Man Utd star’s spouse hated shock switch earlier than he made Match of the Day historical past
A Manchester United star’s wife was the person who hated his controversial move to their biggest rivals most before he made history on Match of the Day
10:56, 11 Aug 2026
Phil Chisnall was seen as a promising star at Manchester United(Image: PA)
Former Manchester United striker Phil Chisnall is the last player to make the jump directly across the divide when he joined Liverpool.
A talented inside-forward, Chisnall came through United’s youth team and the Mancunian was seen as one of Sir Matt Busby’s future talents as he looked to rebuild the club following the Munich Air Disaster.
But it wasn’t just Busby who was a fan of the youngster, Liverpool legend Bill Shankly and England boss Sir Alf Ramsey also saw the talent in Chisnall, with the latter describing him as “probably the best passer of a ball in the country.”
The forward was seen as a key part of Busby’s rebuild after the Munich Air Disaster(Image: REX)
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Chisnall overcame an early knee problem before eventually turning professional at Old Trafford in November 1959 and looked to be a key part of Busby’s post-Munich rebuild.
Making his senior debut at 19 against Everton in December 1961, Chisnall played nine consecutive games and scored in a win away at Manchester City.
Two years later he made his England U23 debut and had won the No.8 shirt off Albert Quixall; however, Busby decided he would not keep Chisnall around despite him contributing 10 goals in 47 appearances, instead signing the more experienced Graham Moore.
Sir Matt Busby saw Chisnall as central to his United rebuild
Chisnall had caught the eye of Shankly and was sold to Liverpool for £25,000 in 1964. Overjoyed with his new star, Shankly said: “Phil can do unusual things with the ball, he might be something special.”
Despite that transfer being the last time a player moved directly between the two clubs, Chisnall said he didn’t receive any negative reception from either set of fans. He became the eighth player to move between the two clubs, and only the second since World War II, following the same move Tommy McNulty made 10 years earlier.
“No one else said much, even though I was moving between two big teams,” Chisnall told the Echo. “Back then it was just a footballer moving from one club to another. I was able to go to Old Trafford and play for Liverpool and get a good reception from the crowd.
“The only person who was bothered was the missus. I told her I was going to play for Liverpool and it meant she had to take all the curtains down, pack up and move down the East Lancs Road. She wasn’t too pleased.”
Despite his switch, Chisnall slammed Gabriel Heinze for flirting with making the same move in 2007. “When we played you signed a contract, stayed loyal to your club until it was finished and regarded your wife as your agent,” Chisnall vented.
Phil Chisnall is the last player to directly cross the Manchester United and Liverpool divide(Image: PA)
Bill Shankly said Chisnall’s talent was “something special”(Image: Getty Images)
“When I moved to Liverpool there was nothing like the intensity between them and United that now exists. If Heinze turns up at Old Trafford playing for Liverpool next season there will be hell to pay from today’s fans but, with me, nobody really said anything about the transfer and I got a good reception when I went back to United with Liverpool.
“Fans would come up and say ‘why did you do that and you should have done that’. I used to think ‘bloody hell, a window cleaner’s telling me my job’ but you felt privileged to be a footballer and had to keep your mouth shut.
“There were a lot of nice people on the bus though; supporters and players were much closer then. It was fun.”
The forward had a difficult time of adjusting to life at Anfield, as he said about the toughness of the training regime: “When I was at Old Trafford, I used to have breakfast before going to work. I never did that in all my time at Liverpool. I’d never have kept it down!”
Chisnall played in Liverpool’s first-ever European game against KR Reykjavik in Iceland, scoring in the 5-0 win. He then made his league debut five days later in a 3-2 win against Arsenal on the opening day of the season at Anfield – where he became the first player to kick the ball on the inaugural episode of Match of the Day on August 22, 1964.
Chisnall only played a handful of times for Liverpool(Image: REX)
However, Chisnall was rarely seen in a Liverpool shirt, playing just a handful of times before joining Southend United in 1967, where he stayed until moving back up to the north west with Stockport County in 1971, but he was forced to retire the following year due to knee trouble at just 29.
He found himself stuck in the reserves at Anfield, behind the likes of Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Peter Thompson and Ian Callaghan. But he said he doesn’t regret joining the Reds.
Reflecting on playing for three of the most iconic British managers of all time, Chisnall said: “In the space of a year I played under Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Alf Ramsey, who was manager of England u-23s at the time.
“At United we had Busby, who was the quiet type, and Jimmy Murphy who was the passionate Welshman. At Liverpool it was the other way around, with Shankly the passionate one and Bob Paisley the calming influence. Ramsey was different again, quite prim and proper.”
Chisnall returned to Manchester after retiring, running two betting shops before working as a plant operator and in a bakery.
He died aged 78 in March 2021 after suffering a stroke in October 2014 which left him confined to a wheelchair and suffering from speech problems.
Both Manchester United and Liverpool paid tribute to the man who made the move no player would dare think about now.
