Sir Alex Ferguson’s former disciplinary adviser, Graham Bean, revealed in his book “Bean There… Done That” that he believed Manchester United and Ferguson were being targeted by the FA.
The former South Yorkshire Police detective initially worked for the FA as First Compliance Officer but switched sides to represent the legendary United boss.
He defended Ferguson on multiple occasions, as well as some of his players, including Gary Neville and David Beckham.
He enjoyed a measure of success in his role as their defender, ever wary of the football authority’s yearning to blame the United contingent and Ferguson in particular.
Bean writes in his book via the Manchester Evening News: “I have no doubt that the FA was interested in getting their [Ferguson’s] scalp, any chance they got. My opinion was that the FA were doing everything they could to catch him. I think he felt that too.”
“He was the most dominant figure in the game and the game revolved around him, anything he said was anti-FA or anti-referees was front page news.”
Bean, a season-ticket holder from Liverpool, stressed that they had a special strategy for overcoming the FA that focused on thwarting them.
This involved implementing measures to muddy the waters and complicate things by constantly complaining about harassment.
Such actions would leave the English football authority in a thorny position, which Bean could exploit.
Reflecting on one such incident, the 61-year-old fondly recalls when Ferguson and his assistant Carlos Queiroz found themselves with the patience of the FA after an FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Portsmouth in 2007/08.
The pair had become furious with the referee, Martin Atkinson, and his assistant after Cristiano Ronaldo was denied what, in Fergie’s opinion, was a stone-wall penalty early in the game.
“The FA was sure they were going to get them both and I acquitted them, it was like an atomic bomb going off inside the FA to the point that they even took legal advice on whether they could make an appeal. ”
“The verdict was so damning against the FA that their lawyers even advised them not to appeal.”
Bean recalls representing Neville in one of the biggest disciplinary cases of the season in 2006. The English defender was found guilty of kissing United’s crest in front of visiting Liverpool fans, a misdemeanor which landed him a £20 fine. 5,000.
He and his client appealed the decision to the FA, which took longer than required to issue a response.
Bean turned his attention to an independent panel, encouraging them to avoid the FA. However, the panel backed the FA citing a clerical error on their part.
Despite a mountain of evidence including footage of other players celebrating by kissing the badge and agreeing with Neville that he celebrated in front of home support, he still lost the appeal, something Bean says felt like a ‘seam’ of the FA. on the back of the respect campaign.
