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John Giles remembers Manchester United's 1963 FA Cup victory and working with Matt Busby

The Off The Ball Roadshow headed to the Helix on Thursday night ahead of this weekend's...



John Giles remembers Mancheste...
Soccer

John Giles remembers Manchester United's 1963 FA Cup victory and working with Matt Busby

The Off The Ball Roadshow headed to the Helix on Thursday night ahead of this weekend's FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley.

Joe and Ger talked to Michael Ballack, Keith Andrews and a host or Ireland international stars.

John Giles opened the show and looked back on his time at Manchester United during the 1963 FA Cup triumph over Leicester City and his relationship with legendary United boss, Matt Busby.

"Before the maximum wage was abolished, he used to have a meeting with the players and he always used to say 'this maximum wage is ridiculous, lads. You should all be on £100-a-week'," he said on Thursday's show.

"So when the maximum wage was abolished unexpectedly, Matt's first offer was £25-per-week and a fiver appearance money."

Giles explained that Busby would also have a particular method of dropping players before games.

"It started the year before when I was playing for United in the semi-final of the Cup against the great Spurs side, we got a hiding 3-1. And I was terrible. 

"I had a terrible game. Now, I was only 21. I think Matt and the staff lost confidence in me. So they signed Denis Law and pushed me out to the wing. So for that 1962-63 season, I had a really bad time with Matt.

"We played in the semi-final of the cup [in 1963] and we won 1-0. Matt had this way of leaving you out of the team. He'd call you over and ask you how you think you were playing. Now, the modest players would say 'I think I could be doing a little better'.

"He'd say back 'I agree, I'm leaving you out tonight.'"

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