Joe Ganley

Monday 24 June 2024 16:47 Share With email Copy Link As the son of former United player and manager Wilf McGuinness, and a fixture in our Academy for more than two decades, Paul McGuinness has Manchester United in his blood.

Which makes the new episode of UTD Podcast a real treat for every Red who listens to it.Paul calls his relationship with United 'football privilege' and you only need to listen to the first three or four minutes of his chat with Helen Evans and Sam Homewood to get what he's talking about.

Few people can say they've kicked a ball around with Sir Bobby Charlton in the 1960s and Marcus Rashford more than 50 years later, but Paul can.Here's a taster of the kind of stories you can expect from a must-listen podcast episode that acts as a kind of odyssey through post-war United history...

Watch Paul McGuinness's UTD Podcast Video

UTD Podcast | FA Youth Cup-winning coach Paul McGuinness tells all about his life at the club...

INSIGHT ON THE BABESPaul's dad was, of course, Wilf McGuinness, a Busby Babe who was forced to abandon a hugely promising playing career when injury led to his retirement at the age of just 22, after 85 first-team appearances.

Great mates with Sir Bobby, Eddie Colman and Duncan Edwards, he passed on many of his priceless stories to Paul.

"Uncle Bobby came at Christmas and birthdays and so on," McGuinness remembers. "So they were friends from right from the start. And all those guys that died in the crash, I think that's how it felt [with them too]. They would have been Uncle Duncan or Uncle Eddie because he was big mates with them. They'd have been just pals, you know."

PLAYING WITH BEST, LAW AND CHARLTON "When I'm four, five and six, I'm playing with my dad in the garden, then Sir Bobby would come round. And when I was 15-16, my dad was playing lots of charity games... He always used to say to me: 'Bring your boots... you might get a game!'" Paul laughs."Every time, they played me. George Best played one game, Bobby [would play], Paddy Crerand, David Sadler, Nobby Stiles, Kiddo [Brian Kidd] probably played. They'd turn up with a plastic bag [with their boots in], it was like Sunday League football! It was like 'If Carlsberg did...' You know, that advert.' Without doubt, every game, Bobby was majestic. He was the most competitive guy out there...

"To do that and play with them was unbelievable. Then at 17-18, because I stayed at school, I joined United and was playing in the A team and in the Reserves."

Paul (right) with his dad Wilf (left), after United's 1999 Champions League triumph.

THE GENIUS OF FERGUSONAfter his playing career wound to a close (Paul played professional football for Crewe Alexandra, among others), he was given jobs in the Academy by Sir Alex Ferguson.

McGuinness speaks volubly about Sir Alex's many skills and is particularly good at explaining how he gave people confidence and delegated.

"He backed you 100 per cent in what he did. He gave you a lot of freedom. He'd give you a lot of autonomy, but he set the standards high. So my first job was Centre of Excellence Director and that was crazy. I wasn't experienced enough to do it. But he gave me it anyway. And I suppose his theory is, you know, you give someone young the opportunity and they will pay you back. And that's all I was doing, all my life, to pay him back for that."

Marcus's humble beginnings Video

COMING SOON | Former Academy coach Paul McGuinness explains Marcus Rashford's journey at the club...

HIS FAVOURITE ACADEMY GRADUATE "You shouldn't say you have favourites, but you do!" smiles Paul."But he's the only player that I've coached at every age group: Danny Welbeck. His family were fantastic. His mum was a nurse, his dad was [great]... I thought he could have played in the first team before he did. I think he definitely should have stayed. Like Jonny [Evans], he would have been part of the core. Because they would have been the guardians of it. Great personality, as well."

McGuinness on Welbeck Video

COMING SOON | Our newest guest on the UTD Podcast, Paul McGuinness, praises one former Red for his work ethic...

RAVEL MORRISON - OVERACHIEVER?As arguably the best player in United's FA Youth Cup-winning team of 2011, Ravel Morrison has been lauded as one of the most talented youngsters to come through our Academy. But the playmaker has endured a nomadic career since leaving Old Trafford, after playing just three times for our first team.

But contrary to received opinion, his one-time coach McGuinness believes the player did remarkably well to achieve what he did.

"He was an amazing player... A lot of people say 'He's thrown it away, he's wasted it' and so on. But if they knew the full story from being young, his background and different things, he may actually be one of the best-performing. He may have done well despite the disadvantages he had."Listen to the full episode of Paul McGuinness's appearance on UTD Podcast now, for a full immersion into United's culture and history.

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Joe Ganley

Monday 24 June 2024 16:47 Share With email Copy Link Back to Top

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