‘I’m sure he threw the first one in’ – The day 30 years ago when Steve Bruce changed Manchester United history

It is the iconic, unforgettable image associated with Manchester United’s first title under Sir Alex Ferguson, the season when 26 years of hurt were consigned to the history books.

United didn’t win the first-ever Premier League title on Saturday, April 10, 1993, but the pictures from that day are often the first used when looking back on the triumph and there’s no doubt it was a defining afternoon.

It was the moment United returned to the top of the table, capitalising on a Norwich defeat and a draw for Aston Villa. They would win their five remaining games to win the title, but with four minutes to go against Sheffield Wednesday, it looked to be all going wrong, again.

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United had blown a winning position the year before and failure to beat the Owls at Old Trafford would have made it just one win in five games at the business end of the season. They would also have allowed Villa to stay top of the table.

But then came Steve Bruce and those spine-tingling images of Brian Kidd bounding onto the pitch and sinking to his knees, while Ferguson skipped towards the turf waving both hands in the air.

Bruce looped a header in from a Denis Irwin corner after 86 minutes to equalise and then powered in a 97th-minute header to seal the victory. The beaten goalkeeper was Chris Woods, a former Norwich City teammate of Bruce’s, who was staying at the United defender’s house that evening.

“I’m sure to this day he threw the first one in,” Bruce joked to Sky Sports in 2020, although that is probably doing a disservice to the quality of his header.

When the winning goal hit the back of the net it was accompanied by an iconic line from Martin Tyler. “Bruce! Yes! Yes for Manchester United in the seventh minute of time added on,” the commentator roared on Sky Sports.

For Bruce, it is a day he will never forget.

“Probably the highlight [of my career] because everybody associated those two headers as winning us the league,” he said.

“We still had five or six games to play but it was probably the turning point. We went three days later to Coventry and Dennis Irwin played a one-two and smashed one in from 25 yards. Nobody talks about it, we won 1-0.

“But those two headers, basically because of when it was, it was Fergie time, how often did we see that? It was six minutes in when I got the winner and of course to see Kiddo and Sir Alex jumping around the pitch is arguably the highlight. I mean, I’ve many many great times lifting trophies and all the rest of it, but that for a personal one.

“The number of people who still tapped me on the shoulder to say they remember where they were when you scored twice against Sheffield Wednesday.”

Ferguson reflected on the day in his autobiography, Managing My Life, and admits when Bruce equalised that he felt before that corner it was possibly the last chance to turn the game around.

“We bombarded their goal and as the minutes ticked away we won yet another corner. I thought it might be our last throw of the dice,” he said. “Reminding us how brave he was, Steve Bruce stuck his head in front of one of their defenders and glanced the ball high into the far corner.

“From the moment we equalised, I stood on the touchline directing operations, cajoling the lads, praising them. Trevor Francis, the Wednesday manager, was signalling to the referee that time was up when we won a free kick.

“Ryan Giggs took it… it ended up on the other side of the pitch when Gary Pallister raced out to regain possession and, without looking, he hit a really good cross in that landed in Brucie’s path. I was right in the line of the ball as it arrowed its way into the corner of the net.”

It’s a day remembered for those scenes of Bruce, Kidd and Ferguson, but there was a significant role played by a forgotten cast list as well, starting with referee Michael Peck, who picked up an Achilles injury early in the second half and had to be replaced by linesman John Hildtich.

Hildtich turned down the offer of taking Peck’s watch, insisting he had the timekeeping in hand. It is a moment of significance in this title win, given he then added seven minutes and 15 seconds at the end of the game.

“Manchester United completely pressed them after [Sheffield Wednesday scored],” Hilditch said in 2015. “There were lots of stoppages for injuries and fouls and with every goal kick, Chris Woods was taking more and more time.

“I’ve never said it was time-wasting – it was time-consuming. And it all added up to seven minutes and 15 seconds. It was common practice then to wait in the centre circle to be taken off the pitch by the stewards and as we waited, Nigel Jemson said something to me.

“This huge policeman told him where to go and I thought, ‘you’ll do for me’, and we walked off together.

“Trevor Francis came into my dressing room to ask where I’d got the extra time from. He was very polite and accepted my reasoning but he didn’t agree with it.”

If Francis didn’t agree Ferguson, unsurprisingly, did. That night he went home and watched the second half again and concluded that there should, with all the stoppages, actually have been 12 minutes added on. Luckily United only needed seven.

In the end they won the title by 10 points, but as the game threatened to slip away against Sheffield Wednesday it did feel as if their chances were in the balance. It was the day the narrative shifted and they never looked back, not in that run-in or in the years that followed for Ferguson.

The title was secured without United playing. Bruce invited teammates around his house to watch Villa play Oldham on Sunday, May 2, 1993. He also let the Sky cameras in but never expected a party to break out, with Oldham battling relegation at the time, but they secured the win that secured United the title they had been waiting for.