Recent events have got many Manchester United fans rewinding their memories to remember the times when the club were embarking on their own period of domestic dominance.

Harry Maguire’s last-gasp goal in the FA Cup could yet be a seminal moment that is remembered in the same way as Mark Robins or Lee Martin’s in 1990.

Lee was in the first group of players that were described as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’ by the press when United had an injury crisis in 1989.

Fast forward a year and Lee was a valued member of the first team squad. In conversation with Ally Begg, he recounts his own significant contribution to Old Trafford history.

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I felt like I was getting better, but I could feel my confidence improving the more I played. When I first broke through Archie Knox was the boss’s assistant and then Brian Kidd came in; they were both brilliant with me.

I learned many different things from both. Archie, for example, would take me out after training with a bag of balls. He would go into the centre-forward position and ask me to just ping ball after ball at him from the left-back position with my left foot which, at the time, was my bad foot! My left foot improved so much for just doing that drill week in-week out that I became comfortable using both feet. Here I was, a right-footed left-back.

I think this gave me an advantage because I was only one of a few players at that time who was comfortable using both feet. That all comes through practice day in, day out. I have always appreciated Archie taking the time with me to help me improve my game. He didn’t do it with everybody which makes me even more grateful.

Around the time of the game at Forest, the press were making out like Sir Alex might be sacked if we lost. From my own point of view, it was never discussed among the boys. We obviously read the reports in the newspapers from time to time; it was not a common thing to talk about it in the dressing-room.

I remember at one point during the season that we were sitting 16th in the League but never can I recall anybody saying to me, or even discussing with me, that the manager was under any kind of threat. To be honest, even though we were struggling in the League, I was enjoying my football at that time. I was not overly concentrating on the negative aspects of what was going on behind the scenes or the pressure that the manager was under. I was busy concentrating on enjoying my time as a Manchester United football player and doing my best for the team and the support. I, personally, never felt at any time that the boss was under any pressure or the fear that the sack was around the corner.

We defeated Forest and went all the way to Wembley. I had a feeling I was going to play because I had played in just about every game that season. When we won the semi-final against Oldham, I remember talking to Mark Robins and saying to him what a great chance we had to play in an FA Cup Final.

I was 99% sure I was going to play. To be honest, I would have been really shocked and disappointed if I had not played. We had a team meeting on the Friday afternoon in the hotel and that is when he named the team. We all knew when we got on the bus on the Saturday for the trip to Wembley who was going to be playing which was the right thing to do for a Cup Final anyway.

The boss was always the same with his pre match instructions and team talk. He would tell us plenty about the players we were playing against. I was up against Andy Gray, so he told me all I needed to know about how to play against him. He told me to stay tight because Andy was very quick. He told us collectively as a group, and me personally, to go out and enjoy the occasion, express yourself, and do not be frightened to have a go. It was always the same type of instructions. I felt like I was ready to go out and enjoy the game, but I knew if I did anything wrong, I certainly would know about it!

He told us not to be frightened, to get a hold of the ball and try different things. For the Saturday game we travelled down on the Wednesday and stayed in a hotel in London. We had a couple of noticeably light training sessions in London which mainly concentrated on set-pieces. This was done just to make sure everybody knew what each other’s jobs were in any given situation.

I was terrified! To be very frank I was terrified that whole time during the build-up to the game! When I was stood in the tunnel and then started taking the first steps to walk out, that is when you can see the crowd and hear the crowd. It was a beautiful sunny day that day and I remember, just as I reached the concrete walkway to take us to the pitch, my stomach turned upside down. I was so nervous!

Back then the FA Cup final was probably the biggest game in the world watched by millions of people all over the world; it was by far the biggest football match in the world. That pressure and that expectation, and the pressure of the manager as well, it just left me feeling terrified. I had to try and deal with it in the same manner that I did when I walked out at Old Trafford in front of 60,000 people. When I look back on that time now it was the best thing I ever did in football was walking out of that tunnel, it was absolutely incredible!

What followed was an incredible game. We needed a Mark Hughes equaliser in extra-time to force a replay and I remember feeling relieved to get a replay. You must remember we were the favourites going into the game, but Palace had a good side back then with some exceptionally good players including Ian Wright who was a top-class striker. I think if he had started the game, we may have been in a bit of trouble but, thankfully for us, we managed to take the game to a replay.

