Former Manchester United player Paul McGrath claims that Sir Alex Ferguson offered him £100,000 to retire from football during his time at Old Trafford.
One of the top defenders of his time, the former Republic of Ireland star played seven years at United and contributed to the team’s FA Cup victory in 1985.
Yet Ferguson, who aimed to end the drinking culture at Old Trafford, put an end to McGrath’s tenure at United.
McGrath, who represented the Republic of Ireland in two World Cups, declined United’s offer of an early retirement and was subsequently sold to Aston Villa.
In an interview with The Telegraph, McGrath stated:
“Sir Alex got me into the room and just said, ‘we’d like you to stop playing football. Simple as that. And he said they were willing to give me £100,000 to quit playing football altogether and just go back to Ireland.”
“I was thinking about it because £100,000 back then was quite a lot of money. But I spoke to Kevin Moran and Bryan Robson, and I just said I wanted to play on because I thought I could still do something in football.”
Speaking about his experience working with McGrath at United, Ferguson revealed that, before the defender’s transfer to Villa, he sought outside help for him.
In his first autobiography, Controlling My Life, Ferguson wrote:
“Admitting his troubles were too much for me, I enlisted the assistance of people I thought might be more persuasive. Sir Matt Busby talked to Paul but to no effect. So did the parish priest. It was all wasted effort. He went lurching on as if we had never spoken to him.”
Ultimately nothing worked for the player and he was allowed to leave the club after playing for them for seven years.
Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson’s dominance in the club was highlighted even more through this incident. More or less, the club went through a rough patch after the Scottish manager retired.
Currently, Erik ten Hag has been giving a ray of hope to the fans after winning the Carabao Cup and progressing in FA Cup and the Europa League.
