A Liverpool and Leeds legend has revealed that he was rejected by Manchester United for being too small despite his family’s relationship with Sir Matt Busby.
Former Scotland international Gary McAllister won the First Division and made 294 appearances for Leeds before joining Coventry City. After four years at Highfield Road, the midfielder joined Liverpool and played a crucial part in the cup-winning treble side of 2001 at the age of 35.
McAllister arrived on a free transfer and was lauded by Gerard Houllier as his “most inspirational signing”. The Scot scored a penalty against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup semi-final, also scoring in the League Cup final penalty shootout and in the UEFA Cup final win against Alaves.
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However, his career could have panned out completely differently after he was rejected by United as a teenager over concerns he was too small, despite growing into a 6ft 1 central midfielder.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, on behalf of Lottoland football betting, McAllister recalled his time on trial with United and also opened up about his family’s relationship with legendary United boss Busby.
Hailing from the same region of Scotland, Busby nurtured the league -winning Busby Babes before rebuilding to become England’s first European Cup-winning team a decade later.
But McAllister grew up knowing Busby as a family friend before meeting the great man and the aura he carried.
McAllister said: “He (Busby) was friendly with uncles in my family. You have to understand, my family come from a place called Bellshill, and it’s not a big place. Everybody knew each other.
“So, Matt was obviously a legend in that part of the world. When I went down to Manchester United on trial as a boy, I was going down there for two or three years, from maybe 12 or 13 until I was 15 or 16.
“Yeah, I got to meet him. He was a man with an aura. When you walked into a room and he was there, you could feel that he was somebody who was very highly respected and had been a massive success at Manchester United.
“You know, he went through horrendous trauma as well at Manchester United with the plane crash. It was always very awe-inspiring meeting somebody like that.”
McAllister expanded on the reason why his trial at Old Trafford was unsuccessful but he takes amusement out of the ironic outcome of his career.
“The reason it didn’t work was because they thought I was going to be too small and it turns out I was 6ft 1, 6ft 2. It’s uncanny I ended up playing for their two biggest rivals!”