A potted history of guards of honour in England includes Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard having a dig at Chelsea, and Sir Alex Ferguson bullying his players.
The year: 1955
The honoured: Chelsea
The honourers: Manchester United
The reason: Chelsea’s first title win
It was Matt Busby who orchestrated the first known example of a guard of honour in top-flight English football and unwittingly started this curious obsession. Chelsea captain Roy Bentley later recalled that he “made sure we got the full red-carpet treatment” at Stamford Bridge in the final game of the season, the legendary manager even eulogising the Blues in the matchday programme.
Bentley went on to score in a 2-1 defeat to United, who finished five points behind in fifth. Busby’s side won the title in both the next two seasons, presumably powered by shame.
The year: 1974
The honoured: Leeds
The honourers: QPR
The reason: Leeds’ second First Division title
Liverpool losing 1-0 at home to Arsenal confirmed that the wonderful Don Revie would have a championship to show for his final season in charge of Leeds, and QPR were happy to pay tribute to one of the most dominant teams of the era.
Allan Clarke capped the club’s stellar campaign with the only goal in west London, before those title medals were consigned to the biggest dustbin the players could find.
The year: 1979
The honoured: Liverpool
The honourers: Leeds
The reason: A third Liverpool title in four years
It might be that Liverpool were toasted by the opposition for their exploits in 1973, 1976, 1977 and beyond, but the only official record is of Leeds upholding tradition and paying their respects to a team that would reign as European champions for only two more weeks in 1979.
Liverpool thanked them by securing a 3-0 win at Elland Road that set two unbroken top-flight records: most points in a top-flight season with two for a win (68); and fewest goals conceded in a 42-game campaign (16).
The year: 1991
The honoured: Arsenal
The honourers: Manchester United
The reason: Winning the First Division title (and thus stopping Liverpool)
Alex Ferguson had a Cup Winners’ Cup final against Barcelona to prepare for nine days later but was never likely to miss an opportunity to recognise greatness and humble his players.
It is unknown whether he would have been quite so keen had it not been Liverpool who Arsenal won the title at the expense of. But the Reds slipping to defeat earlier in the day against Nottingham Forest meant Manchester United lined up to applaud the champions at Highbury before Alan Smith scored a decisive hat-trick.
The year: 2003
The honoured: Manchester United
The honourers: Everton
The reason: Manchester United recapturing the title
David Moyes getting Everton to give Manchester United a guard of honour at Goodison Park is the least surprising thing to have ever happened.
The year: 2005
The honoured: Chelsea
The honourers: Manchester United
The reason: Chelsea’s first Premier League title
‘I had no intention of surrendering to Abramovich’s wealth in the months to come,’ wrote Sir Alex Ferguson in his 2013 autobiography of the time he ordered his players to assemble and welcome England’s new champions to Old Trafford. Chelsea returned the favour by coming from behind to win and set a new Premier League points record of 94, which they would extend with a draw at Newcastle – who also provided a guard of honour – on the final day.
Phil Neville later recalled that “it was almost like Sir Alex enjoyed it” and “it was almost like a motivation for the season after to make sure that it didn’t happen again”. Chelsea retained the title and poor PNev was sold in between.
The year: 2007
The honoured: Manchester United
The honourers: Chelsea
The reason: Manchester United winning their first Premier League title in four years
While Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy were in the starting line-up which gave Chelsea a guard of honour two years prior, neither Ferguson nor Jose Mourinho picked full-strength teams when the Blues offered that same courtesy at Stamford Bridge in 2007.
We did at least get the sight of John Terry clapping Kieran Lee, Chris Eagles and Dong Fangzhuo onto the pitch before a 0-0 draw. Yet that somehow isn’t the most embarrassing guard of honour involving Chelsea’s Captain, Leader, Legend.
The year: 2011
The honoured: Manchester United
The honourers: Blackpool
The reason: Manchester United’s title win
A cagey 1-1 draw against Blackburn in the previous game had delivered what remains Manchester United’s penultimate Premier League title. Blackpool needed an unlikely win at Old Trafford to preserve their top-flight status on the final day and even took a brief 2-1 lead through Charlie Adam and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, but eventually lost 4-2 to a team that had dropped two points at home all season.
It was a given that Ian Holloway would get his players to pay tribute before the game.
The year: 2013
The honoured: Manchester United
The honourers: Arsenal
The reason: The little boy within Robin van Persie
One of the most memorable instances of a weirdly popular genre. Absolutely the most awkward and compelling, as Arsenal stood in orderly fashion to welcome England’s new champions to a soundtrack of boos that built to a crescendo as Robin van Persie was the last United player to walk out, later scoring a penalty on his return to north London.
“I want the traditions of English football to be respected,” said Arsene Wenger. “That is what great clubs should do,” said Ferguson. “**** off you ******* ******** ************ Marouane Chamakh wannabe ******* ********,” said the Arsenal fans.
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The year: 2015
The honoured: Chelsea
The honourers: Liverpool, West Brom and Chelsea
The reason: Chelsea’s fourth Premier League title
Even though Mourinho pointed out that “it’s a bit artificial” if “some of them don’t want to be there and they are just there because somebody tells them to be there”, Brendan Rodgers ensured the manners of his Liverpool players did not slip in 2015.
Steven Gerrard admitted “it wasn’t nice doing it” but did spare a word or nine for the Chelsea fans who had taunted him all game before partaking in a standing ovation upon his 79th-minute substitution: “Nice of them to turn up today for once.”
The year: 2016
The honoured: Leicester
The honourers: Everton and Chelsea
The reason: Leicester had won the sodding title
With Tottenham only managing a draw against Chelsea in Mark Clattenburg’s directorial debut, the miracle was complete. Leicester were Premier League champions and had two games – home and away – to bask in that glory.
First was Everton at the King Power Stadium, who duly rolled over in a 3-1 defeat. Then came the team Leicester had replaced on the throne, as Chelsea marked their worst season in a generation by applauding the Foxes on at Stamford Bridge and letting Danny Drinkwater score to secure his fondest memory at a stadium he would soon technically call his own for five entire years.
The year: 2017
The honoured: Chelsea
The honourers: Watford and Sunderland
The reason: Chelsea’s fifth Premier League title
Chelsea, much as Manchester United, seem to do it because they know the roles will be reversed soon enough. That came to pass the following year when Antonio Conte guided them to the summit with two games to spare, both of which Watford and Sunderland marked appropriately at Stamford Bridge.
The year: 2018
The honoured: Manchester City
The honourers: Swansea, West Ham, Huddersfield and Brighton
The reason: Manchester City’s third Premier League title
There was no time for a guard of honour in either 2012 or 2014, with both titles won on the final day. So Manchester City decided to claim their third Premier League trophy with five games left, the first four of which were honoured by Swansea, West Ham, Huddersfield and Brighton. But not Southampton, as Mark Hughes explained:
“I did ask about if we were going to do that but they said they were going to have a line of flags, kits and guys from the academy so we thought that was more appropriate but it wasn’t a sign of disrespect from ourselves – absolutely not.”
A sign of disrespect? From the king of the non-handshake? Absolutely not indeed.