Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed how he played a joke on Big Sam, who had treated him to a bottle of fine red wine.

‘My 25th year at United, Sam Allardyce bought me a 1986 [Chateau] Latour, the year I came to United,’ he told the Telegraph.

‘His kit manager gave it to me on the Saturday morning, and I said, “I’m going to play a trick here”, so I opened it up and put a bottle of Ribena in‘So Sam comes in after the game and I say, “Thanks very much for the wine, Sam, it’s really very generous of you”. He said, “Well, you go home and enjoy that”. I said, “No, I want to share it with you”. So I open it up and I go, “What’s this, Sam?” ‘He bolts out that door, honestly, like a wild man, screaming for his kit manager. And when he came back in I had the bottle opened and I was pouring the glasses. It was a fantastic moment. I had to get him.’