“They had no idea who I was”

Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has said that people in the club office did not recognize him when he called to discuss his season ticket. The 50-year-old played nearly 400 games for the team between 1992 and 2004.

In 387 games across competitions, all under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, Butt contributed 26 goals and 21 assists while playing primarily as a defensive midfielder.

The Englishman won a host of honors with the Old Trafford outfit, including eight Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League, as part of a continental treble (in 1999).

However, more than two decades after he last featured for United as a player, Butt said no one in the club's box office had a clue of him when he identified himself. The 50-year-old said (according to the Sports Bible):

“I rang the office to sort out my ticket… When I told them it was Nicky Butt they had no idea who I was, they just played 450 games for them.”

Butt's former teammate, Paul Scholesrecounted a similar experience:

“I don't know anyone at the club anymore… I had to call a ticket seller to get tickets.”

Scholes, like Butt, also enjoyed a decorated career at Old Trafford, spending his entire career with the Premier League giants. In 716 competitive appearances over 19 seasons, he scored 155 goals and provided 82 assists, winning 11 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League titles, among others.

---

What's next for Manchester United?

Manchester United will be coming off a 1-0 home defeat to 10-man Everton in the Premier League at the weekend. Although Idrissa Gueye saw red for the visitors in the 13th minute, they scored the only goal of the game 16 minutes later through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

The defeat snapped the Red Devils' five-game unbeaten run in the league, with three wins, and they remain 10th in the table, 11 points behind runaway leaders Arsenal (29) after 12 games.

Ruben Amorim's team below Crystal Palace away in the league on Sunday (November 30). United are winless in four league meetings with Palace, losing three and failing to score in all four. Two of those three defeats have come at Selhurst Park, home of Sunday's meeting.