- Gary Neville and Brian McClair are at odds over Man United’s walkout song
- Both men have claimed they were responsible for choosing ‘This Is The One’
- Ian Ladyman: Why I’m glad England lost against Brazil – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
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Gary Neville has doubled down on his claim that he chose Manchester United’s walkout song at Old Trafford despite Brian McClair denying his story.
United’s players walk out of the tunnel to the beginning of the Stone Roses’ iconic hit ‘This Is The One’, taken from their self-titled debut album, on home matchdays.
Neville has long taken credit for bringing the record to United’s home and revealed that he selected the song while captain to better reflect the club’s Mancunian roots.
But McClair, who spent over a decade at United between 1987 and 1998, alleged that he was given the honour by Sir Alex Ferguson long before Neville became skipper.
While guesting on broadcasting legend Geoff Shreeves’ brand new podcast, Football, Music and Me, Neville was asked to respond to McClair’s explanation.
‘Brian McClair left Man United in 1998,’ Neville said. ‘The Stone Roses didn’t start getting played until 2006. What I don’t rule out is that it was maybe played when Brian was there. I can’t remember that at all.
‘But what I do know is that when I came as captain, there were two things. We didn’t have music in the dressing room, the manager said no. I’m not sure Roy [Keane] liked it at the time so it was never brought forward.
‘But when I became captain, I think Patrice [Evra] or Rio [Ferdinand] said, “Can we have music in the dressing room?” I went and asked the manager and he said yes. We made sure it was a song that represented the whole dressing room.
‘That was the only thing that I wanted at the time, not to have one kind of music but to have a different representation of music of everybody that was in our dressing room and their different likes. At the time, we were coming out to some Rocky song.
‘Basically, I said it wasn’t right. We hadn’t been successful for three years. I dispute Alan’s [Keegan] record, where he came to see me.
‘I think I went to the club secretary, Ken Merrett, and said I thought we needed to change the song on the way out. There’s no doubt I was asked. If you look on the internet and say who put This Is The One on at Old Trafford, it will say Gary Neville.
‘This is not from recent times, this is going back historically.
‘Brian left nine years before that. If that song was being played in the mid-90s and I’d not remembered it at that point… I wouldn’t call Brian a liar. Brian’s not a liar, he’s a man of honour. I’d need to speak to Brian.’
McClair took to social media to declare that Neville had potentially misremembered.
Posting on X, he wrote: ‘A figment of Alan and Gary’s fertile imagination!
‘Fergie wasn’t happy with Tina Turner, he wanted “Walk Away” by Matt Monroe, when I laughed at this, he stormed off and suggested I pick a tune (not his exact words!)
‘I chose the Roses, man!’
Listen to Geoff Shreeves’ new podcast Football, Music and Me here.
