"I'm only 21-years-old and I said 'Yes, Mr Busby, I would like to join you' and with that I went back home."
LUFC Matchday Magazine, 25th October 1998 v Chelsea
Few players have had better goalpoaching instincts than Allan Clarke. He plied his trade with Leeds United for nine years from 1969 when he scored 151 goals in 364 appearances.
But few will realise that 'Sniffer' Clarke could have taken his goalscoring talents to the United of Manchester, not Leeds. The fact that he didn't, he puts down to the hand of fate.
"I have always been a great believer in that," Allan says. "I actually agreed to sign for Manchester United but I ended up not doing so and I think you can say I made the right decision I certainly think I did," he added.
Allan was a promising 21 -year-old playing with Fulham back in 1968 where his goalscoring ability - he totted up 45 goals in 85 appearances for the Craven Cottage club -impressed sufficiently to bring the then Old Trafford manager Matt Busby and his assistant jimmy Murphy to London in search of Clarke's signature.
"I met Matt Busby in London and I can remember him getting off the train at King's Cross and pointing to me to get into the taxi. I did that and they both joined me and Matt told the taxi driver to drive around London.
"He told me Manchester United were going to win the championship that year and that they would win the European Cup the following season and that he wanted me to sign for them.
"I'm only 21-years-old and I said 'Yes, Mr Busby, I would like to join you' and with that I went back home."
At that time Clarke had been selected to play for the England Under-23s against the England side at Highbury and he was then told that Leicester had come in and matched the £150,000 offer made by Manchester United.
"I agreed to meet Matt Gillies who was then manager at Leicester. Sometimes when you meet someone for the first time you know instantly that you like the fella and that was the case with Matt Gillies. So I signed for Leicester.
"I rang Matt Busby to tell him I had joined Leicester and he said 'Fair enough' and wished me all the best," Allan recalled.
"I could have been part of the Manchester United side when they won the European Cup at Wembley but I elected to join Leicester. But as I have said I have always been a great believer in fate and if Matt Gillies had not resigned in my first season at Filbert Street and been succeeded by Frank O'Farrell I might never have ended up at Leeds. I was not happy at Leicester once Matt Gillies had gone.
"Leeds came in for me and I joined them and when I looked back at the situation as it was then, Leeds United were on the 'up' and Manchester United were on the downward path so I'm sure I chose the right club in the long run."
For the second time in just over a year Clarke had figured in a British record transfer deal.
After the £150,000 Leicester paid Fulham for him, United manager Don Revie had to increase the record by paying £165,000 to bring Clarke to Elland Road.
So began the most successful period of Clarke's career He developed a great striking partnership - and friendship - with Mick Jones, who Revie had recruited from Sheffield United in September 1967. Jones' hard running, energetic and totally unselfish style was the ideal foil for the silky skills of Clarke and the two of them proved to be an outstanding force.
Mick, of course, was no slouch when it came to scoring goals himself and in all for United, he made 312 first team appearances in League and Cup games and hit 111 goals.
United's association with Clarke, who scored the goal that brought the FA Cup to Elland Road in 1972 to beat Arsenal at Wembley, the player ended in the summer of 1978.
He joined Barnsley as player manager and brought the Tykes promotion from Division Four, putting them into shape for a tilt at getting back to the Second Division before United turned to him to succeed Jimmy Adamson as manager in September 1980.
Unfortunately, as United were striving to rebuild and become a force again, Clarke could not bring his former club the
success they craved and after they went down to the Second Division in 1982, Clarke was not given any time to rebuild
and Eddie Gray was appointed as his successor.
But Clarke's love for the Elland Road club has never diminished and he admits today: "I still love Leeds United."
Although he had a spell in management with Scunthorpe and then returned to Barnsley, Clarke now earns his living outside football, working for the Wakefield based plant hire company MTS Nationwide, and is happy to do so.
But no one can take away the happy memories of his days as a player with United. "I will always have a big soft spot for the club and I get back there to watch them a few times every season." he said.