‘There were TEARS in the dressing room’: Ashley Young reveals how Sir Alex Ferguson broke the news of his retirement to Man United’s players in 2013

Ashley Young has revealed that there were tears in the Manchester United dressing room when Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement in 2013.

Widely seen as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ferguson had been in charge of United since 1986 and had won a wide array of trophies.

Young recalled the emotional day in May 2013 when Ferguson called a meeting in the United dressing room to inform the players of the news.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Young said: ‘We obviously knew his wife’s sister wasn’t well. I can think back to the day he came in the dressing room and the boss never really had a meeting with us in our dressing room and he called a meeting and everyone was like ‘something’s not right here’.

‘We were driving in and people were talking to each other and we were saying things seem a bit odd. We heard things on the radio when we were driving in.’

Young stated the players understood Ferguson’s decision to retire but players were left emotional by the news.

It was also revealed that Ferguson apologised to some of the players that had recently joined the club.

Young said: ‘When he came in and he explained his reason of course everyone understood it fully and you knew why he was having to step aside.

‘How everyone’s got that respect for him, there were tears in the dressing room because of him leaving and players had been with him for so long. Even players that had just come in, he apologised to a couple of players that had just been signed.

It was tough to take, it was tough to handle but everyone knew the decision why he took it.’

Young played under Ferguson for two seasons following his move from Aston Villa and won the Premier League title in the legendary manager’s final campaign in 2012-13.

Despite Ferguson’s departure, Young remained at United until 2020 and went on to win the FA Cup, the Europa League and the League Cup.

In total, Ferguson won 38 trophies as United manager, which included 13 league titles, fives FA Cups and two Champions League successes.