Legend United Legend United unrecognizable that urinated his teammates and drank a bottle of £ 200 champagne with a homeless person for 12 days Bender has forged a very different path in life.

It was May 26, 1999; It could be said that the most famous night in the history of Manchester United. An extraordinary change of detention time had seen Mister Alex FergusonThe victory of the secondary claim Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, and no player won larger than David May.

Not in the heat of the contest itself, you understand it. The defender of United, playing the second violin of Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam, never left the bank that night in Barcelona.

But once the dust settled, once the famous acute Premier League, the FA Cup and the European Cup roofs were completed and the celebrations could begin, May was everywhere.

They were May, head and shoulders on their teammates, leaning against David Beckham’s shoulder to get a hand on the trophy. May, in front and the center, flanked by the winning scorers of the Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Teddy Sheringham match, while the team posed for the photos. May orchesting to Faithful United for a cheerful interpretation of Sit Down, the success of 1991 by the Mancunian James band. The substitute had taken the center of the stage.

“He managed to make sure of a place in history by choosing the best place to enter all the photographs when the cup was built,” recalled his companion of United Jaap Stam with ironic fun in his autobiography in front.

‘Somehow got into the frame for each photo taken that night, even though he did not play. It was not only we who noticed.

The former Manchester United defender, David May, Top Center, looks up above his teammates after the dramatic club victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final

May, now 54 years, fought with injuries during his career of Old Trafford, but won his trophies part and became an outstanding joker in the locker room

From left to right, Nicky Butt, Teddy Sheringham and David Beckham celebrate with May, to the United 3-2 victory over Juventus in the semifinals of the 1999 Champions League in Turin

‘A few months later, an English magazine made a model of the most important images in history and put David’s head in each shot. It was funny and we made sure that I saw it.

For May, he is now 54 years old, everything was an integral part of his reputation as the joker of the Dress Room, an unvoyable role, can be imagined, in a team that included hardened high -ranking professionals such as Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Stam.

‘He would urinate the legs of the teammates in the shower, cut the cords of the new coaches of Nicky Butt or put the deep heat in the shorts of Kitman’. May saidwhich made 85 appearances for United between 1994 and 2003.

‘And some saw my biggest joke how to enter most of the photos when United won the European Cup.

‘I always thought that if I approached the trophy, I would be in the photos. I saw the trophy in a chair and I thought: “I’m having that.” So I picked it up and the rest is history. Although I did not play in the final, I was proud of my contribution to the acute.

In a season devastated by injuries, that contribution came in some key moments. May played only nine games in 1998/99, but began the victory of the last day over the Tottenham Hotspur that secured the title of the League and the final victory of the FA Cup of the following weekend against Newcastle.

David May ona The Premier League trophy after scoring in the 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough who secured the victory for the 1995/96 title of Manchester United

Since he retired from football in 2006, May has ventured into the wine business, he worked as an expert for Mutv and became a great fisherman. It is seen here in Thailand after catching a great tent

From left to right: Ronny Johnsen, Teddy Sheringham, Peter Schmeichel, Dwight Yorke and, of course, David May, parade the European Cup in the Nou Camp field in 1999

“He was able to roll and try two memorable occasions,” Stam wrote. “Both must have felt as a massive bonus for him.”

However, what perhaps ignored after the Nou camp, in the midst of all welcome races about May’s prominence in the celebrations, is that it was the time, rather the medal, which cared.

“That medal of the Champions League, honestly, does not mean anything for me,” recently said The podcast of greatness on demand. “The game was incredible, but the real medal means nothing, because I injured myself, I never kicked a ball in the Champions League.”

As that comment suggests, there was nothing from the great Charlie about May, but much of the winning mentality of Keane, Beckham, Peter Schmeichel and the rest of that remarkable team.

Therefore, May had his humble education in Oldham, Lancashire, thanking, and in particular his father, a former policeman who could have become a player himself if his own father could have taken him to train after a successful test in Sheffield United.

It was May’s father who pierced home the basic principles of the right and wrong; who fed his son’s ability without realizing; who kept him straight and narrow when the inevitable teenage temptations arrived.

