Ryan Giggs: What happened to coaching career of Man Utd icon?
2025-01-10
Category: news

Ryan Giggs is the Premier League's most decorated player and a successful former Wales manager, so why is he seen by some as being out in the cold in football?Despite all that he has achieved in the game, 18 months after domestic abuse charges against him were dropped, the 51-year-old's only role in the sport is as director of football at Salford City - the League Two club he co-owns with his friends and former Manchester United team-mates.Formally found not guilty after his ex-girlfriend declined to give evidence in a retrial, Giggs - who always denied the charges - was said to be determined to rebuild his managerial career.But with even the Premier League yet to find a place for him in their Hall of Fame, and more than four years since his final match in charge of Wales, some wonder when - or whether - he will make it back.
More than a quarter of a century has passed since Giggs scored one of the FA Cup's iconic goals, his mazy run and finish against Arsenal in 1999 securing Manchester United's place in the final.On Saturday, in the same competition, Giggs will return to the national spotlight when Salford City make the short journey to nearby Manchester City in a game being shown live on BBC One.Giggs has been a regular presence in Salford's Moor Lane dugout in recent months and will surely relish the occasion against the club where he started his playing career before joining Manchester United aged 14. But for many viewers, it will be a first sighting of Giggs for some time, and a reminder of the way his managerial career was derailed by controversy.A key member of Manchester United's historic 1999 Treble-winning squad, Giggs had spells as both player-coach and interim manager at Old Trafford. He then became Wales boss in January 2018 and led them to qualification for Euro 2020 - played in the summer of 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But following his arrest on suspicion of assault in November 2020, he stood down, before formally resigning from the role in 2022.Giggs then stood trial, with jurors failing to reach majority verdicts on charges he had assaulted his former girlfriend Kate Greville and her sister Emma in the same incident in November 2020. The jury also failed to reach a majority verdict on the charge that he had subjected Greville to controlling and coercive behaviour during a three-year period.Denying ever assaulting a woman, Giggs admitted to being unfaithful in all his previous relationships. And while his barrister Chris Daw KC said the allegations of physical abuse were the lies of a "scorned" woman, a number of abusive messages he sent to Greville were read out in court, with Giggs admitting threatening her in one.The Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) subsequent decision in 2023 to withdraw the charges, after Greville said she felt "worn down" by the process and could not face testifying again, meant the abandonment of a planned retrial.Giggs had been cleared, with Daw saying his "deeply relieved" client intended "to rebuild his life and a career as an innocent man". But with his reputation - already tainted by extra-marital affairs - having suffered a further blow from the revelations in the original trial, his future was uncertain.
Giggs' 10% stake in Salford City - the club he bought in 2014 with former Manchester United team-mates Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes - enabled him to quietly return to the game. Unlike his former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who appeared as a defence character witness on behalf of Giggs during the trial, the group known as the 'Class of 92' stayed away from court. But the former team-mates - including David Beckham, who also invested in Salford City in 2019 - have backed their friend since.Salford City did not formally announce Giggs' appointment as director of football when his role first emerged last March. But its YouTube channel has since featured an in-house interview with him, showing Giggs helping at training and on the touchline alongside manager Karl Robinson. Robinson has described Giggs' assistance as "outstanding", with Salford City enjoying a fine run of form and hopeful of promotion - they currently occupy the third automatic promotion place in the League Two table.Giggs also featured prominently in a behind-the-scenes documentary on Sky TV which followed the fortunes of the club.Manchester United - where Giggs made a record 963 appearances across 25 years - have also welcomed back their former star. There have been a handful of low-key invites to the Old Trafford directors' box, and a commercial appearance in Indonesia last summer on behalf of the club's official Far East banking partner Maybank., externalBut while all this points to reintegration, elsewhere the sport seems more reticent.Despite holding a record 13 Premier League winners' medals, Giggs is not among the 24 inductees in the top-flight's Hall of Fame. In 2024 he was missing from a 15-player shortlist for the latest set of nominations, with many concluding the controversy over his character lay behind his absence. The Premier League declined to comment on the reasons for him being overlooked.BBC Sport has also been told by a number of sources that Giggs was not considered by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) when it sacked Rob Page as national team manager last year. Some senior figures were mindful of a risk that a return at that stage could face resistance, and be perceived as jarring with the governing body's 'For Her' strategy, external "aimed at transforming the landscape of women's football across Wales".  Giggs - who during the Qatar World Cup was seen watching his former team at a bar near his Cheshire home - did not formally apply for the role, and the FAW appointed Craig Bellamy, leaving some wondering when the chance to step back into senior management may come for the former winger.
