In May 1990, Alex Ferguson made the coldest decision of his managerial career. His goalkeeper had just conceded three goals in an FA Cup Final draw against Crystal Palace at Wembley. Ferguson dropped him for the replay. Les Sealey played. United won 1-0.
The goalkeeper he discarded was Jim Leighton.
What followed was one of the most remarkable rebuilding acts Scottish football has ever seen, and most people do not even know the half of it.
Leighton had arrived at Old Trafford in 1988 as a genuine great. At Aberdeen under Ferguson in the 1980s, he had won two league titles, four Scottish Cups, a League Cup, and the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup against Real Madrid in Gothenburg. He was Scotland’s number one. Brian Clough, who trusted almost nobody, once said of him: “Jim Leighton is a rare bird. A Scottish goalkeeper that can be relied on.”
Then came the fall. Not just dropped by Manchester United. Within two years he was dropped by Dundee. There was reportedly a match where the Dundee reserves team bus left without him. He later said, dry as ever: “It’s one thing being dropped by Manchester United. It is quite another to be dropped by Dundee.”
Most careers end there. Leighton’s did not.
He joined Hibs in 1993 and played the best football of his life. He forced his way back into the Scotland squad, won 23 more international caps, and in November 1996 was named man of the match against Sweden to reclaim the number one shirt from Andy Goram. Then, aged 39, he walked out at the Stade de France to face holders Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup.
From the Dundee reserves bus to Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos. Eight years after Wembley.”To go from Dundee reserves to playing against Ronaldo and Carlos and Cafu, and the route that I took,” he said, “it was a lot more rewarding the second time around.”
He retired with 91 Scotland caps, now third on the all-time list behind Andy Robertson and Kenny Dalglish. He never got the record. The wilderness years cost him that.
He got something better. He proved everyone wrong.