Donald Trump drawing Manchester United away against Leeds United in the quarter-finals of the Rumbelows Cup led Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side to win the first of their six League Cup trophies.

United were the last team to come out, with Trump confirming their fate after Jimmy Greaves revealed that their rivals would be the home team. The two teams were already due to play each other at Elland Road in the FA Cup third round and would meet in West Yorkshire before both cup ties for a First Division fixture over the festive period.

“You don’t realise what you’ve done,” is how Greaves reacted. Trump remarked: “That’s a biggy; that sounds like the type of game I want to go to.”

That concluded the draw, which took place in New York at Trump Tower as part of the television show Saint and Greavsie. As the late Ian St John explained in an interview with the Guardian in 2016, before Trump won that year’s presidential election, “The plan was to do an interview [with Trump].”

That opportunity came about after an encounter between the pair and his English secretary while seeking permission to film at Trump’s hotel. They were in the United States for the 1994 World Cup qualifying draw and asked Trump to get involved with them in deciding the League Cup quarter-finals after a chance encounter with his English secretary.

St John explained, “He agreed, even though he clearly knew nothing about football.” Trump was right that it was a “biggy,” though, with United beating their rivals 3-1 in early January.

They then overcame Middlesbrough in a two-legged semi-final, with an extra-time winner sealing their place in the final against Nottingham Forest. Brian McClair scored the only goal at Wembley Stadium as United won the League Cup for the first time.