Nicky Butt: This is how United develop winners
Manchester United's Head of Academy Nicky Butt provides a passionate and detailed insight into how young players are shaped into winners at the Aon Training Complex...
“It’s drilled into you from an early age. It’s all well and good being a Manchester United player, but you need to be a winner. Ultimately, if you’re not winning things here, you won’t last long, and that’s a fact. The manager will look to someone else who can win.
"This club has built its foundations on winning, we’ve always won things and been successful. We’ve had dry spells, like any club, but we always get back to winning. If you’re not a winner, if you’re not brought up with that winning mentality, you’re going to struggle in the first team."
"Our young players need to recognise the laundry people, the canteen ladies, the chefs, the groundstaff and security lads – they’re part of our family."
“They need to be introducing them to Kath on reception at the training ground, letting them know how long she’s been here because it is over 50 years. They have to know about how many players she’s seen come through those doors down the years and decades.
"They need to recognise the laundry people, the canteen ladies, the chefs, the groundstaff and security lads – they’re part of our family and you need to say 'good morning' to them every single day."
A homegrown player has been included in every Manchester United squad since October 1937, totalling 3,878 matches and counting.
“When you come to United, the players are the superstars and the ones everyone wants an autograph from but, when you come into this building, we’re all equal.
“We all have a role and, without one, we don’t have a team. Without the kit guys or the bus drivers, the security guards and canteen staff, there wouldn’t be a club. It’s important for the players to let the new lads know what Manchester United is all about.”
Of course, if anybody knows what they are talking about, it is definitely Nicky Butt.