People bitter about Manchester United’s treble in 1999: Andy Cole | Football News – Times of India

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s award-winning museum at Old Trafford has a special section dedicated to the 1998-99 season when the club won three trophies to become the first team to win the Treble in England.
The Treble section takes up a whole corridor. You walk through it and the enormity of the triumph cannot be missed. There are the three trophies (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League), Teddy Sheringham’s shirt from the epic Champions League final, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s boots, match ball, travel documents, commentary notes, even champagne glass that was passed around VIP areas while celebrating Bayern Munich’s win, before United dramatically turned it around with two late goals in one of the club’s most famous matches of all time.
“It’s very difficult to achieve what we did, and there’s a reason why nearly 25 years on, nobody has done it,” former striker Andy Cole told TOI at the end of Apollo Tyres’ ‘Road to Old Trafford’ initiative.
“There is a possibility that someone else will do, but if they do it, it’s taken 25 years.” Cole scored a record 34 goals for Newcastle United during the 1993-94 season.
A year later, he moved to United where he won five Premier League titles which included the 1998-99 campaign that is now part of football folklore, with United winning an unprecedented treble. Cole’s goal-scoring record that stood for almost 30 years has been broken by Erling Haaland who set new standards while headlining Manchester City’s amazing run.
This weekend, United’s exclusive treble triumph is also in danger, but the man who played for both rival clubs believes United deserve more respect than big-spending City.
“A lot of people who are comparing are little bit bitter to what Manchester United achieved in 1999. You look at the eras and what we spent, and how long it’s taken. You look at the international players from the respective teams; the 1999 United team had six-seven players from the academy.
“If you look at what Man City spent to get to this position, and how many players they have from the academy, I don’t think that’s one that starts. I think lack of respect is being shown to we achieving something so special nearly 25 years ago,” said Cole.

“Any team which finds itself in that position, people say ‘they’ll do the treble’. But when they don’t do it, there’s no mention. It’s like everyone’s desperate for someone to knock United off to be the only team to win the Treble. A lot of people are not fond of what Manchester United have achieved,” said Cole.