AGI – In 2011 he was appointed the best Manchester United footballer of all time in a referendum among the fans and some consider him the absolute number one of the Premier League era: now Ryan Giggs is likely to end up in the dust of his legal woes, after the announcement that Wednesday, April 28 will go to trial for personal injury for beating his ex-girlfriend and her 20-year-old sister. Wales immediately dismissed him as coach and therefore will not be able to lead his national team to the Europeans. At stake, however, for the 47-year-old ‘Giggsy’, there is much more: even if the Salford court were to spare him from prison and limit itself to a fine and a sentence for social work, his image risks being permanently cracked.
The attack on Kate and her sister
The last grain dates back to the evening of 1st November 2020, the one in which he would have beaten up 36-year-old ex-girlfriend Kate Greville and her 20-year-old sister. The indictment comes after a series of misadventures that had already tainted a legendary career: Giggs played for United from 1990 to 2014, 24 years with the Red Devils in which the Welsh left winger played 963 games and scored 168 goals, in addition to 64 appearances and 12 goals for Wales. Has been one of Alex Ferguson’s standard bearers contributing to the conquest of 37 trophies including the 1999 Premier League Treble, Fa Cup and Champions League. With his humility and tactical intelligence, he had been able to fill every role on the pitch and his 162 assists are an unmatched record in the Premier.
The demons of ‘Giggsy’
Off the pitch, however, Giggs was chased by his demons already when he was a footballer: in 2011 his betrayal of his wife Stacey Cooke (married in 2007 and with whom he had children Liberty and Zach) had hit all the tabloids when he was emerged the affair with the star of the English Big Brother, the former model Imogen Thomas. Then, perhaps even more serious, it had come out an eight-year clandestine affair with Natasha, the wife of brother Rhodri, who has since completely cut off relations saying to “feel ashamed” for him.
Giggs is also accused of mistreatment and coercive behavior against former teammate Kate (known in 2013) between December 2017 and November 2020, but what precipitated things was the attack on November 1st in the villa owned by the former midfielder in Worsley, near Salford . Kate, a public relations executive, was photographed with a swollen lip in the following days.
A stained career
The Welshman had already suspended himself from Wales coach in November and now the confirmation has arrived that Robert Page, assisted by Albert Stuivenberg, will lead Gareth Bale and his teammates at Euro 2021, where the Dragons are included in the same group as Italy. In the era of Me Too and greater social sensitivity on the issue of women’s rights, Giggs is now in danger of slipping out of football, fading even the image of his formidable career at Old Trafford.
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