Football Federation Australia today confirmed the tour which could see the likes of Sydney FC’s Alessandro Del Piero pitted against the current EPL leaders.

Stand-outs from other clubs such as Emile Heskey, Besart Berisha, Marco Rojas and Jeronimo Neumann could all get a run with no word yet on who would coach the team.

And in a unique twist Australian football fans will get the opportunity to select the team that eventually runs out against the English club.

But the player pool could be somewhat diminished with the A-League Roos involved in the East Asian Cup in South Korea at the same time.

The Red Devils last toured in 1999, leaving most of their big names such as David Beckham at home but funding this time is dependent on the English club fielding a star line-up.

Destination NSW is believed to be tipping $3 million into the bucket and has sought assurances the likes of Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand will make the trip down under.

Sir Alex Ferguson will lead the team which will spend six nights in Sydney, include a training camp and opportunities for fans to meet their Manchester heroes.

It is anticipated a sell-out crowd will generate more than 20,000 overnight visitors to Sydney and boost the local economy by about $16 million.

NSW Barry O’Farrell described it as “one of the most exciting games seen in the city for a very long time.

“While there may be a feast of football in June and July… the main course will be this match.”

FFA CEO David Gallop said: “The match will allow the FFA to launch for the first time our all-stars.

“That’s something that the FFA have talked about for a while but wanted to do in a big way and what bigger way to do it than to play against Man United.

“There is a bit of detail to be done around that but the guiding principle will be that our fans will be involved in the selection of the team.”

Former United greats Dwight Yorke and Jesper Olsen were part of the delegation at today’s announcement.

Manchester United travelled to Australia in 1999 off the back of one of the most successful seasons in the club's history.

After winning the treble – Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League – the Red Devils became the most valuable football brand in the world.

In the subsequent Australian tour, organised by colourful stockbroker and entrepreneur Rene Rivkin, United played two matches against a depleted Socceroos winning 2-0 in Melbourne at the MCG in front of just over 71,000 and 1-0 in Sydney in front of a crowd of 78,000 at ANZ (then Stadium Australia).

Yorke scored the winning goal in the harbour city and went on to become the United’s highest goal scorer for the 1999-2000 season, finding the back of the net 24 times.

Seven years later he was Sydney FC’s marquee signing.

The match at the MCG was also the debut of a new United shot stopper, Socceroo Mark Bosnich, now a Fox Sports commentator.

As Yorke told FourFourTwo magazine in 2011: “Bozza had taken the hardest job in football, following Peter Schmeichel.

“I knew Bozza was a big character who was up for the challenge and it was great to have my old Villa team-mate in the team."

Former United player Nicky Butt took up the story: "We had a few good nights out and broke the curfew that had been put on us," grins Butt.

"We stayed out until four in the morning in Sydney at a big casino nightclub called Star City. I was with (Ryan) Giggsy and we were ducking and diving up and down fire escapes so that we didn't get caught going back to our rooms late.

"We got away with it, but Yorkey and Bozzy got caught coming in at five o'clock. They got bollocked."

Overnight United defeated their cross town rival Manchester City 3-2 to give the Red Devils a six point buffer at the top of the EPL league ladder.