“I was nervous about doing it, because I thought, ‘what if they say no?'”
Paul Scholes originally retired from football in 2011. The former Manchester United midfielder hung up his boots at the end of a season which saw the club win their record-breaking 19th league title. He then had a sold-out testimonial at Old Trafford that summer, before joining United’s coaching staff.
However, just before United’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City in January 2012, the former England midfielder made a surprising comeback. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had a lot of injuries at the time, and Scholes came back into the fold after regretting his decision to retire.
He came off the bench in the 3-2 win over City, and scored in his next game – a 3-0 win over Bolton at Old Trafford.
Scholes made 21 appearances in his final season at Old Trafford, helping United win their 20th league title in 2013 before finally retiring for good. The midfielder walked away from the game with 11 Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups and two European Cups. He made over 700 appearances for United, scoring 155 goals, and is remembered as a club legend and one of the best midfielders of his generation.
Scholes spoke on BT Sport about how his comeback in 2012 happened, and it was a very interesting watch. The United players weren’t aware that he was coming back until he walked into the dressing room on the day of the City match, and Scholes had to buy a pair of boots from a sports store in Manchester before the game.
He was also worried that Ferguson would reject his request, and he spoke about the moment when he knew he had to retire for good.
How did Paul Scholes' Man Utd comeback happen?
• Jones and Fabio were playing CM 🙈
• Fergie kept it a secret 🤐
• Had to buy new boots from JJB 😂Scholesey like you've never heard him before… 🙌#FACupTonight pic.twitter.com/lxLDNKZBXz
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 17, 2018
