How United came together to give a timely reminder of the club's heart and soul, writes CHRIS WHEELER as Fergie and Jonny Evans lead tributes at funeral of beloved receptionist Kath Phipps

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As Sir Alex Ferguson rose to his feet, a little unsteady now having turned 83 on New Year’s Eve, he sought out Ruben Amorim and his players in Manchester Cathedral and gave a little nod in their direction.

‘Good result yesterday by the way,’ smiled Ferguson, impressed as the rest of us with a 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday. ‘Kath would be happy.’

Even on this day of all days, the funeral of Kathleen Evelyn Phipps, Manchester United came first. She dedicated her life to the club, so why would Monday be any different?

As Ferguson spoke, his words echoed around this spectacular gothic cathedral. It was here that United paid tribute to George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton, which gives some indication as to the esteem in which Kath Phipps is held.

Recalling his arrival in November 1986, Ferguson said: ‘You realised then that Manchester United was run by one girl.’

To appreciate United’s love for the 85-year-old who passed away in early December after working for the club for 56 years, you only had to look around the cathedral yesterday.

Sir Alex Ferguson attended Kath Phipps' funeral on Monday at Manchester Cathedral

Phipps pictured with ex-United manager Ferguson during his time in charge at the club

Manchester United players including Marcus Rashford (second left) wore club suits on the day

Ferguson arrived with his former kit man Albert Morgan. David Beckham, who flew into the country to spend a few hours with Kath in her final days and posted a poignant photo of his tattooed hand in hers, walked in with his mum Sandra.

Other members of the Class of 92 — Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs — were sitting together. Dotted around were other members of Ferguson’s Treble-winning team, Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who used to bring her bars of chocolate back from Norway.

Brian Kidd was there from the Sixties, Lou Macari from the Seventies, Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes from the Eighties, Gary Pallister, Paul Parker and Denis Irwin from the Nineties. Only a filming commitment kept Eric Cantona away.

As well as the current squad who travelled into town on the team bus, there were members of the academy; the latest generation to grow up at United under Kath’s wing.

Sir Dave Brailsford, representing co-owners Ineos, arrived with chief operating officer Collette Roche and rubbed shoulders with the former club doctor Steve McNally, chef Mike Donnelly and club executives stretching back several decades.

Staff, including some who have lost their jobs in recent times, turned out in force to show their love. Many of them helped Kath through the pandemic and were there again when she fell terminally ill, organising a rota to regulate round-the-clock visits and care. Ferguson’s chauffeur Steve Webb drove her beloved West Highland terrier Maisie to see her and has now adopted the dog.

Manchester United might be one of the biggest sports brands in the world, but many people don’t appreciate that at heart this has always been a family club. A big family, but a family all the same, and that was never more evident than yesterday.

Sadly, at times over the last year, the sense of unity has felt under threat as Ineos have worked meticulously — some would say ruthlessly — to steady a ship that has been listing after the Glazer years of over-spending and under-achievement. Jobs being cut, charity donations withdrawn, a battle to comply with profit and sustainability rules, a team struggling on the pitch, a stadium in disrepair. 

Manchester United's much-loved former receptionist Phipps died aged 85 in December

David Beckham went to the funeral with his mother Sandra and family to pay his respects

Paul Scholes (left) and Denis Irwin (right), part of Manchester United's hugely-successful team that won the Treble back in 1999, attended the service at Manchester Cathedral

Ruben Amorim led his Manchester United playing squad into the ceremony on Monday

Phipps was a mainstay behind the scenes throughout Ferguson's tenure at Manchester United

The success and solidarity that Kath enjoyed for much of her life at United after starting work there in the wake of the 1968 European Cup win feels like it belongs to a bygone era. 

At least for one day, though, the problems were all forgotten. The United family came together again to celebrate Kath Phipps and all that is great about this club. Actually, it is one and the same thing.

The stories told yesterday paid tribute to her big heart, professionalism over more than half a century, and her sense of fun.

Ferguson is known to have been mystified at how the bottles of Bacardi in his office at Old Trafford kept going down at an alarming rate until he realised that it was Kath’s favourite tipple, and that she had been nipping in while hosting in the directors’ box on match days.

When he visited her at home in Irlam in her final days, he found her in bed sipping ‘what I didn’t know at the time was Bacardi and coke’.

‘Did you speak to the doctor about that?’ he asked her. ‘No, I never asked him,’ came the reply. ‘I thought that was fantastic,’ added Ferguson. ‘And she was happy. She was content. She was sitting there enjoying a wee Bacardi and coke and everybody was around her.’

Recalling how she went to see his wife Cathy in hospital in her own time shortly after the Fergusons moved to Manchester from Aberdeen, Sir Alex said: ‘She was a real sweetheart. She loved everyone, she loved people.

‘When the training ground moved to Carrington, if anyone came to see me as soon as they walked in the door, she would say, “Alex is expecting you, have a seat and I’ll get you a cup of tea”. She was doing that all her life. It was extraordinary, amazing.

‘What we’re seeing here today is a representation and honour of a really special person.’

Ex-Red Devils captain Roy Keane (right) paid his respects alongside teammate Nicky Butt (left)

Legendary former United and England captain Bryan Robson was at the funeral on Monday

United defender Jonny Evans, now in a second spell at his boyhood club, spoke on behalf of the players. The Northern Irishman recalled how he had heard of Kath even before joining United because he read a Q&A in a football magazine in which Beckham claimed that she was his first kiss.

‘We all got a kiss from Kath,’ said Evans. ‘Each match day at Old Trafford, the players who weren’t playing in the game would make the short trip up to the directors’ box and Kath would always be there to greet us on the way. Not one player ever got past Kath. Dressed in a club suit, arms held wide, a caring hug and kiss on the cheek. As Darren Fletcher reminded me, “That’s my boy”, she’d say.’

Evans smiled as he recalled Kath giving Jaap Stam advice on how to mark a particular opponent, and how he had offered her a lift home from Carrington shortly after she returned to work last year.

‘I took her by the hand and helped her into the car and it felt I was driving royalty,’ said Evans. ‘With a calm authority, she told me not to stop for autographs as she waved to the fans outside.

‘A few months earlier in the spring, I stopped by in reception as I was heading to the gym to check in on her, as most players did. She had been struggling with an ear infection that affected her hearing and we had joked the day before about her not being able to understand my accent.

‘When I asked if she was OK, she reached out her arms to me like she would normally do. She wrapped them around me, except this time instead of kissing me she rested her head on my chest and tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I can’t hear people properly, I keep getting things muddled up, and I don’t want people to think I’m not good at my job”. I couldn’t help but be amazed at the dedication of this incredible woman.

Phipps, who appeared in David Beckham's Netflix documentary last year, started working at Manchester United as the club's first switchboard operator back in 1968

‘Wes Brown summed her up for me when he said she was the best on a good day and the best on a bad day. We all loved her so much.’

They really did. As they filed out of the cathedral yesterday into the cold afternoon air, the snow had melted and there were blue skies overhead. The great and the good of Manchester United gathered to remember one of their own.

Borrowing a quote from Sir Matt Busby which is on the wall in the Salford Suite at Old Trafford, Jason Leach — another long-serving employee who has performed a variety of roles — paid his own tribute. ‘Manchester is people, Salford is people, United is people,’ he said.

‘Maybe the great man had Kath in mind when he came up with that. She epitomises everything that is great about this football club.’