Legendary footballer and entrepreneur Gary Neville kicked-off a trio of UMF events at the Music Hall in 2024 spilling the beans about his decorated career playing under Sir Alex Ferguson, secrets to the success of Manchester, and he even tipped a former teammate for the Dons job...
A 90-minute interview with Sky Sports pundit and hotel owner attracted more than a thousand punters to a sold-out Music Hall as this year's Ultimate Masterclass Festival hit the Granite Mile for the first time.
The eight-time Premier League winner had the audience laughing throughout with stories from sharing a changing room with David Beckham and Roy Keane, being coached by Archie Knox, and the 'golden generation' of the English football team that delivered no trophies.
School of hard Knox
Gary joined his boyhood team as an 11-year-old, just a number of months before Sir Alex Ferguson made the move south of the border.
"I'm at Manchester United in August 1986. Sir Alex Ferguson joined with Archie [Knox] in November 1986, after Ron Atkinson gets sacked.
"From the age 12 to 13, I was coached by Archie Knox."
Archie had spent three years working under Sir Alex at Aberdeen, leaving for a three-year spell in charge of Dundee. He returned to work under his fellow Scot shortly before the pair moved to United.
"For a start, I couldn't tell a word he was saying, that was the first problem, but I knew it wasn't pleasant," joked Gary.
"The first-team coaches, Archie, Bryan Kidd, he brought Nobby [Styles] in, they all came down to all the Centre of Excellence sessions in the evening and the boss would quite often turn up himself.
"But Archie came in and coached us every single week and we dreaded it."
But the 85-time England-cap admitted the coaching he got from young age was pivotal into paving the way for his future career.
"It's amazing to think of the experiences that we were given at the ages of 12 or 13 by being coached by these amazing people, but they were hard on us, they were tough with us. And we needed that toughness, and we needed that direction...but that wouldn't be possible today."
Finding success in failure
Inevitably, Gary was asked about one of his few failures in life, being manager of Valencia.
A spell lasting barely three-months, and winning precious little points, meant Gary returned to punditry duty quicker than he'd liked.
"We've spoke about Sir Alex's loyalty before, but we haven't spoke much about the other side of Sir Alex which is the way he exits people," he said, explaining why he felt he didn't succeed in Spain.
"He exits people quickly and effectively if he feels like they are going to become a danger to his business.
"I remembered the loyalty part and giving people a chance, but I didn't remember the other bit which is you have to make clinical exit decisions at times."
It's a mistake Gary hasn't made again in his life outside of football.
"Not many people leave our businesses in Manchester but I feel if someone is not right, I exit them quite quickly, but still in the right way.
"You worry about having those difficult conversations, but you treat them maturely and do them face-to-face and not hide behind someone in your team doing it for you."
"A lot of my learnings come from Sir Alex, but there are somethings he did that I still reference.
"Always deliver the bad news, or the disappointing news, yourself and you can gain huge respect from that.
"I used to sit in with him when I was the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association) representative exiting young players from the football club.
"I'd go in with them, and Sir Alex would say 'look, your future is not going to be at Manchester United'.
"Imagine being a young player and listening to that message?
"But it taught me a lot about how to deliver difficult conversations with honesty, with compassion, but also with hope.
"Sir Alex used to exit them, he would give examples of players he'd let go who have gone onto incredible things, but he would also get them an introduction and three or four football clubs to get a professional contract."
Aberdeen: The next Manchester?
Gary, who has had a lasting impact on the incredible regeneration of Manchester since retiring from football, shared a number of anecdotes about reviving what he described as a "ghost town".
"I think football has been a great driver," he said, along with music and the universities in the city.
He even praised the billion pound investment in the east side of the city made by the owners of Manchester City, and used it as an example to not turn away outward investment.
And he's now taking a central role in a potential regeneration of Old Trafford, having on a task force to reinvigorate the stadium and surrounding areas.
"Can you imagine the thought of Aberdeen winning the title again?," he said.
"You need money nowadays, you need investment, you need expertise. That will come to Aberdeen again.
"At some point, there will be an investor, a partner, a local businessman or owner, that comes along and wants to invest in the football club and create a legacy.
"A way to drive a city forward can be through many areas it can be through university, it can be through education and health, regenerating the stadium.
"If you regenerate the stadium and you build a successful football team, then you get people talking about Aberdeen again in a football sense. That has been a catalyst in Manchester.
A new Dons gaffer?
As the night drew to a close, the inevitable discussion on which one of Gary's teammates would be the right fit for Aberdeen ensued.
Dwight Yorke has applied before (much to Gary's surprise), but it was Ole Gunnar Solksjaer whose name was mentioned.
"I was dying on television for two or three months because everyone was saying 'why won't you criticise Ole Gunnar Solksjaer? Why won't you stick the knife into him? It's embarrassing that you allow him to carry on at United.
"But then I spoke to him two weeks ago. I am so happy that I never, ever stuck the knife into him on television, even if I thought the job was difficult for him and it was the right time for change.
"The loyalty to my team mates, to him in particular who I'd sat next to for 11 years in the dressing room, we were so close.
"He loves football, I'd love him to come up to Aberdeen and make you successful again."
What's next for Gary?
"I would like at some point to think that I could have an impact on Manchester United winning again.
"For me, that is not on the football side, that is nothing to do with the football side.
"I feel like it's on the other side of things.
"I was asked to join a task force to regenerate the stadium and that was something I could not turn down because I'm so passionate about the area.
"I can't believe what's happened because of the lack of regeneration over the last 10 years around the club.
"That's something I'm hoping I can have some type of impact on."
And what's next for UMF?
Our stacked 2024 line-up rolls into April when we'll welcome Davina McCall MBE to the Music Hall to talk about her life as a TV presenter, dealing with addiction, and what makes her one of UK TV's most loved personalities.
Tickets to see Davina are selling fast, grab yours here.
Thank you to our 2024 UMF series sponsor TotalEnergies, and thank you to our event sponsors Fifth Ring and Appetite for Business.
Thanks to our drinks reception sponsor D2Zero, our AV partner PCL Live, our hotel partner The Chester Hotel, staging partner BoConcept and transport partner Luxe Scotland.
Thank you to all of our sponsors.