Exclusive: Sir Alex hailed me as ‘best in the country’ and I hit him in the face | OneFootball

Former Manchester United star Wes Brown looks back on his special relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson in an exclusive interview with Stretty News.

The versatile defender was born and raised in Manchester. Hence, he joined the club at an early age, and he cemented himself as one of the best rising talents in his generation on the national level.

While he wasn’t always a regular starter, the 46-year-old was always appreciated by his legendary manager, who once described him as ‘the best natural defender in the country’.

But instead of boasting about this lavish praise from one of the most decorated managers in history, Brown humbly downplayed it. He believes that Ferguson was referring to his ability to do the job without being handed detailed instructions.

“What a nice compliment, I would always say that we start our football careers very young,”  said Brown in his interview with Stretty News in collaboration with BetWright Casino.

“From the age of 14, I played for England U14, U15, U16 and so on… all the way up, so I’ve always been in the England squad at an early age, so when you get to Man Utd, you’re probably set to be among the best players for my own age in the country.”

“But then you obviously start growing up a bit. You become a man, you get the body of a man, and you still have to be able to go out and play against everybody else as normal.’ added the now-retired defender.

“Me and the manager, we had a great relationship. We had a very easy understanding. He would tell me something simple and I would just do it. He wouldn’t tell me how to defend, he would only say, ‘Wes, I need you to do this today’, and I would go ‘no problem boss’.

Wes Brown spent 15 years with Man Utd’s first team (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“That is the easiest way to explain it. So he would ask me something, but we wouldn’t have to go into detail about it. He never had to tell me how to do it, he would just ask me to do it, and then, more or less, I could pretty much do what he wanted me to do.

“That’s the best way I can put it to you! He’s not saying I’m better than this person or that; he was only saying you could send Wes out, and he’d be able to just do it. I think that’s what he meant.”

Wes Brown considered Sir Alex Ferguson a father figure

While spending 15 years in United’s first team, Brown was inevitably on the receiving end of Ferguson’s famous hairdryer treatment on several occasions.

Nevertheless, the Englishman didn’t truly mind it, as he came to understand that it was only driven by love, comparing the iconic manager to a tough father.

“I was very lucky because I obviously come from Manchester, so I joined the club at 13. So from the age of 13, every now and then, you would meet the manager, and you would be scared of the manager. He’s like your dad. Your dad can be scary, especially back then. Because if your day told you off, you’d be told off.

“It was exactly the same for whatever reason. I don’t think there’s another guy who can make you feel like that, but he somehow did,” noted the former Man Utd defender.

“When I first got to the first team, I was still using public transport to the games and stuff (laughs), so he told me, ‘you can’t do that!’

“He would also give me life lessons as you go on, but never really shouted at me in the sense that ‘I’m really disappointed’, but only that ‘okay, you’ve done that, but you can’t do it anymore’.

“I was only a normal lad from around the corner, and some of these things I didn’t understand. So he shouted at me numerous times, but when you’re there, you understand that it’s only out of love. He’s always trying to help you, but sometimes he has to do it the hard way.”

Brown reveals embarrassing moment after hitting Ferguson in the face

When asked to share an amusing anecdote involving him and Ferguson, Brown revealed how he once inadvertently struck the Scotsman in the face with a 50-yard shot after a training session.

“I will tell you this one, it was very early on, and honestly, I didn’t know where to put my face. Training had finished, and we were all messing about. We’re talking 1999 stuff. I always remember that I was still very quiet back then with the first team.

“But for whatever reason, I just decided to kick the ball in the air. That was straight after training, everything was finished, and it hit the manager in the face from about 50 yards.

“I just remember him turning around, and he was red raw, and I just raised my arm and said ‘boss, I didn’t mean to do that’.

“He looked at me, and I won’t say the exact words. But I remember panicking for about two days, but then you just forget about it and carry on.

“That was one of many incidents, because I was very young and I was still learning life as well. I have been with the first team since the age of 18.

“So your journey of being a man and an adult is happening at the same time, so there were times when he shouted at me about non-football stuff as well, trying to teach me the right way to do things, which I honestly now, when I look back on it, I’m grateful because he was doing it for a good reason.”

On behalf of Stretty News, we would like to thank Brown for his openness and availability, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.