Ten Hag meets United fan battling cancer
United manager Erik ten Hag took time out of his busy schedule on Wednesday to pass on his best wishes to a fan struggling with serious health issues.
Andrew Gawthorpe, who is suffering from a severe form of cancer, travelled to Spain ahead of our mid-season friendly with La Liga club Cadiz CF earlier this week.
And before the match kicked off, Gawthorpe and his friend Kevin Stones were treated to a private conversation with Erik.
It left the two mates buzzing, and seriously impressed with the character they encountered.
“He is a proper gentleman, an absolute gentleman,” enthused Andrew. “The club have managed to organise this today because I'm going through some sickness problems. And just even the humility he showed to me on that [was great].
“We thanked him for giving us our club back, which it feels like he's doing.
“What an absolute legend. We've got to hold onto him with everything we've got. He's absolutely fantastic.”
Despite the imminent match, Ten Hag gave the pair a good chunk of his time and took an interest in their trip, which left the Reds feeling humbled.
“We kept saying to him: if you've got more important things to do, just carry on!” laughed Stones.
“But no, he stopped and spoke to us for a while, and you got the impression that he understands what it is that we need at the club. He was very impressive, really, really impressive.”
90 in 20: Cadiz v United Video
90 in 20: Cadiz v United
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Despite the 4-2 defeat that followed for an experimental United side featuring many young Academy players, Gawthorpe said that all the travelling Reds had enjoyed a great time in Andalusia – and hoped to return for a competitive fixture in the future.
“It's very different [to a normal European trip],” explained Andrew, “but we came to Cadiz when we saw there was a friendly here because it's quite a foodie place! So we've been out for some fantastic bits and pieces to eat.
“But what a place. We've got to get Cadiz into the top level [of European competition] so we can play them again, because we've got to come here for a proper Euro away, most definitely.”
The thoughts and best wishes of all at Manchester United are with Andrew during this difficult time.
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