Manchester United have seen a few big-name bans through the years. Rio Ferdinand and Eric Cantona lost months of their careers. That’s nothing compared to Enoch West.
Enoch West’s name went viral in 2023 thanks to Ivan Toney’s ban, which as of the 17th of January 2023 has just been lifted. Toney served eight months – a minuscule amount of time compared to West’s.
West was a Manchester United player more than a century ago and saw his career come to a very abrupt end in controversial circumstances.
Enoch West received a staggering 30-year ban from the Football Association in 1915. He was originally banned for life before his suspension was later repealed.
Why Enoch West was banned
Enoch ‘Knocker’ West was suspended after an FA ban into match-fixing decided he was guilty of offences.
West always protested his innocence but his ban was only lifted in 1945, by which time he was 59 years old and there was no chance of reviving his football career. He died in 1965.
Manchester United signed Enoch West in 1910 from Nottingham Forest, and he went on to score 80 goals in 181 appearances for the club.
West also played a role in winning the league title in his first season, Manchester United’s second of 20 titles, which saw him net 20 goals in 38 games.
“On his day, West is a great player. In style he is above everything, resolute, forceful, and thrusting”, the Hull Daily Mail was quoted in 1910.
It was in December 1915 that West was accused of conspiring with opponents Liverpool for United to win a game held that April by a specific 2-0 scoreline, with a goal in each half, the MEN reported.
As many as eight players were handed lifetime bans. All who admitted their involvement were pardoned after World War One, but West always maintained his innocence and remained banned until 1945, when the suspension was lifted.
A book was published in 2004 titled ‘Free The Manchester United One’, telling the story of West’s fight to clear his name.
He went on to serve during World War One in the British Army as a Corporal, records show.
West ended up losing his career over the scandal, and his fight to protest his innocence. It is a not so well known tale in Manchester United’s history, and a truly fascinating one.
Manchester United’s longest-ever bans, including Eric Cantona
Here are two of the other longest bans Manchester United players have ever served, including the infamous Eric Cantona incident.
Eric Cantona – 9 months
In one of the most famous moments in Premier League history, Cantona was handed a nine-month ban after kung-fu kicking a Crystal Palace fan during a game between the two sides in 1995.
Rio Ferdinand – 8 months
Rio Ferdinand was handed an eight-month ban in 2003 after he missed a drugs test. He was found guilty of misconduct by the FA and then memorably missed England’s Euro 2004 campaign as a result.
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