{"id":10077,"date":"2025-10-10T17:45:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/manchester-united-manager-sir-alex-ferguson-welcomes-former-ace-who-was-sold-as-an-absolute-steal-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T17:45:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:45:50","slug":"manchester-united-manager-sir-alex-ferguson-welcomes-former-ace-who-was-sold-as-an-absolute-steal-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/manchester-united-manager-sir-alex-ferguson-welcomes-former-ace-who-was-sold-as-an-absolute-steal-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson welcomes former ace who was sold as an &#8216;absolute steal&#8217; | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Manchester United academy graduate James Chester has gained coaching experience in the club&#8217;s youth division. Chester featured in the 2007 FA Youth Cup final, was named United&#8217;s Academy Player of the Year by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and made his senior debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009. The Warrington-born defender joined Hull City in 2011 for a fee that Ferguson described as an &#8220;absolute steal&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>He then moved to West Brom, Aston Villa, Stoke City, Derby County and Barrow before retiring after a spell with Salford City earlier this year. After retiring, Chester received an invitation from his good friend Paul McShane to observe training sessions at the academy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>McShane left United this summer after five years in the academy, but Chester was asked to begin his coaching career by working with the Under-15s and Under-16s.<\/p>\n<p>Chester has returned to Carrington on a voluntary basis and the former centre-back is contributing three sessions a week with the U15s and U16s, sharing his experience as a professional.<\/p>\n<p>The 36-year-old announced his retirement in January and is thought to be considering his future options, but is enjoying his coaching opportunities while aiming for his UEFA B license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Manchester United&#8217;s academy has undergone significant development in recent years, with former graduates returning to Carrington to take up coaching roles.<\/p>\n<p>This arrangement allows young talent to learn from players with Premier League experience, creating a win-win situation for all involved.<\/p>\n<p>Chester was part of the talented United team that reached the 2007 Youth Cup final, playing alongside notable players such as Danny Welbeck, Danny Drinkwater, Sam Hewson and Fabian Brandi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Sir Alex Ferguson gave Chester his first first-team experience in the League Cup semi-final second leg against Derby in January 2009, replacing Gary Neville with 20 minutes remaining.<\/p>\n<p>Chester also played a key role in Hull City&#8217;s 2014 FA Cup final win against Arsenal, scoring the opening goal within four minutes. He has played over 500 games in all competitions and won 35 caps for Wales.<\/p>\n<p>United&#8217;s academy product was played every minute of Wales&#8217; run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2119907\/Man-Utd-Sir-Alex-Ferguson\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United academy graduate James Chester has gained coaching experience in the club&#8217;s youth division. Chester featured in the 2007 FA Youth Cup final, was named United&#8217;s Academy Player of the Year by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and made his senior debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009. The Warrington-born defender joined Hull City in 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson welcomes former ace who was sold as an &#039;absolute steal&#039; | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/manchester-united-manager-sir-alex-ferguson-welcomes-former-ace-who-was-sold-as-an-absolute-steal-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson welcomes former ace who was sold as an &#039;absolute steal&#039; | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manchester United academy graduate James Chester has gained coaching experience in the club&#8217;s youth division. Chester featured in the 2007 FA Youth Cup final, was named United&#8217;s Academy Player of the Year by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and made his senior debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009. 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