Paul McGrath and his biographer Cathal Dervan recall the good and bad times playing for Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Irish soccer international Paul McGrath's autobiography 'Ooh Aah, Paul McGrath: The Black Pearl of Inchicore' is written in conjunction with journalist Cathal Dervan.

Paul McGrath recalls playing for the Dublin youth football club Dalkey United. It was there he became acquainted with Billy Behan who was the chief scout in the Republic of Ireland for Manchester United. Scouts from other teams were not allowed to come near Paul McGrath and his future with Manchester United was decided.

In 1982 Paul McGrath moved to Manchester United making an immediate impact under manager Ron Atkinson. In 1986 Ron Atkinson was replaced by Alex Ferguson who arrived from Aberdeen. According to Cathal Dervan, Alex Ferguson arrived with,

A reputation to prove himself as a Manchester United manager.

Paul McGrath acknowledges his time at Manchester United under Alex Ferguson was not a happy one. Cathal Dervan believes that dealing with Paul McGrath and striker Norman Whiteside’s behaviour helped Alex Ferguson mature as a manager. This experience taught him how to handle current players like Eric Cantona.

The way he handled Paul was wrong and I think he learned from that.

In 1990 The English Football Association fined Paul McGrath £8,500 for comments he made about Alex Ferguson in a newspaper article,

It did cost me a lot of money.

Fortunes changed when in 1989 Paul McGrath signed for Aston Villa under manager Graham Taylor.
Paul McGrath was centre-back with Aston Villa when they took on favourites Manchester United in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup (1993–94 Football League Cup) at Wembley Stadium. Aston Villa won 3–1 denying Manchester United a domestic treble. After the win, Alex Ferguson shook hands with Paul McGrath,

I can’t believe that even to this day.

While many people presumed Paul McGrath earned a lot of money playing for Manchester United this was not the case.

Aston Villa doubled my wages when I went there.

Things have changed as players like Eric Cantona and Roy Keane can earn big figure sums and Manchester United is now one of the top paying football clubs.

This episode of ‘Kenny Live’ was broadcast on 23 April 1994. The presenter is Pat Kenny.