Steve Bruce was all in at the beginning of modern-day Manchester United's rise to success - in every sense.
The gritty defender will always be remembered for the pair of headers against Sheffield Wednesday in April 1993, which catapulted United to their first Premier League title of the Sir Alex Ferguson era triggering over two decades of glory for the club.
Yet 30 months before that momentous day Bruce, now manager at West Brom, was unwittingly involved in another 'first' - the infamous 1990 pitch brawl that started, arguably, football's most bitter on-pitch rivalry between United and Arsenal.
The fall-out from that day of Manchester mayhem cost Arsenal two points and United one as the FA fined them £50,000 each and took the unprecedented step of deducting points from both sides - something never repeated before or since.
The teams meet again at Old Trafford this Sunday and it's fair to say that almost 32 years on the fiery heat has left a contest that was once so toxic it should have come with an X-rating.
The Battle of Old Trafford as it became known spawned Pizza-Gate, Martin Keown's infamous taunting of Ruud van Nistelrooy after a missed penalty and the blockbuster of them all - a tunnel clash between Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira which is as riveting to watch to this day
And that's before you get to Ferguson's bare-knuckle feud with Arsene Wenger, a conflict that made Antonio Conte's recent spat with Thomas Tuchel as menacing as a kindergarten spat over crayons.
Mention of the 1990 tear-up brought a chuckle from Bruce when we spoke at West Brom's training ground.
"I remember the incident, of course, but I’d completely forgotten we both had points deducted so I suppose that shows how seriously the authorities took it.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Arsenal keep their unbeaten run going at the expense of Man United? Comment below
"I wasn't in the thick of the initial action but I’m not sure you'd call me a peacemaker either," laughs Bruce as he recalls Nigel Winterburn's reckless tackle on Denis Irwin sparking a violent 21-man free-for-all that got players and both clubs heavily fined.
"There's no doubt about it, though, it was the start of that great rivalry between the two teams that stretched through the 90s and into the 2000s when both United and Arsenal were title contenders.
"Everyone knew we had to win the league at the start of the Fergie era and Arsenal were there to be beaten like Liverpool. When George left the rivalry was stoked between Sir Alex and Arsene and that continued things on and took it to an even higher level.
"Now, of course, they have huge mutual respect but when they were fighting for titles they were both at each other and it made it the spectacle it was. To be honest I quite enjoyed that day! Fergie certainly had no problem with us fighting Arsenal I can assure you.
"His only regret was that he probably wasn’t in the middle of it because I’m sure he wanted to be! No one wants to see things go too far but in dressing rooms, if a teammate is in trouble you make sure you defend one another and you do that as a team.
"That was all to do with Fergie's personality and probably George Graham too. Two fiercely competitive Scotsmen who wanted their teams to mirror them and that was pretty evident to see on that day.
"We've seen that recently with Conte and Tuchel it's great to watch it of course it is. It makes the headlines for a start but I think people like to see passion and that it means something to players and managers.
"Maybe it was a bit over the top. When everyone gets involved it’s usually handbags - no one usually throws punches although there might have been a few that day! Looking back it got out of hand but it's because the rivalry between both sets of players was so intense.
"We wanted to win so did they and it spilt over. For football fans, there's nothing wrong with that and we have to maintain that kind of passion. And I think Sir Alex's only regret - apart from us losing 1-0 - was that he wasn't in the middle of it! He'd have liked that I'm sure.
"He certainly didn't rollock us because he expected us to fight for each other, maybe not literally, but he wanted us to show spirit and unity. Maybe people might say that kind of thing shouldn't happen and you have to be careful what you were doing but we enjoyed it!
"I think it shows you care for what you are doing a little bit and the fans always love to see that kind of passion. When everyone gets involved it's usually handbags - no one usually throws punches although there might have been a few that day!
"Looking back it got out of hand and maybe it went over the top but it's because the rivalry between both sets of players was so intense. We wanted to win so did they and it spilt over.
"The thing about that game was that the video footage was just coming in so there were more cameras around the ground than there had been before and you couldn't get away with anything."
