It was just a great, great game of football with everything. I refereed about 1,500 games and that, I would say, was my favourite – certainly domestically. Most people tend to forget the first game, after which nobody was especially happy. United were upset that we disallowed a goal from Roy Keane – which I think we got wrong – and Arsenal weren’t pleased that I dismissed Nelson Vivas for an elbow on Nicky Butt.
“So when the replay took place four days later, everything was simmering in advance. All the issues beforehand, plus the fact that it was United and Arsenal, Fergie and Wenger, everything had built it up into something which was either going to be a damp squib, a fight or a classic.