'No wonder we got beat'

Man Utd legend Paul Scholes has revealed that pop icon Mick Hucknall was allowed to train with the Red Devils squad by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Hucknall, who is the lead singer of Simply Red, is a huge Man Utd supporter and is often pictured at events or watching matches with legendary Red Devils boss Ferguson.

Ferguson always ran a tight ship at Old Trafford but the Scot let his guard down a bit when he chose to invite Hucknall to train with Man Utd first-team squad ahead of their Champions League clash against Barcelona in 1994.

Scholes and former Man Utd team-mate Butt recalled Hucknall’s visit to the training ground before the Red Devils lost to Barcelona 4-0 the following day, with a Hristo Stoichkov brace and further goals from Romario and Albert Ferrer securing the win for the Catalan giants.

The Man Utd duo insist that Hucknall was “awful” and revealed that the pop star brought along his Miss World girlfriend to watch.

Speaking on the Football’s Greatest podcast, Scholes said: “I don’t know if you remember, years and years before when we played Barcelona, even Bobby Charlton trained with us one night. Remember Mick Hucknall trained with us too? We got beat 4-1 that night.”

Butt added: “Mick Hucknall should have played actually because we were all crap! He was awful. He didn’t look like a footballer, he had no co-ordination.

“He could sing really well maybe he should have stuck to that one. I remember Keano giving him a b******ing because he kept giving the ball away.”

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On Miss World, former Man Utd midfielder Butt added: “I don’t know what her name was, but she was a good looking girl. She came to the pre-match, he brought her in..

“I don’t think the manager was too happy about that. Everyone’s attention went from the game.”

To which Scholes replied: “No wonder we got beat.”

Ferguson has recalled previously how he met Hucknall in the 80s, he said: “Mick was probably the first pop star I met. It was about 1987, when he played at the Old Trafford cricket ground, and he invited my wife and I backstage after the gig.

“He was more interested in Manchester United than I was in the gig – he kept asking about the team; you could see he was a fanatic.”

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