Ashley Young has revealed that there were tears in the Manchester United dressing room when Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement in 2013.
The story has been told by former United players in the past, but each player has their own account, so it was great to see Young on Monday Night Football this week.
I’m now a strong advocate for giving the likes more air time.
Young spoke in detail about playing for United between 2011-2020. The best manager he played under, Sir Alex Ferguson, had a big role to play in his career after signing him from Aston Villa before the winger would go on to win the Premier League in 2012/13.
The former England international recalled the emotional day in May 2013 when Ferguson called a meeting in the United dressing room to inform the players of the news that would impact their careers massively.
Speaking as a special guest on Sky Sports after United’s 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Monday night, Young said: “We obviously knew his wife’s sister wasn’t well. I can think back to the day he came in the dressing room and the boss never really had a meeting with us in our dressing room and he called a meeting and everyone was like ‘something’s not right here’.
“We were driving in and people were talking to each other and we were saying things seem a bit odd. We heard things on the radio when we were driving in.”
While the players understood Ferguson’s decision, they were unable to hold back the emotions.
Ferguson also took the time to apologise to some of the players he signed that had recently joined the club.
Young added: “When he came in and he explained his reason of course everyone understood it fully and you knew why he was having to step aside.
“How everyone’s got that respect for him, there were tears in the dressing room because of him leaving and players had been with him for so long. Even players that had just come in, he apologised to a couple of players that had just been signed.
“It was tough to take, it was tough to handle but everyone knew the decision why he took it.”
Young stayed at United after Ferguson’s departure until 2020 and added the FA Cup, the Europa League and the League Cup to his honours list.
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