'I got the last laugh after angrily snubbing Sir Alex Ferguson's handshake'

Patrice Evra has revealed his fury at being dropped by Sir Alex Ferguson for the 2007 FA Cup final, admitting he was so incensed that he refused to shake the former Manchester United manager’s hand. The full-back was an unused substitute as United finished runners-up to Chelsea, with Didier Drogba’s extra-time goal deciding the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley.

Evra had been signed 18 months earlier from Monaco and initially battled with Gabriel Heinze for the left-back berth at Old Trafford while he adjusted to English football. Despite seemingly establishing himself as first-choice and being named in the 2007 PFA Team of the Year, Ferguson informed the full-back that he would not be starting the cup final.

The former France and United captain initially believed that his manager was joking. However, when it emerged that Ferguson had chosen to start Heinze and didn’t even bring him off the bench, Evra threw his runners-up medal to the ground in disgust and snubbed the offer of a handshake.

Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Evra said: “In 2007, we had the FA Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea and I remember the day before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson told me that I wasn’t going to be playing.

“There were reports in the press claiming that I was a drug dealer, a fighter and part of a gang, so the boss told me that he couldn’t play me in the final because the Glazers instructed him to leave me out. He then turned around and told me that he was joking and that I would be playing on the left with Cristiano Ronaldo.

“The next day, I got a knock on the door and it was the boss telling me that he wasn’t going to play me and that he was going to start Gabriel Heinze instead. After five minutes of the final, he told me to warm up, but I never came on and I was fuming. I took my medal and threw it on the floor. The boss came to shake my hand and I didn’t shake his hand.”

The FA Cup final was decided by Drogba, who prodded home in the 116th minute. However, it seems that Ferguson quickly realised his error and apologised to Evra, who admitted that he considered leaving Old Trafford after feeling misled.

“Two weeks later, he called me to say sorry,” Evra explained. “He said he made a mistake. After that game, I called my agent and told him I didn’t want to play for United anymore and that it was disrespectful. This was the moment I was going to leave United.”

That summer, Heinze was sold to Real Madrid, making Evra undisputed first-choice at left-back. He was able to patch up his differences with Ferguson and remained with the Red Devils until 2014. Evra was regularly named United skipper in the latter years of Ferguson’s legendary reign, amassing an impressive haul of five Premier League titles, three League Cups and a Champions League winners’ medal.