Giggsy by Frank Worrall

Author:Frank Worrall [Frank Worrall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782196563
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2013-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

FROM RUSSIA (WITH LOVE)

In his autobiography, published way back in 2005, Ryan begins by telling the tale of how he was so high on emotion and adrenaline after he collected his first Champions League winner’s medal in 1999 that he ended up punching the chairman’s son! It happened at the tail end of an all-night party at the upmarket hotel where United were staying.

The Reds had, of course, just beaten Bayern Munich in one of the greatest comebacks in the sport at the Camp Nou. Losing 1-0 with two minutes to go against a German team that had dominated the match, United somehow hauled themselves back into the game and triumphed with two injury-time goals from substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Was it any wonder Ryan acted so dramatically out of character that night? The night he admitted in Giggs: The Autobiography that he was early on ‘worse for wear’ and later ‘bladdered’. The night he clashed with James Edwards, son of then United supremo Martin Edwards, over something and nothing. The night he ended up with a broken nose and the mother of all hangovers.

There is a feeling among Ryan’s friends that something was bound to blow that night – although they would never have expected it to end in violence, which was totally out of character for Giggs – because he was United through and through, a lifelong fan, as well as arguably the club’s greatest-ever servant, and thus felt the weight of history lifting not just off his shoulders but his club’s too.

It really was that massive a breakthrough. Just as in 1968, when United had finally made Matt Busby’s dream come true (and his life complete, with redemption, as he saw it, for the Munich tragedy) by winning the European Cup for the first time, so the boys of ’99 ended another drought by bringing the trophy back to Old Trafford for the first time since that 1968 victory.

Ryan would later admit that it felt as if they could finally lay to rest the ghosts of the past just as the likes of Georgie Best and Bobby Charlton had done by winning the trophy for the first time. There was also the little matter of the Treble – the win against Bayern saw United attain what no English club had ever achieved (and has not since) – the magnificent treble of Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup.

So it was little wonder the team’s celebrations turned a little rowdy as they let off steam after making history for Manchester United FC. Inevitably, given the ever-evolving nature of the game and the fact that the next Champions League triumph would not take 31 years to achieve (it took just nine, in fact), the celebrations after the win over Chelsea in Moscow, on 21 May 2008, were rather more muted and restrained. Certainly there were no punch-ups or broken noses! Maybe a nose or two out of joint (John Terry’s in particular after his penalty-miss blunder), but no bones damaged.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.