Wellington Phoenix defender Scott Wootton made his debut for Manchester United in the presence of stars such as Dwight Yorke – now the two come head to head again in the A-Leagues, writes Tom Smithies.
For Scott Wootton it was a boon, not a burden – seeing the history of his club, the layer upon layer of success, all around him, and soaking it up like the rays of the sun.
Two decades after he sat in the Manchester United dressing room, watching David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke and others preparing for a special game, the pleasure is still clear in the Wellington defender’s voice at being part of that Old Trafford night.
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The fact that football’s twists of fortune now pitch Wellington against the Yorke-coached Macarthur FC on Saturday is, as Wootton says himself, a good reason to pause and remember his time at United – not least his part in Gary Neville’s testimonial when players who had dominated British and at times European football reformed to pay tribute to the club stalwart.
The startling appearance of Sir Alex Ferguson at Macarthur training last week to catch up with Yorke was another blast from the past for Wootton, a coach whose shadow could silence an entire youth team squad from half a pitch length away.
On one particular night in 2011, though, there was only the broadest of smiles from Ferguson as a packed Old Trafford paid tribute to Neville – with Wootton on the bench for United in the friendly against Juventus as a reward for his consistency in the reserve team aged 19.
“To be picked to go and be involved in Gary Neville’s testimonial was amazing, because I knew that the likes of Dwight Yorke and David Beckham were going to be there, these types of players, so for me it was huge excitement,” Wootton recalls now to KEEPUP. “In the dressing room, for a young lad it was just amazing to be around the players with their history at the club.
“In terms of the status of the players, what they’d won, what they’d achieved, it was just amazing to feel… well, the aura that they carried really, the presence when someone like Yorke walked in the room. Beckham, Scholes, Cole as well, all these players were just amazing, really.
“I didn’t feel pressure to follow in their footsteps, so to speak, it was just more really enjoying the experience. I’d had a really good season personally and I assume that was a little bit of a reward for myself to be involved in that game.
“I think that it was the week before United and Barcelona played in the Champions League final so it was a really relaxed feel, a really calm atmosphere on the day. The memories and great moments, you don’t really think about them until you get asked these types of questions and you have a few seconds to sit back and think: Wow, that was a tremendous experience.”
Wootton smiles at the fact his career post-United will bring him up against Yorke now. “He’s had a really good start to his managerial career – they beat us in the Australia Cup which wasn’t ideal, went on to win that, and he’s had a good start in the league,” Wootton says.
“I wouldn’t say I’m massively surprised, he’s got a good pedigree and he had an amazing career – he played with a lot of players who have gone on to be successful managers, especially having worked under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I don’t think there’ll ever be another manager like Sir Alex, who’s been at a club for such a long period of time that they had complete domination of every aspect of the whole football club, from the academy to the first team.
“He’d come and watch us train sometimes and he could be stood 30 meters away but the aura and the presence that he carried, I’d never seen anything like it. When he would walk into the canteen, and we’d be sat having a laugh and a joke, you’d see him just about to enter the room and you’d shut up and be silent straight away because he was entering the room.
“There’s obviously some ingredients within that United squad of being a leader and being a manager, so I hope it turns into a successful (coaching) career for Dwight Yorke too – just not with three points on Saturday.”
In fact, Yorke is by no means the only touch point in the Isuzu UTE A-League with Wootton’s career, that after United took in spells at Leeds United, MK Dons, Plymouth and Morecambe as well as others on loan – in the process, playing with or against Jack Rodwell and Adam Le Fondre (Sydney FC), Jay O’Shea and Tom Aldred (Brisbane Roar), Craig Noone (Macarthur) and current team-mate David Ball.
“You know, that was a big thing for me last season, joining the league,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of research and I spoke to a lot of people who have been here. Warren Joyce who managed Melbourne City, he was my reserve manager (at United), amazing guy and amazing manager, he told me about the quality here.
“When I joined the big thing for me was, Jack Rodwell had just come over, and Carl Jenkinson and Daniel Sturridge at the start of last season, that’s three England international players. You look at Charlie Austin, who’s joined this year and his pedigree.
“These are all players who have had good careers, spent some time in the Premier League, so the pedigree is very, very good. It’s not easy to come over here and play. It’s a lot harder than I think people in England give it credit for it.
“Maybe because it’s so far away. But I certainly can vouch for it being a lot better than what I expected even though I’d actually spoken to people about coming over.”
