Trevor Sinclair believes Newcastle United could win their first Premier League crown before Manchester United win their next.
29.01.2022 - 10:15 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It's August 1998 and the Royal Antwerp team bus is rolling back into the club's Bosuilstadion home, but Danny Higginbotham can't believe what he's seeing.
The 19-year-old is the first Manchester United player to be packed off to Antwerp as part of a new link-up between the two clubs, but the Belgian giants are somehow marooned in the second tier and their season has started disastrously with three straight defeats. This is the latest, a 5-0 thrashing away from home.
But hundreds of Antwerp fans are still waiting for the coach to return and Higginbotham is amazed by the level of support until his new teammates put him right.
The teenage Mancunian is the last to get off the coach and he's quickly surrounded. "F**k off back to Manchester" is the message and Higginbotham intends to do just that. The relationship between the clubs could be over after just three games.
Higginbotham is talked out of leaving, however. He stays and 31 more United players make the same journey over the next 15 years. Most of them go on to have successful Premier League careers and value their time in Belgium. It was a partnership that worked out for everyone and the links remain strong.
It's not unusual now for Premier League clubs to have relationships with, or even ownership of, clubs across the globe. It can be beneficial for sending players out on loan and sharing knowledge. But it was unheard of in the late 1990s when United struck their deal with Royal Antwerp.
The Manchester Evening News has spoken to players who went on loan to Antwerp and officials from both sides to tell the inside story of a partnership that was years ahead of its time.
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Trevor Sinclair believes Newcastle United could win their first Premier League crown before Manchester United win their next.
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