"I know he was very disappointed to leave the Wales job," Dave Adams, the FAW's chief football officer who worked alongside Giggs for a year, told BBC Sport."We'd qualified for the Euros, which is a big achievement, but he never got the chance to go there with the team. "I'm sure that was really difficult for him and I would guess he still has that drive to feel the success as a head coach that he did as a player."When managers have been out of the game, you can look at going back as an assistant, but it has to be at a level of work that is respectful to you and your experience."If there was a former team-mate managing somewhere it could be an easy fit, but of that generation there are not many at a level that would benefit him. "It is such a competitive market and young coaches are very prominent now, so there won't be as many opportunities that would work for him."If you were an owner of a club, you still have that track record as a player of being part of a winning culture, a serial winner, someone who would demand high standards. "His track record with Wales shows how he managed a successful transition period, which owners are looking for in managers now. The game does move on very quickly, but when I last spoke to Ryan he was spending a lot of his time watching games, so he is keeping on top of things and I'm sure he would be able to adapt."Others, however, have concerns. In 2023, domestic abuse campaigners expressed their disappointment, external after the CPS decided not to pursue a retrial.BBC Sport asked the charity Women's Aid about Giggs' more visible role at Salford City, and the prospect of him returning to coaching. In a statement it said it is "disheartening to see alleged perpetrators of abuse being considered to return to elevated positions of influence and power". "Football is a global sport followed passionately by millions of young boys and men, many of whom look up to players, managers and directors as role models," it continued."Football clubs, and the sports industry, have a responsibility to uphold respect, equality, and safety for women and children. "Women's Aid has shown through collaboration with football clubs how impactful these partnerships can be - we hope more clubs will follow these examples and take the opportunity to create real change."Giggs is yet to address the legal case in an interview, and BBC Sport was told he would not comment about it at this stage. Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester before the FA Cup match, he confirmed he wanted to return to management "one day"."I had the stint as Wales manager and loved it," said Giggs. "At the moment I'm enjoying being at Salford as director of football and enjoy watching the team, happy where I am, but eventually I would like to get back into management. On matchday I still get as excited as ever, probably more so than ever."
Those close to Giggs insist he has not applied for any management roles, and that after a period of reflection and time with family, this year could see him devote more effort to a comeback. So how realistic is that?"A manager is not just coaching a group of players, he is also an ambassador," says reputation management expert Tim Jotischky of the PHA Group."Although Giggs was not convicted of any criminal offence, the court case revealed deeply unedifying behaviour, and any club would have to weigh that up when considering whether he would be a suitable appointment. "They would have to think about the reaction from sponsors and commercial partners, as well as supporters."Football's fanbase has changed dramatically in the last few years. More than one in four spectators attending Premier League matches are estimated to be women, up from 15% in 2005 when Giggs was in his pomp. "Any club that appoints Giggs as manager would face a potential backlash from female fans that could extend to its commercial partners."Jotischky believes it would be easier for Giggs to rebuild his career overseas, and added his best hope of landing a job in England would be to "find a club with a thick-skinned owner who is more concerned with on-the-field success than off-the-field optics"."And if Giggs does, in time, land a managerial job he must be prepared to confront the allegations made against him," he added."He would need a media strategy to deal with the issue at the outset, or risk being dogged by endless questions about whether he is a suitable role model."
Away from Salford City, Giggs has plenty to keep himself busy.He has taken a keen interest in the highly promising career of his son Zach, who is in Sheffield United's youth system and was recently called up to the Wales Under-19s squad. And in November Giggs celebrated the birth of a baby daughter with his partner. He is a co-owner, alongside former Old Trafford team-mate Gary Neville, of Manchester hotels The Stock Exchange and Hotel Football, alongside other business interests including a padel venture - a game he says he tries to play "pretty much every day".But in terms of work, Giggs has said football management is where his heart lies, something he realised when he was placed in interim charge of Manchester United for four matches in 2014.Instead, come April, he will resume a tour of 'An Evening With Ryan Giggs' speaking engagements in front of paying audiences. Last year brought similar appearances in Northampton, Radlett and Chester, with attendees paying up to Â£250 to have "a chance to meet one of the greats of the game".At one, Giggs again expressed his wish that he could return to management, saying: "I loved managing Wales, obviously. I do miss it, so hopefully."But for now his wait continues, and it remains uncertain when - and if - that wait will end.