Maurice Watkins
Solicitor and sports executive who played a key role in the resurgence of Manchester United
MAURICE WATKINS, who has died aged 79, was a solicitor and sports executive who was probably best known for his long association with Manchester United; a club director for 28 years, he oversaw dozens of transfers and acted in a legal capacity for several of the club’s players, including Eric Cantona during his “kung fu” trial of 1995.
The Frenchman had been charged with assault when he drop-kicked a Crystal Palace supporter who was taunting him after he had been sent off at Selhurst Park, Palace’s ground.
“We thought [the trial] was going rather well until the magistrate sentenced Eric to two weeks in prison,” Watkins recalled. “We lodged an immediate appeal and bail application, but Eric was pretty upset when he was whipped down to the cells.”
Though bail pending appeal was initially refused, a frantic three hours at a crown court down the road secured Cantona’s freedom – his two-week jail sentence was reduced to community service on appeal – and the enigmatic Frenchman gave his celebrated press conference, at which he uttered two sentences – “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much” – then got up and left the room.
Watkins, who was United’s legal adviser at the time, recalled: “The whole case had been so big I felt Eric had to say something. We started to draft a speech on a piece of paper and he asked what the boat was that catches fish. Then he asked what the birds were that fly over the sea. Eric went on writing then showed me what he wanted to say.
“Everyone thinks because of the expression on my face that I didn’t know what he was going to say. But I did – and I often wonder what happened to that piece of paper.”
Edward Maurice Watkins was born in Manchester on November 30 1941. He won a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School, going on to graduate in Law from University College London.
Admitted as a solicitor in 1966, he joined the Manchester firm James Chapman and Co in 1968, remaining there until 2006.
Besides Cantona, other high-profile clients included the broadcaster Stuart Hall, who pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault.
He began working as a lawyer for United in 1976, and one of his early tasks was to oversee the sacking of Tommy Docherty, the club’s first-team manager. Though he had just led his players to a famous victory against Liverpool in the 1977 FA Cup final, a few weeks later he was dismissed after admitting to an affair with Mary, the wife of the club’s physio Laurie Brown (the couple went on to spend the rest of their lives together).
He joined United’s board in 1984, and two years later helped to transform the club’s fortunes with the recruitment of Alex Ferguson to the manager’s job. He and three other directors met the then-aberdeen boss at a motorway service station to persuade him to join, and he became one of the Scot’s closest allies as he led United back to greatness.
Watkins went on over the years to work on United’s behalf, extricating players from sticky situations and supervising the transfers of players like Andy Cole, Juan Sebastián Verón and Rio Ferdinand.
Perhaps one of his greatest contributions to the club came when Ferguson announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2001-02 season. He soon reversed his decision – thanks in part, he said, to his close friendship with Watkins.
His sporting activities went beyond football. Among many appointments, in 2002 he became a director of the Rugby Football League, and was chairman of British Swimming from 2012, overseeing the UK’S greatest era, with five gold medals, eight silvers and a bronze at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
Maurice Watkins, who was appointed CBE in 2011 for helping to raise £68 million as chairman of the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, married Judith; they had four sons but separated, and he is survived by his partner Elaine, along with their son and three sons of his marriage; a fourth son of the marriage predeceased him.
Maurice Watkins, born November 30 1941, died August 16 2021