Sir Alex Ferguson booked me a flight home from my holiday and hauled me back to Man Utd – I hadn’t done anything wrong
MANCHESTER UNITED legend Nicky Butt has revealed he was hauled back from a summer holiday by Sir Alex Ferguson.
The former midfielder had just helped the Red Devils win the Treble in 1999 when he jetted off to Ayia Napa for a well-earned break.
But as he relaxed with pals in the sun, he got a surprise phone call from Ferguson.
He was half way through his holiday in Cyprus – but Sir Alex demanded he returned home to Manchester.
Butt told the incredible story on the Football Greatest Eras podcast with Paul Scholes, explaining: “In them days you could only get in and out of Ayia Napa on Tuesdays and Thursdays – a change over day.
“I was on the beach and my phone goes, it’s Lyn Laffin [Sir Alex’s PA] and she went ‘the manager wants you’.
“I’m thinking is he selling me or something? I was doing what I normally did go on holiday with my mates. I had done nothing any different to what I would normally do.
“He said: ‘You’ve got a flight booked Thursday, get yourself home and get yourself straight back here’.
“Apparently there was press following all the lads on holiday.
“I had gone and done the normal thing – getting drunk and having a good time.
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“But because of the achievement, it changed everyone’s outlook on it.
“I remember I got told to go to America where nobody knows you – so I went home and booked a holiday to America.
“After that Champions League final, life changed a little bit and you could not do what you normally did. There was a lot more attention on you.”
After Man Utd‘s incredible comeback against Bayern Munich to win the trophy and complete the Treble, the players fittingly partied like it was 1999.
Butt and Scholes claim they did not sleep for two days and even Ferguson “let himself go, drinking and dancing” during the celebrations.