Jonny Evans recalled the moment Manchester United's players first got wind of Sir Alex Ferguson's imminent retirement.
With the title already won, United's players and staff were playing at their annual golf day at Dunham Forest, when the rumours about Ferguson stepping down went into overdrive.
“We were playing in fourballs,” said Evans, now Leicester captain. “As we were passing each other on the course, we were shouting things like 'Is it true?' and 'Have you heard anything?' because it was all United players and staff.
“There were rumours circulating then and it was the next day when he announced it. It was a bit of a shock, but I suppose not a shock in a way, because you could understand his decision.
“It was more like 'what's it going to look like going forward?' because it was just so new to everyone and no-one really knew how to deal with it.”
Evans, who won three Premier League titles at United, remembers the final two games of Ferguson's reign and the players wanting to send their legendary boss out on a high. “We'd obviously won the league that year quite comfortably and early, so we were just playing out the season and wanting to make the most of that," said Evans, who played in a 5-5 draw at West Brom, Ferguson's last game in charge.
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“The biggest thing you can take from Sir Alex stepping down was that we'd won the league quite easily, then the following season we finished seventh. Sir Alex leaving had a much bigger impact on the club than people envisaged.”
As he was for so many United players, Ferguson was a huge influence on Evans, who said his former manager's faith in young players was what set him apart. “I remember meeting Sir Alex when I was 10 and came over to United on trial,” said Evans.
“We were staying at a hotel with a lot of other trialists. Sir Alex came to the hotel to meet all of us, which showed the kind of work ethic he had.
“When I think back, in terms of the effort he put into me from a really young age, he had such a lot of faith in me and so much time. So many times he picked me and so many other young lads, who had come through the academy, for the first team.
“You don't see that so much now. But the faith he had in us, the support he gave us and the trust he had in us, was incredible. Obviously there were players he worked with briefly, like Robin van Persie, whose goals won us the league in Sir Alex's final season.
“But with the majority of the players, like myself, he had a deeper connection, a trust and a bond built up over years.”
Ferguson has kept in touch with Evans, long after both had left United, another remarkable aspect of his loyalty to those the 81-year-old worked with.
“He texted me after I won the FA Cup with Leicester a couple of years ago and when I was playing at the Euros for Northern Ireland,” said Evans. “I saw him at a game at Old Trafford not long ago and he was with his friends, but he pulled up a chair and asked me to join them.
“He said to me 'Do you remember the first goal you scored for us?' and I said 'I do, it was against Wolves ', to which he said 'Five years I waited for you to score that goal!'. Bear I mind I'd been gone from the club a long time, but he remembered the timeframe, and that attention to detail was just incredible.”