After the game we stayed in London and then travelled back up to Manchester on the coach. We came back down to stay in the same hotel on the Wednesday ahead of the replay on the Thursday night. We trained on the Wednesday evening, and then the manager told us the team in a meeting after training and, obviously, the big shock came when we all found out that Jim Leighton had been dropped. I think that was Sir Alex’s first big decision to make and, as it turned out, it was probably the best decision.

It shocked us all, we just presumed he was going to play. He must have already told Jim because he was walking out of the meeting room as we were all walking in. You could see that he was raging! The boss sat us all down and told us that Les Sealey, who was on a month’s loan from Luton, was going to start in goal. It was fantastic for him! Les was a big character. He was fantastic to have around the dressing-room. He must have thought that all his Christmases were coming at once.

He was superb in the game and made one or two particularly important saves and justified his selection. I personally, did not console Jim, but I know a couple of the senior players did attempt to speak with Jim but, sadly, he was not having any of it, which is completely understandable. I do not recall speaking to him after the game and I also do not recall him being about the place for much longer after that.

I can completely understand that because it must have been so difficult for Jim. Les attempted to give him his medal but Jim had the grace to decline the offer. To be honest, if that had happened to me, I would have reacted the same way.

Apart from this change, the manager did nothing different in preparation. We were a little bit better prepared for who we were going to play against because, obviously, we had only played them a few days before.

It turned out to be a completely different game on the Thursday night. There was not as much pressure in the replay because that all came in the first game I believe. I was so much more relaxed for the replay than I was for the first game, but I think I had a better game on the Saturday than I did on the Thursday. I have watched the game back a few times and I did OK, but I do not think I played as well as I did on the Saturday. The game was a scrappy affair; there were not that many good chances in the game but, thankfully, the one good chance in the game fell to me.

I was absolutely knackered. I wanted to stay on the edge of my box because I was absolutely shattered. The next thing I know is I hear Archie Knox screaming at me to get forward, so I just thought to myself that I better do what he is telling me to do.

I could see the ball on the other side of the pitch with Danny Wallace, then it came to Neil Webb and, as I was getting towards the edge of the Palace box, Mark Hughes made a brilliant run across the box to help take the centre-half away. That left a huge space for me so I just thought to myself that I will attack the space and see what develops.

I then looked up and I could see that Neil had pinged a ball towards me and into my path; I chested the ball down. I thought I’d handled it and that the referee would blow for handball and give Palace a free-kick but, because I did not hear anything, I just remember thinking to myself: “hit it”.

Just as I struck the ball I got cramp in my right calf, I just wanted to get my foot through it and, thankfully, I was able to do that and I saw it fly into the top corner. The next thing I know all the lads have jumped on top of me and here’s me lying at the bottom of a heap of bodies in agony with cramp. I was shouting at them all to get me off me! That was an unbelievable feeling when I saw the ball go in.

I remember Bryan Robson slapping my face because he thought I had knocked myself out, but I was trying to tell him I had cramp! It was Robbo that picked me up and told me I was alright and to keep going. It then dawned on me as I was running back into position that there was nearly 30 minutes left to play and I was going to struggle with my cramp. Whenever I watch the game back, I can see what an absolute nightmare I had for the remainder of the game.

I knew it was going to be a struggle. I remember thinking to myself that if I was the one to score the winner in the FA Cup Final there is no way I am going off the park with cramp. To be honest with you, I have no idea how I got through it as I was convinced the boss was going to sub me off as I remember the lads warming up on the track beside me. Palace played a couple of good balls in behind me and they nearly scored but, thankfully, Les was able to make one or two important saves. Bryan Robson covered me a couple of times so, if I’m being brutally honest, I got away with it!

It probably hit me on the train journey home. Everybody was there and the cup was being passed around so everybody could have their picture taken with the trophy. It was such a massive achievement for me to not just play in the biggest game in the world twice, if you take the replay into consideration, but to score the winning goal was incredible, not too many people can say that which is very special for me.

If you had asked me what my ambition was in football, I would have told you to play in the FA Cup Final. It is a little bit different now because most players want to play in the Champions League Final but, back then, everybody wanted to play in the FA Cup.

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Lee was in conversation with Ally Begg. You can read the full interview on Ally’s website where Lee talks more about his early days, the 89/90 season, and his career after United.