Alan Brazil admits ex-boss ‘may have killed him’ in combat that bought out of hand

Alan Brazil opened up about a dangerous dust-up he had with former Ipswich Town gaffer Bobby Ferguson.

The TalkSPORT radio host played for Manchester United and Tottenham but enjoyed his most success with the Tractor Boys. During his time at Portman Road, he was part of Sir Bobby Robson’s side who won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 1978 and 1981 respectively.

Brazil formed a close relationship with Robson during their time together in East Anglia. Unfortunately for him, things were completely different when Ferguson took the helm after Robson became the England manager in 1982, with the pair not seeing eye to eye.

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Ferguson only had Brazil in his squad for a single season, but that was enough time for sparks to fly. During an appearance on the Formula for Success podcast, Brazil offered an insight into an explosive row between the duo.

“What happened was Bobby Robson went off to do other things, and there was this new guy who came in [as Ipswich manager] called Bobby Ferguson, and we did not get on, okay,” the 64-year-old said.

“A couple of times in the baths – you know these big communal baths – he’d come in and have a go at me, and eventually I just thought: ‘Come on, let’s have it’. And he’d get up and say: ‘Come on then, give us your best shot’.

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“Then another time I was up the gymnasium, and we were arguing. And I said: ‘What’s wrong with you? You just hate me’. He said: ‘What’d you say?’

“And he was a Geordie, people thought because his name was Bobby Ferguson he was Scottish. But he wasn’t, he was a Geordie. And I ended up saying: ‘You’re a Jock with no brains,’ and that was it. He had a bag of about 20 keys on him.

“He threw it at me, and if he hit me, he’d have killed me. He’s ordered everyone out, picked the keys up, ran over, locked the gymnasium door.

“Everyone ran down the stairs, round the corner, up the other stairs to a viewing balcony – it was like the meerkats, little heads popped up to see who was going to see the fight. It was chaos, I had to get out of there.”

Brazil did manage to evade the legendary coach and his keys. He would then depart Portman Road to join Tottenham, before leaving a year later for United in 1984.

Despite clinching the FA Cup in 1985, Brazil’s stint at Old Trafford was marred by a severe back injury that hindered his progress. He was then unceremoniously shipped off to Coventry City in a swap deal that brought Terry Gibson to Old Trafford in 1986.