Peter Kenyon says that Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t speak to him for two years after leaving Man United for Chelsea.
Kenyon joined the Red Devils in 1997 before becoming chief executive in 2000, but opted to leave for a new challenge at Stamford Bridge following Roman Abramovich’s takeover of the club.
His exit was seen as hugely controversial due to the fact he was a lifelong Man United fan along with the decision to join one of their fierce rivals.
It also ended a relationship with Ferguson that had seen Man United dominate world football with Premier League and Champions League crowns coming during their time together.
Discussing his time at Chelsea, Kenyon told Rio Ferdinand‘s YouTube channel ‘Rio Presents’: “In his first year (Mourinho), we won the league. First time in 50 years, so he did league back-to-back and FA Cup. Alex didn’t speak to me during that period anyway, but that’s a different story.”
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With Ferdinand going on to praise the competitive energy that Mourinho created at Chelsea, Kenyon went on to explain how he understood Ferguson’s reaction.
“You understand it’s what it is, because it’s just ‘win’, it’s a winning culture, and you’ve no time to spend time on people that are not with you.
“I mean, it’s brutal, it is brutal, but if you look at the great things he (Ferguson) did, as I said, he was the best man manager I’ve ever come across.”
Discussing Ferguson’s famous winning mentality, Kenyon said: “Well, you lose the game on Saturday, a game you shouldn’t have lost, in his mind you shouldn’t have lost it. You’ve been there, you’ve been on the coach, you’ve been on the plane.
“He takes you down to the depths [of negativity]. So, public, nothing to do with the boys. Privately, and all the best coaches are like this, ‘it’s your fault. You didn’t do this, you didn’t do that’, whatever.
“So, the teams down here now, and he will pick a point in that journey home or at training the next day where he can’t have you there, he’s got to have you ready for the game on Tuesday.
“Massive game against Milan or somebody, and he’ll change it like that. And he’ll take you from, ‘okay, you’re punished enough now for the result you didn’t get on Saturday, now you’ve got to be ready’.”
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Kenyon stayed at Chelsea until October 2009 when he stepped down from his position.
It came after a turbulent reign in west London in which he was alleged to be involved in tapping up scandals involving Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ashley Cole.
As for Ferguson, he went on to win the Premier League title 13 times to become one of the greatest managers in the history of football.
After retiring, he went on to become a global ambassador for the club – a role that Ineos have now taken away from him.
Meanwhile Mourinho secured three Premier League titles and set a record for the fewest goals conceded (15) during a league campaign.
He then went on to managed Manchester United between 2016 and 2018, winning the EFL Cup, Community Shield and Europa League.
