Even though Paul Ince is the “kid from north Dagenham who was never one to turn heads”, he will enjoy the long walk down the touchline to the dugout at Old Trafford on Saturday when he plays his Reading side opts to face Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It’s a prestigious tie that resonates with Ince. Not only because of the six hugely successful years he spent as an engine in United’s Rolls-Royce midfield from 1989, when the club boomed under Sir Alex Ferguson, but also because being a manager was something he thought was something was for him.
Ince’s eight years out of the game is astonishing and feels wrong and while his focus is on keeping Reading in the Championship – he says he would be happy to trade three points against Watford for a win at Manchester United next weekend – it “will not be a sightseeing tour at Old Trafford. “We go there to try and win a game – and who says we can’t?” says Ince.
That belief defined his playing career and is why the 55-year-old has been a success not only at United, but also at Inter Milan and Liverpool, three big clubs that the former England international has credited to his name. Inter’s mention, however, is a reminder of the dramatic circumstances under which Ince left United.
There are conflicting stories about what exactly happened. In Ferguson’s first self-defense autobiography, he claims that Ince had already been in touch with the Italian giants and helped bring about the £7.5 million shock.
So here’s Ince’s version of that day in the summer of 1995.
“I was playing golf at Mottram Hall with Giggsy [Ryan Giggs],” he says. “We’re at 16e and my phone rang and it was Sir Alex saying ‘I need to see you’. So I said, “Okay, blunder.” And I thought, what have I done? It’s like a kid going to the principal. I was like ‘No, I didn’t go out last night!’
“So my mind goes like this and I said, ‘Okay, blunder, I’ll come over tomorrow’ and he said, ‘No, I’m at the golf club.’ What did I say!’ And he said, “I’m at the golf club.”
“I was in the buggy with Giggsy – and I was one and all – and I said, ‘I have to go, the blunder is here.’ So I left Giggsy there and him [Sir Alex] sat in his car. I said, “What’s wrong, blunder?” and he said, ‘Listen, we’ve had an offer from Inter Milan for £7.5 million and we’re accepting it.’”
Was that really the first time he heard of the deal?
“Yes. Him [Ferguson] said, ‘We’ve got Nicky Butt coming up and we’re trying to build Carrington [the new training ground] so we need the money.’
“At first I was shocked, thinking I had been here for six years, getting to my peak, thinking about and negotiating another four-year contract, which would have taken me to my testimonial year.
“Thomas [his eldest son] was only two so we thought about daycares and that hit me. It was more of a shock than anything. I told Giggsy and he almost collapses. So the next week was tough.
I tell him that I read somewhere that Ferguson eventually accepted that he had made a mistake selling Ince. “Yes, he did!” Ince says smiling.
‘Listen, it’s okay. Sir Alex and I have a great relationship. Next year they won the Premier League. It wasn’t just me – Mark Hughes left, [Andrei] Kanchelski has left. It doesn’t mean the decision to let me go was a good one, but it shows the greatness of the man.
“But I’m glad I did. It broadened my horizons, I learned another language, made me a better player, a different type of player, more technical. And to be fair, Serie A was the best league in the world. They had the best players: Baggio, Baresi, Maldini, Desailly. Of course I would have preferred to stay with United for the rest of my career. Look at Giggsy and Gary Neville – that could easily have been me with 12, 14 years at Manchester United. But I had a great career.”