KING’S CROWN HAS SLIPPED
Ryan Giggs has it all: fame, fortune and medals galore... but only he knows why he cannot keep out of trouble
IN HIS autobiography, Sir Alex Ferguson sums up the quiet greatness that made Ryan Giggs first among equals in Manchester United’s famous Class of ’92.
‘He is a reserved kind of guy but, of all that bunch, he was the one they looked up to,’ wrote Ferguson. ‘ He was the king, the man.’
Giggs was the one who had it all. More than Gary Neville, his brother Phil, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and even David Beckham.
The most decorated player in the history of English football with 34 honours for United, including an astonishing 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League winner’s medals.
The boy who grew into a man at his one and only club over the course of 29 years, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s record by making 963 appearances for United and even briefly succeeding Ferguson as manager before taking charge of his country.
It is hard to think of a more gilded career. Giggs had the lot. Fame, fortune and what appeared to be a perfect family life.
He married his long- time partner Stacey Cooke and set up home with their two children, Liberty and Zach, on the very road in Worsley, Greater Manchester where the latest controversy that threatens to tarnish his image unfolded late on Sunday night.
Quite what happened between Giggs and his partner Kate Greville remains to be seen. He has denied an allegation of assault after being arrested by police and released on bail following a disturbance.
But it is by no means the first time the 46-year- old’s personal life has made headlines since his playing career began drawing to a close. In 2011, Giggs tried unsuccessfully to gag the media from reporting his affair with Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.
That same year, it emerged he had been in a long-term relationship with his sister-in-law Natasha, and had even paid her £500 to abort their baby just weeks before she married his younger brother Rhodri. Stacey stayed with him at first but they split up in 2016 and divorced a year later amid rumours Giggs was flirting with waitresses at a restaurant he owns. The £3.5million marital home is still up for sale but Giggs moved into a smaller property on the same road, having initially bought it for his mother Lynne, and it was there that Sunday’s incident involving his current 36-year-old partner occurred. The episode at the weekend is said to have happened after Giggs spent the day at Hotel Football — where he met Greville when she did some PR work — and the Stock Exchange Hotel, two businesses he owns with Gary Neville. The former teammates and Treble winners are also co- owners of League Two Salford City with others from the Class of ’92. Giggs’ football career has continued in his role as Wales boss — though that is now in jeopardy after he stood down for the next three games.
At a time when United are mourning the loss of Nobby Stiles and are saddened by the news that Charlton has dementia, it is tempting to think that footballers typically used to live much simpler lives.
Intriguing too to wonder what the paternal Ferguson would make of it all. He ruled Giggs with a rod of iron, kept him back from interviews with the media when he burst on to the scene. He also famously broke up a house party the teenager had arranged with his team-mate Lee Sharpe in 1992.
‘There was no escape,’ Giggs wrote in his book My Life, My Story. ‘He charged into the house like a bull in a china shop, cuffing people out of the way.
‘He was red-faced with rage, an uncontrollable force of nature.’
Maybe Giggs could have done with a bit more of that guidance in recent years, even as a mature man now in his mid-40s.
The king, as Ferguson called him, has landed himself in trouble again. The crown has slipped a little further.
RYAN Giggs’s future in football was in doubt last night following his arrest for assault.
The Wales manager and former Manchester United star spent a night in custody after being held on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm in a reported bust-up with his on- off girlfriend at his £1.7million home.
Public relations worker Kate Greville, 36, was understood to be staying at her company director father’s farmhouse in North Wales yesterday following Sunday’s alleged incident.
Police were seen entering Giggs’ property last night and a specialist crime scene investigation van was parked outside. After news of the arrest emerged, the Football Association of Wales announced yesterday it had ‘mutually agreed’ with the 46year-old that he would not be involved in the national team’s upcoming games against the United States, the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
Police were called to the upmarket road in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on Sunday evening, hours after the fatherof-two reportedly watched on television as his old club lost to Arsenal. He was held overnight and questioned on suspicion of actual bodily harm and common assault. The star was photographed leaving Pendleton police station on Monday after being released on bail.
Police said the alleged victim, who they identified only as a woman in her thirties, sustained ‘minor injuries’ but had not needed medical treatment.
Giggs has denied the assault allegations and pledged to assist police with their investigation. Once a poster boy of the Premier League, his public image was shattered in 2011 when he tried to hush up an affair with model and Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.
Giggs spent £150,000 on an injunction to prevent the story being exposed – before eventually giving up on his anonymity after a lengthy legal battle.
Meanwhile it emerged he had also had an eight-year affair with his younger brother Rhodri’s wife Natasha – and paid her £500 to abort his child weeks before her wedding.
Giggs’s wife Stacey, who has two children by the Welshman – Zach, 14, and 17-year-old Liberty – initially stuck by him.
But she lost patience with his philandering and the couple split in 2016, sparking a £40million divorce battle.
It came amid reports that Giggs had struck up a ‘flirty’ friendship with a PR girl – later revealed to be Miss Greville.
He finally went public with the relationship in 2018 after whisking her away for a holiday in Italy, eight months after his divorce. Giggs later hired her as head of PR for GG Hospitality, the firm he owns with former Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville.
However Giggs has most recently been linked with DJ and model Helen Stelling Holt, 30, after they met during one of her events at Old Trafford. Meanwhile his ex-wife Stacey, 42, moved her new boyfriend – pop star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Max George, 31 – into her six-bedroom former marital home, which is on the same street as Sunday night’s incident.
Last June George said in an interview with Closer Magazine that he wanted to settle down with his new love, admitting: ‘I’ve always wanted to get married, and I love kids.
‘I wouldn’t be with her if I didn’t see a future.’ The £3.5million mansion is currently up for sale. A spokesman for Greater
‘Public image was shattered’
Manchester Police said: ‘Police were called at 10.05pm on Sunday to reports of a disturbance. A woman in her thirties sustained minor injuries but did not require any treatment.’
A spokesman for the ex-player said: ‘Mr Giggs denies all allegations of assault made against him. He is co-operating with the police and will continue to assist them with their ongoing investigations.’
The Football Association of Wales cancelled a scheduled press conference to announce Giggs’ squad for the upcoming matches following what it referred to as an ‘alleged incident’ involving the coach.
Yesterday it said: ‘The Football Association of Wales and Ryan Giggs have mutually agreed that he will not be involved in the upcoming international camp. Our agreed immediate priority is preparing the team for the upcoming international matches.’