Celtic hero reveals big money offers as he reluctantly left Hoops and his awkward moment with David and Victoria Bechkam

Scottish Sun

02-05-2025

He's also revealed which Parkhead stars make his all time XI
FOOTY SPICE Celtic hero reveals big money offers as he reluctantly left Hoops and his awkward moment with David and Victoria Bechkam
A LEGEND of Celtic and the English Premier League has detailed the huge offers that tried to tempt him away from Parkhead before he reluctantly left.
He's also revealed an awkward moment with the Beckhams after his joke at the expense of Victoria.
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Brian McClair first made his name known at Celtic
Credit: SNS
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He then moved to Manchester United and became a legend there
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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He, standing second left, played with some of United's biggest ever stars including David Beckham, standing far right
Credit: Getty
Brian McClair made more than 200 appearances for Celtic in the 1980s and score 126 goals which earned him a massive move to Manchester United.
The 30-time Scotland international would play at Old Trafford for over 10 years, playing alongside some huge names as he helped welcome the legendary Class of '92 to the team.
McClair came through the youth ranks of Aston Villa but at senior level he began playing in Scotland with Motherwell.
Billy McNeil signed the forward just a month before he resigned from his role in the Parkhead dugout, but the player would stick around for four years.
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Now he's shared what happened that led himself leaving Celtic despite having no plans to do so after winning a league title and a Scottish Cup.
Speaking to fellow former Celt Frank McAvennie on his podcast Let Me Be Frank, he revealed that contract talks were paused in winter of 1986-87 with his deal running out at the end of the season.
He was informed that meant he was entitled to speak with other clubs, which was something he wasn't intending on: "I said 'thanks very much for letting me know', but I had no other intention at that particular point apart from playing for Celtic.
"I think it was a journalist let me know that Alex Ferguson was interested which surprised me because you're talking about Manchester United.
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"I'd been a supporter of theirs since the early 70s, I knew all about them and the players they had and what players were available.
"It was certainly a big boost to my confidence, thinking I would be one of the players he'd like to recruit.
Man Utd legend looks like a new man with bushy beard and grey hair
"But it was never absolutely nailed on that that was it and I was not going to play for Celtic anymore. That came down to the very end.
"The decision I made to go to Manchester was because [Ferguson] made more of a concerted effort than Celtic did."
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But despite his original reluctance to leave Glasgow behind, he believes the Manchester Giants were the right choice.
He continued: "It was never anything to do with financial situations because every club that was interested in me then - Spurs, Chelsea, Cologne, a few other teams from abroad, Celtic as well - all offered me more money.
"I felt quite good about that, that I'd gone somewhere for football reasons rather than financial reasons.
"Otherwise I'd have gone to Germany, or to Chelsea they offered a ridiculous amount of money, even then."
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After joining the Red Devils he became the first player to score 20 goals in a league season for the club since George Best - going on to finish with a total of 127 goals in 471 appearances.
The Reds were not quite a dominant powerhouse when McClair arrived, it was halfway through his United career when the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Gary and Phil Neville were introduced.
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McClair shared an awkward story about a joke aimed at Victoria Beckham
Credit: PA
And the 61-year-old who those legends saw as an experienced older teammate to learn from has told of a time he might have accidentally offended a young Becks as his relationship with the pop icon first came about.
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He said: "My kids love the Spice Girls, and unfortunately my grandchildren like them now so I've got to play it in the car.
"We were playing at Stamford Bridge and Victoria was there.
"We were on the bus outside the player's lounge and she was standing at the top of the steps. So she was right at the level of where we'd be sitting.
"You could see her close up and she had acne, right.
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"I used to write this column in a magazine and I used to find things that I thought were funny to put in the magazine, some of them were truthful and some of them were made up.
"About six weeks after this event I went home and said to my kids I saw one of the Spice Girls. And they said 'aw Dad, which one?!' and I said 'Spotty Spice'.
"And the kids are going 'you mean Sporty?' and I say 'no, no, the one with the black dress'.
"'Aw that's Posh' and I say no, no she's spotty. Spotty Spice.
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"So I put this in the magazine and I had no idea they [Victoria and David] were in a relationship.
"[David] didn't say anything to me."
Asked if that was because the up-and-coming players were scared of him, he replied: "Oh aye, they were scared of all of us [older players], particularly me with things I'm writing in the magazine."
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Kenny Dalglish is in McClair's all-time teammate XI, but they never met at Celtic
Credit: Scottish News and Sport
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"It was respectful, I think.
"He's a good lad, David."
But NONE of Beckham or his fellow '92 heroes made it into McClair's all-time XI of his teammates, with his time in Scotland very prominent in the list.
The United representation comes in the form of Denis Irwin, Gary Pallister, Norman Whiteside, and Eric Cantona.
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Kenny Dalglish joins the Frenchman up front as an international teammate of McClair for a short period.
Gordon Strachan makes it as a fellow United and Scotland player before he went on to manage both the national team and Celtic
And five more legends of the green and white round out the side.
Pat Bonner is in goals and outfield he has Danny McGrain, Roy Aitken, Paul McStay, and Tommy Burns.
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