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A FORMER Manchester United ace opened up about an incredible gesture Sir Alex Ferguson made at a dark time when he thought his career was over.
Ferguson, 83, is considered by many as the greatest manager of all time having won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League trophies during his 17-year reign at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex also gets credit for turning some of United’s greatest young prospects into legends, such as the famous Class of ’92 consisted of the likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
One of Man Utd‘s academy graduates who got an opportunity to shine under Fergie is Philip Mulryne.
Mulryne, 47, joined the Red Devils’ academy at the age of 14 and made his senior debut under the Scottish great on the final day of the 1997-98 campaign.
The former midfielder, though, never managed to earn a permanent spot in the first team and that led to a mere five appearances until his move to Norwich a year later.
But a year after joining the Canaries, the ex-Northern Ireland international suffered a devastating leg break which put his career at serious risk.
And as he was lying on a hospital bed agonising about his future, the phone rang and it was Ferguson reaching out to him and offering him the opportunity to rehabilitate at Old Trafford.
The footballer-turned-priest returned to Old Trafford for a celebration of the club’s academy and shared his incredible story to an audience of current United hopefuls.
Mulryne said: “I just want to say, as a testament to the club and what he [Ferguson] did, first of all he gave me my debut.
“But a year after I signed for Norwich, I broke my leg. It nearly ended my career.
“I woke up in hospital that night and the first phone call I got was the gaffer, offering that I could come back to the club for all my rehabilitation, and I had left the club a year.
“That was unbelievable for me and that was testament to the personal element to the club, not just the on-the-field, off-the-field attention to the person.
“That’s a wonderful testament to the club and the people in it.”
A MAN who grabbed Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman by the shoulders and verbally abused him with a homophobic slur during an election canvass in Dublin, has been spared jail.
The incident on November 2 happened when the then Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth went door-to-door around the Erris Square, Waterville area in Blanchardstown.
Salesman Karl Ronan, 45, of Erris Square, Waterville in Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty to assaulting Roderic O’Gorman, threatening and abusive behaviour and damaging his clipboard.
Father-of-two Ronan appeared again at Blanchardstown District Court yesterday for a Probation Service assessment to be furnished to Judge David McHugh.
Judge McHugh ordered Ronan to carry out 200 hours of community service instead of a four-month prison sentence.
At an earlier hearing, Judge McHugh noted Ronan had emailed an apology, which O’Gorman had accepted.
The court heard Ronan “lost control”, pushed the TD off his property and threw O’Gorman’s clipboard, which broke off a wall.
Judge David McHugh had described his actions as “appalling”, “deliberate”, and “homophobic, it would appear”.
His solicitor, Simon Fleming, had told the court it was “a shameful act” and “an affront to the whole democratic process”.
However, he stressed that Ronan did not have far-right political views.
His victim impact statement was not read out during the hearing, but the defence solicitor said the politician was “a very compassionate and forgiving” person, and he had accepted Ronan’s apology.
The solicitor said his client had “lost control” and had “made a fool of himself” and would have to deal with the publicity surrounding the case.
CHELSEA fans fumed “We’re not Arsenal” as they held a protest against Todd Boehly’s ownership group at Stamford Bridge.
Hundreds of Blues supporters gathered outside the stadium ahead of Tuesday night’s Premier League clash with Southampton.
They first marched down the Fulham Road with banners, leaving traffic at a standstill, before letting off flares and even throwing dollars on the floor.
Local tube station Fulham Broadway closed due to a “fire alert”, with reports claiming firefighters were forced to put out several pyros outside Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are on a dismal run of form that has seen them lose three consecutive games in all competitions.
They have also won just three of their last 12 matches.
And fired-up fans showed their anger at the situation as they also waved placards and sang pro-Roman Abramovich songs outside Stamford Bridge.
Their anger was directed at American billionaire Boehly, who led a 2022 takeover of Chelsea with investment group Clearlake Capital under the consortium banner ‘BlueCo’.
Chelsea have since spent over £1.2billion on new signings while working their way through three permanent managers and several interim bosses.
They are now facing a potential third season without Champions League football after Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa saw them drop to seventh place in the table.
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And supporters gave Boehly, Clearlake and BlueCo a piece of their mind with a number of fiery banners this evening.
One read: “BlueCo, stop killing Chelsea, get out of our club.”
Another declared: “BlueCo, Clearlake, Boehly, (Hansjorg) Wyss, (Jose) Feliciano and (Behdad) Eghbali. You’re destroying our club.”
One noted: “No stadium plans, no UCL football, average squad, player trading obsession.”
Another simply added: “We’re not Arsenal. Win or f**k off.”
Numerous chants were also heard from the Chelsea fans gathered outside the Bridge.
Among them included “Jose Mourinho”, “Roman Abramovich”, “You should have bought Brighton”, and “You’ve won us f**k all.”
Chelsea stars will be hoping to cheer the protestors up by delivering an emphatic win against Southampton tonight.
The visitors are rooted to the bottom of the table.
And anything less than a straightforward victory will not go down well with doubters.
CHRIS EUBANK JR and Conor Benn had to be separated after Next Gen slapped his opponent with an EGG.
The feuding pair are due to go to war in the ring on April 26 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Eubank Jr. and Benn – both the sons of former world champions – dished out the trash talk in a fiery presser on Tuesday.
They got up close and personal during a face-off to close the evening.
But things quickly things boiled after Eubank Jr. produced an egg from his pocket.
The 35-year-old appeared to SLAP Benn in the face with it before a wild fracas broke out on stage.
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