Father and son connections at United

The former Academy coach speaks movingly about his father Wilf, who is suffering from dementia, and their shared love of the club.

Busby Babe Wilf was part of our successful sides in the early FA Youth Cup campaigns and was capped by England before a broken leg ended his career at the tender age of 22. Showing great resolve, he forged a career in coaching and took over as Reds manager from the great Sir Matt Busby in 1969.

Paul was a midfielder in the club's youth team and Reserves in the mid-eighties and returned as Under-18s manager, leading a brilliant side to FA Youth Cup glory in 2011.

While Paul came close to achieving the feat, John Aston Jnr and Snr both managed to appear in United's first team, and with distinction. The elder man turned professional at the end of 1939 and helped win the first trophy under Busby, the 1948 FA Cup, in addition to the league four years later.

The ex-England international worked as coach and scout at the club after retiring, including during Wilf McGuinness's time as manager, and oversaw the development of his own son, a flying winger, who many acclaimed as the Man of the Match in the 1968 European Cup final victory over Benfica.

Aston Jnr also won the Division One title with Busby's men in 1967 and told us: "Alec Herd [with Manchester City in 1937] and David Herd [with United in 1965 and 1967] both won the title but I think it's one of the proudest things we've achieved, my father and myself, to win the title with the same famous club, United."

Jim Ryan made 27 appearances for the club between 1965 and 1970 and worked as a coach at United, while his son Neil also managed our under-age sides in the Academy.

Of course, another strong link is Sir Alex Ferguson and his son Darren.

While Sir Alex is one of the greatest managers in history, who spent 27 years at the Old Trafford helm while overseeing untold success, Darren played under him in the first team.

The Scot made his senior debut in 1990 and was part of the squad that won the inaugural Premier League title in 1992/93.

In total, the midfielder made 30 appearances for the Reds, before joining Wolves and eventually enjoying a lengthy career in management himself. He is currently in charge of Peterborough United.

Charlie Savage made one senior appearance for the Reds, in a 2021 Champions League tie against Young Boys, before moving to Reading last year.

The Wales international's father Robbie played 39 times for the Principality after being part of our fabled Class of '92, although he did not make a first-team outing for the Reds before switching to Crewe Alexandra in 1994 and going on to enjoy a fine career at the top level.

Robbie has recently taken over as Macclesfield manager.

There have been numerous instances of ex-Reds' sons playing in the club's Academy at various levels.

Harvey Neville, son of Phil, and Charlie Wellens, whose father Richie played in a League Cup tie against Aston Villa in 1999, are two examples, while Ryan Giggs, Steve Bruce, Edwin van der Sar, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo and, of course, Darren Fletcher, are others whose offspring have been, or still are, in the youth system.

There are plenty of former United players whose dads were top footballers, including Gary Bailey, Peter Barnes, Juan Sebastian Veron, Jordi Cruyff, Daley Blind and many more.

On the flipside, Peter Schmeichel, Nobby Stiles and Andy Cole's sons followed in their fathers' footsteps by becoming professional players.

Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's daughter Karna played for United Women in an FA Cup tie against Bridgwater United in 2022.

So there have been plenty of these connections within the game involving United. And it's well worth listening to Paul's podcast to learn more about him and his dad Wilf.