’73-Cap England Team-mate Refused to Speak to me for Six Months’

The rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal entered its latest chapter on Sunday, as the two Premier League giants kicked off the new season with an entertaining display at Old Trafford, with Riccardo Calafiori scoring the only goal of the game for the visitors.

While it was another spectacle between two of England’s biggest teams, the opening head-to-head of the 2025/26 season fell short of a classic and did not match the intensity of meetings around two decades ago when both clubs were battling for the Premier League’s top spot.

Whether it was the title battles of the late 1990s or the intense contests of the early 2000s, meetings between Arsenal and Man United were among the most gripping in English football, with former Red Devils striker Wayne Rooney often at the heart of them.

Rooney recently looked back on a memorable clash with Arsenal in 2004, when United ended the Gunners’ historic 49-game unbeaten run and sparked a dramatic reaction from one of his England team-mates at the time.

Sol Campbell Refused to Speak to Rooney

Rooney, speaking on the Wayne Rooney Show, revealed that former Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell refused to speak to him for more than six months following Man United’s win over the Gunners in 2004.

Campbell reportedly believed Rooney had dived to win the penalty that ended Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run and refused to speak to Rooney during England duty:

Arsenal’s remarkable 49-game unbeaten streak spanned from May 2003 to October 2004, starting at the end of 2002/03 and running through the entire 2003/04 campaign, when the Gunners completed the full Premier League season without a loss.

While Arsenal managed to recover following their 2-0 defeat to Man United, their inconsistency later in the 2004/05 season, including eight draws and five defeats, prevented them from retaining the title, as they finished second, 12 points behind Chelsea.

Man United, meanwhile, came third behind the two London clubs, six points behind Arsenal.

Rooney and Campbell, who won 73 international caps, shared the pitch on 15 occasions as England teammates, with five games occurring after United’s 2-0 win over Arsenal in October 2004.

Their final game together took place in October 2007, when England lost 2-1 to Russia in Euro 2008 qualifying and ultimately missed out on the tournament.