From left to right: Lee Sharpe, Denis Irwin, Ryan Giggs, May and Gary Pallister celebrate after defeating Liverpool to win the 1996 FA Cup in Wembley

Sir Alex Ferguson monitored May’s progress for several years before signing for United

“My father was brilliant,” said May, remembering how his father would intervene when he wanted to go out with his companions on Thursday or Friday night. ‘(He would say): If you want to do it, do it. But if you want to get there, sacrifice.

May, who has struggled to instill the same principles in their own children, did not require more stimulus. Observed by football from an early age, he regularly attended games in Manchester City, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale, but, curiously, not united, and had an absolute conviction that he could forge a race in the game.

Unlike their two older brothers, that both were talented players in their own right, he succeeded, by putting the hard miles that he knew he would give him the best opportunity to reach the highest level.

“Where I lived there used to be a patio, and it sounds stupid, but every day after school was in that patio, kicking a ball against a wall on my own, left foot, right foot, approaches him, directing the ball,” said May, who finally graduated to play in a street light.

‘Hard work costs nothing.’

In 1988, that hard work was worthwhile in the form of a first professional contract with Blackburn Rovers. May, who was 18 at that time, would present 123 times for the Ewood Park outfit, establishing a reputation as a strong central half that was good in the ball and read the game well.

Even so, he was surprised when the former United Mark Robins striker, then playing for Norwich, approached him at the bar after a game by Carow Road and mentioned that Les Kershaw, the main explorer of the Old Trafford Club, had been looking at him.

“Good,” May replied.

In a short time, however, Kershaw approached and appeared.

‘What is happening with your contract?’ asked. ‘Alex Ferguson wants to sign you. He will call you next week.

Indeed, the call came. Ferguson revealed that May had been on his radar for a long time and was now sought as a replacement for the unconditional of the Steve Bruce club.

“I want you to replace Brucie,” Ferguson said. ‘We have seen you since you were a young man of 14, 15 years. We have always seen you, we have always watched you. We know your background. How do you want to sign for United?

May did not need to ask twice. Although the eventual form of his departure from Blackburn left a bitter taste.

“They accused me of being greedy in contract negotiations,” said May, who was £ 500 per week at that time and wanted less than half of the weekly salary of £ 9,000 of Alan Shearer.

There was also the little issue of his teammate David Batty, born in Leeds and no great Manchester United lover, calling him to his hotel room at 6 in the morning during a trip outside the Spurs.

‘Scoria, scum, slag’, Batty repeated the line. Similar calls followed at 15 minutes intervals, until you can disconnect the phone. I would not look back.

During the eight seasons that followed, the frequent problems of May injuries did not prevent him from accumulating an impressive trophy transport. He won two Premier League winners, a couple of FA glasses, and also, of course, the Champions League.

Initially intimidated by the stature of the players with whom he was suddenly surrounded, he can gradually find his feet and became a well -known practical joker.

“I filled a container with water and leaned it against Paul Parker’s door,” he said once. ‘Then I called it and escaped. He opened the door and the water was flooded. Although I denied it, Parks knew it was me.

But there would be a price to pay for all the trophies and the high Jinks, and that moment of calculation occurred when his contract expired in 2003. He left to contemplate the conclusion of his career of Old Trafford, May stared at an abyss.

“I struggled, big,” May. “Leaving United, I thought my fucking world was over.”

After a projection in the living room, a luxury watering hobby in Deansgate frequented for big and good, May found himself alone, grabbing a bottle of £ 300 champagne while heading home.

‘What do you have there, friend?’ A homeless man asked in a park bank.

“A bottle of champagne,” May replied.

‘Are we opening it?’ The stranger asked.

“Yes, he continues then, F *** IT,” said May, who proceeded to share the bottle with his new friend before embarking on a 12 -day bend that would culminate with him falling crying in his wife’s arms.

May would continue to finish his career in Burnley, where he played during a season before liquidating his career in the municipality of Bacup without League.

Since then, he has ventured into the wine trade, worked for Mutv, United’s internal payment television channel and became an avid fisherman. In spite of everything, his personal mantra has changed little since that glorious night at the Nou camp.

“You never accept defeat,” says May. “If you want it, go and get it.”