It was May 26, 1999; Undoubtedly the most famous evening in the history of Manchester United. An extraordinary turnaround of the interruption had seen Sir Alex Ferguson's victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, and no player did bigger than David May.
Not in the heat of the competition itself, you understand. The United Defender, who played second violin against Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam, never got off the bank that evening in Barcelona.
But once the dust was established – once the famous Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup – Silver Working was completed and the parties could start – May was everywhere.
There was May, head and shoulders above his teammates, who leaned against David Beckham's shoulder to get a hand on the trophy. May, before and middle, flanked by the match-winning goal scorers Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Teddy Sheringham, while the team posed for photos. May orchestrate of the United Faithful for a joyful representation of Sit Down, the 1991 hit by the Mancunian band James. The Understudy was central.
“He managed to guarantee a place in history by choosing the best place to get all the photos when the cup was lifted,” colleague United Defender Jaap Stam reminded us of a wry entertainment in his autobiography of the head.
'Somehow he came in a frame for every photo taken that night, even though he didn't play. It wasn't just those who noticed it.
'A few months later, an English magazine did a mock-up of the most important photos in history and put David's head in every shot. It was hilarious and we made sure he saw it. '
Before May, who is now 54, it was all part of his reputation as a joker of the dressing room – a not enviable role, you could imagine in a team with paved seniors such as Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Stam.
“I would urinate the legs of teammates in the shower, cut the laces from the new trainers of Nicky Butt or put deep heat in the shorts of the kitman,” said May, who made 85 performances for United between 1994 and 2003.
'And some saw my biggest joke as in most photos when United won the European Cup.
'I always thought that if I came close to the trophy, I would be in the pictures. I saw the trophy on a chair and thought, “I have that.” So I picked it up and the rest is history. Although I did not play in the final, I was proud of my contribution to the Treble. '
In a season destroyed by injuries, that contribution came at some important moments. May only played nine games in 1998/99, but he started the last-day victory over Tottenham Hotspur who secured the competition title and the FA Cup FA victory of the next weekend against Newcastle.
“He was able to smother and taste two memorable occasions,” wrote Stam. “Both must have felt like huge bonuses for him.”
What might have been overlooked in the aftermath of the Nou-Camp, however, amid all the benign ridges about the fame of May in the celebrations, is that it was the moment, rather the medal that was important to him.
“That Champions League medal, truthfully, means nothing to me,” May recently told the Podcast of Greatness On Demand. “The game was incredible, but the actual medal means nothing, because I was injured, I never kicked a ball in the Champions League.”
As that comment suggests, there was nothing of the great Charlie around May – but much of the winning mentality that is synonymous with Keane, Beckham, Peter Schmeichel and the rest of that remarkable team.
Before that May had his modest upbringing in Oldham, Lancashire, to thank – and in particular his father, a former police officer who may have become a player himself, his own father had been able to train after a successful process in Sheffield United.
It was May's father who drilled the basic principles of right and wrong home; who cherished his son's assets without having to spoil it; Who kept him right and narrow when the inevitable Teenage Temptations arrived.
“My father was brilliant,” said May and remembered how his father would intervene softly if he wanted to go out with his friends from a Thursday or Friday night. '[He would say]: If you want to do it, do it. But if you want to get there, sacrifice. '
May, who tried to teach the same principles to his own children, did not require any further encouragement. Football – Already at a young age, he regularly attended matches in Manchester City, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale – but, curious, not united – and had absolute conviction that he could forge a career in the game.
In contrast to his two older brothers, who were both in themselves talented players, he managed to use the hard kilometers that he knew would give him the best chance to reach the highest level.
“Where I lived there used to be a garden, and it sounds stupid, but every day after school I would be in that garden, kick a ball against a wall, left foot, right foot, go close, on the way to the ball,” said May, who eventually graduated to play under a street light.
“Hard work costs nothing.”
In 1988 that hard work paid off in the form of a first professional contract with Blackburn Rovers. May, who was then 18, would be played 123 times for the Ewood Park-Outfit, create a reputation as a strong center of center that was good on the ball and read the game well.
Yet he was surprised when the former United striker Mark Robins and then played for Norwich, to him in the bar at the end of the bar at Carrow Road and mentioned that Les Kershaw, the most important explorer of the Old Trafford Club, had viewed him.
“Good,” May replied.
But it didn't take long, Kershaw came up and introduced himself.
“What happens to your contract?” he asked. 'Alex Ferguson wants to sign you. He will call you next week. '
And yes, the call came. Ferguson revealed that May had been on his radar for a long time and was now desirable as a replacement for club standard Steve Bruce.
“I want you to replace Brucie,” said Ferguson. 'We have looked at you since you were a 14, 15-year-old. We have always looked at you, we have always kept an eye on you. We know your background. How do you like to draw for United? '
May didn't have to ask twice. Although the final way of leaving Blackburn left a bitter taste.
“They accused me of being greedy in contract negotiations,” said May, who was £ 500 a week at that time and wanted less than half of the weekly wage of £ 9,000 from Alan Shearer.
There was also the small issue of his teammate David Batty, born in Leeds and not a big fan of Manchester United, who called him in his hotel room at 6 o'clock during an away game to Spurs.
“Scum, Scum, Scum,” Batty repeated along the line. Similar calls followed with intervals of 15 minutes, until the phone can be disconnected. He would not look back.
During the eight seasons that followed, the frequent injury problems of May did not prevent him from gathering an impressive trophy trait. He won two Premier League winner medals, a few FA cups -and of course also the Champions League.
Initially discouraged by the status of the players with whom he was suddenly surrounded, you can gradually find his feet and become a well -known practical joker.
“I filled a container with water and leaned him against Paul Parker's door,” he once said. “Then I knocked on it and ran away. He opened the door and the water flowed inside. Although I denied it, Parks knew it was. '
But there would be a price to pay for all trophies and the high Jinks, and that moment of settlement came when his contract ended in 2003. Left to consider the conclusion of his career in Old Trafford, May continued to stare in an abyss.
“I had a hard time,” said May. “United, I thought my world was over.”
After a departure do in the living room, a chic drinking place on Deansgate visited by the large and the good, May was only, who held a £ 300 bottle of champagne when he went home.
“What do you have there, friend?” asked a homeless man on a park bench.
“A bottle of champagne,” May replied.
“Are we opening it?” the stranger asked.
“Yes, then continue, F *** IT,” said May, who gave the bottle with his new friend the participation before he started a 12-day bender that would result if he fell into tears of his wife.
May would end his career at Burnley, where he played a season before he closed his career at the Non League Bacup Borough.
Since then he has worked in the wine trade, worked for MUTV, the internal wage television channel of United and became an avid fisherman. Because of all this, his personal mantra has changed little in the well -camp since that glorious night.
“Never accept the defeat,” says May. “If you want it, go and get it.”
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