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Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has today taken to the witness box to give evidence in the domestic assault trial of his star player, Ryan Giggs.
The legendary ex-football boss, 80, who helped convince a teenage Giggs to join the football club, and who managed him throughout the vast majority of his career, arrived at Manchester Crown Court this afternoon.
Today he took to the witness box to give evidence in Giggs’ assault case. The 48-year-old former Wales midfielder is accused of “headbutting” his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville during a row at his £1.7million mansion in Worsley, Greater Manchester, in November 2020.
The ex-United star is also accused of assaulting Ms Greville’s sister Emma during the same row and using coercive and controlling behaviour. He denies the allegations and is on trial.
Today, Sir Alex, who appeared as a character witness for Giggs, described him as having a “fantastic, wonderful temperament” who never got “angry or aggressive” despite playing top level football under him.
He told the court that he had known him since the age of 13 and found him to be one of the best-behaved players he has ever worked with, both on and off the pitch.
Sir Alex said, “When I first met him he was at a local team and training at Manchester City’s ground. We were working hard to get him to come to Clifton (Manchester United’s training ground).
“He came to us with his father on one occasion and after that we started visiting his house to convince him to come to Manchester United.”
Sir Alex, who was in the witness box for around ten minutes, revealed that he regularly visited Giggs’ home with Archie Knox, his assistant at the time.
He continued, “Our main contact was Ryan’s mother. She was very good about it all. Ryan was a quiet boy, he just sat there and listened to what his mother was saying.”
Sir Alex, who was wearing a grey suit, white shirt and purple tie told the court that after Giggs signed for Manchester United, he took him personally under his wing after he broke into the first team at the age of 17.
Sir Alex said “He was being compared to George Best. There was a lot of press and media attention on him. I saw him every day, I was his manager. The boy was great, he was no problem.
“As he got older he had a wonderful temperament. In the dressing room, I used Ryan as an example a lot. I would lose my temper over performances. Sometimes he got the sharp end of my tongue. But I knew he could take it, he was strong enough.
“Everyone in the dressing room would think, if Ryan Giggs can take it, we all can take it.” When asked by Giggs’ lawyer if he ever saw Giggs angry or aggressive, Sir Alex replied, “No.”
When asked to describe his temperament, Sir Alex replied, “Fantastic, wonderful temperament. To have a career as long as he did, in terms of energy and attitude he was the best.
“He was the best example that I had. Everyone looked at Ryan as the number one.”
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