Given that Sir Alex Ferguson won five FA Cup trophies during his time with Manchester United, it is clear that the stern Scotsman took the competition seriously. Only Arsene Wenger and George Ramsay have won the cup on more occasions, and more often than not, United would go deep in the competition - even if they didn't always triumph in the end.
As United boss, he enjoyed success in the domestic competitions. As well as consistently competing for the league title, the Reds were always competitive in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup under Ferguson. Unlike nowadays - when cup competitions can often come behind a title race or a battle for league survival - every match was treated equally in years gone by. Especially under Ferguson.
Ferguson holds several records from his time in charge of United, and his trophy cabinet is full of silverware. Despite his success, not every season was one to shout about and there were sometimes bumps in the road. However, when it came to cup competitions, the Scot had an unrivalled ability to guide his side into the latter stages - and more often than not, the Reds would find themselves among the last remaining sides.
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In his entire career as United manager, Ferguson only failed to make it through the third round of the FA Cup on one occasion. The defeat, which came at home to rivals Leeds United in 2010, often resurfaces whenever the Reds face the Yorkshire outfit. For Leeds fans, though, it's whenever they fancy a laugh at United's expense.
When the two sides met in the third round of the FA Cup, they were still bitter rivals. Yet, when Leeds arrived at Old Trafford, they were two divisions and 42 league places behind the Reds. United were perennial challengers in the Premier League, contesting in Europe and looking to bring multiple trophies back to Manchester. The Whites, meanwhile, were fighting for promotion from League One.
It was - on paper - only going to go one way. But as the great saying goes...
United had made changes to their starting line-up, but Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Gary Neville were all still playing, and Ferguson's side should have been strong enough to overcome their opponents. Nevertheless, Leeds were backed by a large travelling support from West Yorkshire - all of whom were desperate to see Simon Grayson's side upset their cross-Pennine rivals.
The Reds had been impressive in the Premier League ahead of the FA Cup clash, so it came as no surprise that the much-changed side took some time to settle in the clash. The home side had enjoyed more of the ball in the opening 15 minutes, but it was the Yorkshire outfit who struck first, and well.
When Danny Welbeck lost possession inside the visitors' half, Jonny Howson launched a long ball over the top of the United defence for star striker Jermaine Beckford to chase. The English striker got half a yard on Wes Brown - who replaced Nemanja Vidic after he was injured in the warm-up - and despite his first touch being slightly heavy, Reds goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was slow to react and the Leeds man turned the ball into the United net.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion, but as the Pole raced out, and Beckford's effort trickled in, Old Trafford rocked to the celebrations of 9,000 travelling fans from Leeds.
United, despite their best efforts, and the use of all available substitutions, were unable to find a way back into the tie. Given their title aspirations and European hopes, an early exit from one of the domestic competitions wasn't seen as the worst thing that could have happened to the Reds, but for Ferguson - having just lost in the third round for the first time in his career - it was inexcusable.
The Scot was critical of his players, and insisted that they did not deserve to win the game. However, it was referee Chris Foy who received the majority of his rage - with the official coming under intense criticism from the Reds manager.
Ferguson was furious with the amount of added time Foy played - slamming the decision to only award five minutes as "an insult to the game and the players out there".
"The ref gave five minutes of injury time," said Ferguson. "That was an insult to game and to the players out there. You need luck and Leeds got it."
The Reds boss also went in on his players, admitting that he was shocked by the performance that his players gave. It was clear that the Scot, while furious with the referee, was also incensed with his squad.
"I didn't expect that," he said. "I was shocked at the performance. Human beings can always surprise you, but we didn't expect that today.
"I don't think any of the players can say they had a good day. Only Antonio Valencia, when we got the ball to him, but it took us 10 minutes to do that. We never got going and the quality of passing - the whole performance was bad.
"You always expect us to get a goal at Old Trafford, the intensity of the game improved a little bit. We had a lot of chances in the box but we didn't take them."
In fact, Ferguson was so angry with his side after losing to a side two divisions below them that he allegedly banned his players from swapping shirts with the Leeds squad.
Beckford, speaking in 2020, said: "After the game, a couple of the boys had family who were Manchester United fans. They tried to get a couple of shirts from their players and Alex Ferguson said, 'Absolutely not, under no circumstances are you giving any of them your shirts'."
The FA, to the surprise of many, did not believe the United manager's comments about Foy crossed the boundaries of the acceptability, and he faced no charge. However, it would not prove to be the first time that Ferguson would criticise the referee.
In 2012, the Premier League denied that Foy's officiating of a League Two game came as a result of a demotion, which came after the criticism from Ferguson. The Scot blamed the referee for his side's 3-2 defeat to Tottenham - being accused of turning down two clear penalties as well as only playing four minutes of injury time.
Premier League bosses insisted that Foy had not been demoted and backed his Old Trafford performance, but his next outing was a League Two clash between Accrington Stanley and Rochdale.
While United's defeat to Leeds in the FA Cup in 2010 was extremely disappointing, it was, in many ways, forgotten about at the end of the season. Ferguson's men went on to win the League Cup - beating Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley - while also finishing runners-up to Chelsea in the Premier League. It was far from the campaign that everyone was hoping for, but it still ended with a trophy.
Ferguson's relationship with Foy - and officials in general - was sensitive during his reign as United boss, but after the Scot's final game in charge of the Reds, referee Michael Oliver, fourth official Foy and linesmen Ceri Richards and Dave Bryan posed for photographs with him.
He even shared a joke with Foy as he made his way onto the pitch to a guard of honour before United's entertaining 5-5 draw against West Brom. Given that it was Ferguson, the joke was probably about his timekeeping skills.
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