In July 1993, with South Africa preparing to mark the end of the 48-year apartheid era, ourselves and Manchester United were both invited to Johannesburg to participate in the United Bank International Soccer Festival.
The four-way tournament, which also included Johannesburg’s two premier teams - Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs - and excitement was evident as the organisers had pulled off a major coup by securing the inaugural Premier League champions as well as ourselves, who had lifted both domestic cups in 1992/93.
The games took place at the legendary Ellis Park which was packed to the rafters, and the atmosphere during the Arsenal v United clash was raucous. “For the first time ever, I heard the vuvuzelas, which of course became famous when South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup. It was a constant background noise,” recalled winger Anders Limpar. “There were drummers in the crowd, which is also something you don’t often get in English football.”
On the field, two Ian Wright penalties – dispatched past Peter Schmeichel with customary aplomb – were enough to secure a 2-0 win against Alex Ferguson’s team.
The standout memory though for both the Gunners and Red Devils players was the opportunity to meet with anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, who’d been released from prison in 1990, having served the majority of his 27-year sentence on the infamous Robben Island.
After he walked onto the pitch to rapturous applause, the players shook his hand, and some also met him afterwards. Roy Keane, having just joined United from Nottingham Forest, later described meeting Mandela as “one of the coolest things that happened to me at United,” while Kevin Campbell recalled that Mandela had “an excellent knowledge of English football, and that he liked the fact that Arsenal in particular had been so successful with a team of both black and white players.”
We would complete the competition with a 100% record, as an Alan Smith header was enough to beat the Pirates, while Campbell was on hand to nod home the winner against the Kaiser Chiefs.
In the following year, Mandela became the first president of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999, and played a major role in South Africa winning the vote to host the 2010 World Cup. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.
After returning from South Africa, Arsenal and Manchester United met once again in the Charity Shield at Wembley. Despite dispatching a fantastic shot past Schmeichel from just outside the box in the 1-1 draw with United, Wright couldn’t replicate the precision he’d displayed at Ellis Park in the penalty shootout, firing his penalty wide as George Graham’s side lost 5-4 on spot-kicks.
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