STAPLETON: I STILL CAN’T DELETE WILKINS’ NUMBER FROM MY PHONE
SIX months on, Frank Stapleton still can’t bring himself to delete Ray Wilkins’ number from his mobile ‘phone. To sever that link would be akin to turning his back on a former club colleague, fellow coach and, most of all, a very close friend. And that’s something Stapleton could never do on Wilkins. The quiet Dub and the lively Londoner played together at Manchester United for three seasons, won the FA Cup in 1983, and later coached the Jordan national team in 2014-15. All along, they remained steadfast pals and when Wilkins died suddenly in April this year, aged 61, it hit Stapleton hard. ‘It’s still raw,’ the former Irish captain told Sportsmail. ‘We were big friends, our two families are very close,’ explained Stapleton, ‘Ask anybody about Ray, he had a lovely personality, he was a fantastic guy. I still can’t believe he’s not here. I can’t delete his number off my ‘phone. I can’t do it. I’ll never forget him,’ he said, with emotion in his voice. ‘We were very close. We played for United and worked in Jordan together. ‘People say you have friends, but we were closer, like families. It’s taking a while to move on. Ray was a fantastic personality. Everyone that knew him, liked him.’ Manchester United tomorrow visit Chelsea, the two clubs where Wilkins became established as a gifted midfielder, between 1974 and 1984. ‘Butch’, as he was known, played 207 first team games in blue, 194 in red. This is the first Premier League game between the teams since Wilkins’ untimely passing, although the teams met in the FA Cup final in May where Wilkins was honoured by both sets of fans.
While Wilkins would have had a boot in either camp today, Stapleton is firmly in the red corner. Like Wilkins, Stapleton swopped the bright lights of London for Manchester. He left Arsenal, for whom he scored 108 goals, for United in 1981, where he weighed in with 78. When Fred became the 500th player to score for United, in the 1-1 draw against Wolves on September 22, the list of United’s all-time goalscorers showed Stapleton in a respectable 27th spot. He is a United regular and well qualified to assess where the club are under Jose Mourinho. ‘They’ve got great players, but they’ve not reached the levels where they’ve been before... (Paul) Pogba, (Romelu) Lukaku, (Alexis) Sanchez. We’ve not seen them all perform in the same game,’ he observed. The latter scored the dramatic comeback winner against Newcastle United a fortnight ago, but has not made the impact at United expected when he chose red over City blue in January. ‘I still believe he’s a fantastic footballer. This is his first season where’s he’s had a summer break but I’m not sure if leftwing is his right position.’ A defeat for United today would leave them 10 points behind Chelsea after nine games, which would probably be a title bridge too far, even though the season is still young. ‘I think United may need to play a bit more direct. I know in the modern game possession is king. But maybe try the dangerous ball, one over the top. United are good at catching teams on the counter away from Old Trafford,’ said Stapleton. ‘You can’t deny that Man City and Liverpool are probably the two top teams in the Premier League but don’t tell me they have better players than United.’ While he left his native Artane for Arsenal in 1972, Stapleton has not lost his Dublin brogue, nor his passion for the green jersey, which he carried into battle with tremendous distinction from 1976 to 1990. Stapleton was outstanding in the air and while he never the designated penalty taker, he chalked up a then record 20 goals in 71 games — it was a privilege to be in the press box in Malta when he headed in Ireland’s third to pull clear of Don Givens. Passion: Stapleton in the Ireland jersey At 33, it was his final appearance as Jack Charlton didn’t deign to give Stapleton as much as a minute’s action in the World Cup finals, which stung him badly. ‘When you’re a player you always feel you would have added something,’ he said. ‘It took me a while (to get over it) but I learnt to accept it because I was later in that situation as a manager myself. Nobody likes getting dropped. You think it’s personal, but it’s the manager picking what he thinks is the best team.’