from the Dutchman.
Another voice recording from Sealey said: “He just said to me, ‘Les, I don’t know how you played with it.’”
A cult hero at Old Trafford, then-33-year-old Sealey rejected a one-year contract extension because he wanted two more years and ending up leaving United for Aston Villa at the end of the 1990-91 season.
Two years later, though, he returned as Peter Schmeichel’s understudy and was drafted into the starting XI for the 1994 League Cup final against Villa as the Great Dane served his red-card suspension.
Jim Leighton on FA Cup final snub
SIR ALEX FERGUSON ditched his regular No1, Jim Leighton, for the FA Cup final replay in 1990.
Leighton was in goal for the 3-3 draw at Wembley – but was ditched for loanee Les Sealey for the replay.
It was a big call – but one that proved to be the right call as Ferguson ended his long wait for his first United silverware.
But it came at the cost of his relationship with Leighton.
The former goalkeeper told the BBC in 2018: “It got pretty frosty over the period, sort of about the last six months I was in the team.
“And then it went to zero about a couple of weeks after the final.
“And we’ve never spoke since and never will do again.”
Asked why, he said: “I didn’t like a lot of the things that he said and he done.”
Ferguson later explained: “Sealey was cocky and sometimes downright arrogant, so I did not foresee a failure of his nerve at Wembley.”
It turned out to be his final United appearance – meaning three of his last four United games were cup finals – and again ended up on the losing side, just like three years earlier.
Sealey had stints with Blackpool, West Ham and Leyton Orient but continued to be plagued by his knee never fully recovering – even revealing in his tapes he visited a faith healer recommended by his United team-mate Robson.
The goalkeeper said: “Robson swears blind that he had a small, hairline fracture on his shinbone.
“She’d put her hands on his shinbone and he had an X-ray the following day and the fracture had gone.”
He added that it felt “like a red-hot iron” when she touched his knee.
Fittingly, Sealey made the last appearance of his career for the Hammers away at United on the final day of the 1996-97 season.
He was kept on the West Ham playing squad all the way until 1999-2000, by which time he was working as a goalkeeper coach for the club.
And Sealey remained in that role until his tragic death in August 2001, passing away following a heart attack aged just 43.
