Sir Alex Ferguson excuse for Manchester United ditching grey kit at Southampton not a complete shock -

Football excuses don't get much bigger than Manchester United changing their kit at half-time against Southampton.

On April 13, 1996, the Red Devils travelled to The Dell, having won 11 of their previous 12 Premier League games to overhaul Newcastle at the top of the table.

But relegation threatened Saints produced a memorable performance against a seemingly unstoppable United.

Southampton went 3-0 up thanks to goals from Ken Monkou, Neil Shipperley and Matt Le Tissier.

But the game is famous for an angry Sir Alex Ferguson making his team change from their grey kits at the break as he claimed it was making it difficult for his players to see each other in the bright sunshine.

United changed to a blue and white kit, but that still couldn’t inspire them to a comeback as they lost 3-1.

"The players don't like the grey strip," manager Ferguson said at the time. "The players couldn't pick each other out. They said it was difficult to see their team-mates at distance when they lifted their heads. It was nothing to do with superstition.”

Last season, Le Tissier joined talkSPORT Breakfast on the 25th anniversary of the occasion and admitted he didn’t realise Man United had changed their kit until after the game.

“Manchester United were top of the league and we were in not very good form,” he told talkSPORT.

“3-0 up at half-time and not only that, everybody had one of those halves where every single Southampton player played to the best of his ability.

“It was not a freak 3-0 scoreline as we deserved to be that far in front.

“I’m not sure I actually realised at the time that they changed their shirts for the second half," he recalled.

“I think I only realised after the game when a reporter in the car park - we didn’t really have press conferences in those days - and I’m sure one of them came up to me and said ‘what do you think about Man United changing their shirts at half-time?’

“I’m pretty sure I looked at him and said ‘did they?’”

When asked about Ferguson’s half-time shirt swap, Le Tissier said he was not surprised.

“I thought it was a little bit disingenuous of Fergie. It deflected away from a very good Southampton performance that day.

“Nobody looks back and says ‘oh, didn’t Southampton play well’. They go ‘what about Fergie changing the shirts at half-time?’

“I understand that managers will do and say things to deflect away from the team’s performance and it wasn’t a complete shock that an excuse was made why the great Manchester United were smashed by a lowly Southampton.”

Gary Neville, who played for United that day, said it wasn't quite as simple as his boss deciding to change tact, explaining it was more to do with science.

A vision specialist called Gail Stephenson from Liverpool University would come in twice a week to the club, he explained to the Quickly Kevin podcast.

"She actually said to Sir Alex - this was the detail that he would go into - 'imagine you've got this crowd behind you, there are colours that you can see quicker than others and that stand out more than others’.

Read More on talkSPORT