"I first set eyes on Bobby Charlton when he made his debut for England against Scotland at Hampden Park in April 1958, just two months after surviving the Munich air disaster. "I was there as a Scotland fan, stood on the terraces by the corner flag, and I remember Tom Finney playing as an outside-left against Alex Parker, who was a very good full-back.
On one occasion, Finney got the better of Parker, took the ball to the byline and cut it back across the box for Bobby, who hammered it into the roof of the net from 16 yards out. "In those days, you didn’t have players jumping on top of each other when they scored, and Bobby just jogged back to the halfway line with a couple of slaps on the back from his teammates. READ MORE: Sir Bobby Charlton was a legend who made United greats stop in their stride READ MORE: United vs City latest from Old Trafford "But the Scottish keeper sprinted out of his goal 40 yards to congratulate him, not just because it was a great goal, but also because of what Bobby had been through.
Everyone in the stadium that day could see there was a bit of magic about him but also some steel. "The personal connection between us began almost three decades later when I was manager of Aberdeen and Bobby was a director of Manchester United when they were looking for a new manager. "The directors came to meet me in Glasgow and asked what my vision was for the job.
I said I would take the same approach I had at Aberdeen, by looking to build up the whole club, not just the team, and that I would do that by developing young players.