What Sir Alex Ferguson did when player knocked on his door with DVD asking for Man Utd trial

There are many tales involving Sir Alex Ferguson and the generosity he displayed but one story in particular sums him up as a manager and person.

After being released by Macclesfield Town, an 18-year-old Max Lonsdale was unsure about what his next move would be and he decided to go live and direct to the greatest manager in English football history.

Lonsdale, who had a spell living in Spain and played for Malaga, did a YTS scholarship with Macclesfield and played in the FA Youth Cup.

A few years back they were plagued by financial issues and Lonsdale, a tidy midfielder player who won the Player of the Season in his second year, was let go.

Desperate to find a new club, he used his initiative and spent a couple of weeks putting together a DVD from four Macclesfield youth games that had been filmed.

United had been keeping tabs but Lonsdale didn't want to wait for an opportunity himself so went straight to Ferguson.

"I lived in Alderley Edge at the time and Ferguson lived in Wilmslow, which is like two minutes away," he recalled in an exclusive interview with SPORTbible.

"I had a good friend who lived near him and knew which one his house was. I just thought, 'Why try and send a DVD to the club when it's going to get no-where near? Why not just rock up myself and know he'd watch it?'.

"It's probably out of character for me, I'm not the most bold person but when it comes down to it I'm willing to do that, especially when it's your dream I suppose.

"I went down on the Friday and his wife was actually there and she let me in. Fergie wasn't actually in - he was away for the next day on a golfing trip so she said, 'Here's his number, give him a ring tomorrow. He should be back around tea-time.'

"The next day I rang him and explained I'd been around yesterday. The first thing he said was, 'How the f**k have you got my number?!'.

"Obviously I was a bit taken aback by that but after I explained it he was alright after that and said, 'Yeah come round'. I drove around to his and had a good chat - he spoke to me about my football past, my injuries and said he'd watch it [the DVD] and get back to me.

"Three days later I got a call off one of the United first-team coaches to say they liked what they'd seen and [asked] would I be willing to go down for a trial."

Max Lonsdale had a trial at Manchester United thanks to Sir Alex Ferguson. Image: Getty

Although he was taken aback by the approach, Ferguson actually liked the clips he saw from Lonsdale and admired the way in which he went about getting an opportunity.

"I think he [Sir Alex] probably liked the boldness of it and he said to me at the time, 'If you don't look good enough we're not going to take you on but I'll let you know either way," he added.

"He said when I came into training the first day, 'I've given you an opportunity because I like what I've seen.' He genuinely wanted to give me an opportunity which was really good on his part.

"He's very intimidating when you're speaking directly to him but a big presence and a lovely guy at the same time."

Lonsdale had an initial two-week trial that was then extended to the point he was there for six weeks, featuring in five reserve games and plying his trade with future United first-teamers Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, as well as Ravel Morrison.

However, with Danny Drinkwater, Matty James and Oliver Norwood all ahead of him in the central midfield ranking, he did not get offered the contract he craved.

"It was just an unbelievable experience," Lonsdale explained.

"I went around the UK playing in all different stadiums and to be honest I thought I was going to get signed - that was the indication I got from the staff. I'd been waiting a few lads to leave on loan or on permanent deals: Matty James, Oliver Norwood and Danny Drinkwater were meant to be leaving.

"At the time I was only 18 and wasn't ready to play first-team football but what they couldn't do was draft another lad in to just play reserve football for the next two years until he makes it or not."

Image: Getty

He ended up playing for Doncaster Rovers before injury problems took their toll and after a spell in Non League, he knocked football on the head completely.

Lonsdale found success in business though and the 31-year-old is now the co-founder and operations director at Social Trinity, a global social media agency working with leading brands.