Fun Features

He's not ashamed to enjoy the lifestyle, our Gary. And that means that if he doesn't want to eat the pineapple off the gammon on his mixed grill, he won't. Some people might call that flashy...

I've worked hard for my money and I'm not ashamed to enjoy the lifestyle, but I've not forgotten where I come from. I come from Bury and I always have done.

Me and Phil still go to the same Harvester in Rochdale - that's one of the great things about football, the opportunity to travel - that we've been going every pay day since we were trainees.

We'll go in and the woman'll say: "Have you ever been to a Harvester before?" and me and Phil'll say, "Aye, we have so don't think you'll gyp us out of a free bread roll love," and she'll say "right enough" and Phil'll say: "Aye and not the complimentary visit to the salad cart neither," and she'll sit us down and we won't even bother with the Early Bird Special if we don't feel like it and we'll order a la carte, which is to say off the nice bit of the menu, because them breaded mushrooms on the Early Bird Special give Phil an allergic reaction once that put him out for six weeks with a badly-exploded face and he can't afford that at this stage of his career.

When we were trainees of course we had to be careful what we ordered but these days sometimes I'll get the mixed grill and I won't even eat the bit of pineapple that comes with the gammon. Flash? Maybe. It probably seems extravagant to some people but 75,000 people come to watch me play football every other week and I think I'm entitled not to eat a bit of pineapple if that's as what I want. I've earned that right, and let me tell you: when I were a kid of six, it was football I was dreaming of, not leaving bits of pineapple in the Harvester, Rochdale, although I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that it isn't a bonus.

I expect in other industries such as architecturing and working for a bank like our Auntie Pat or being a racing driver and such like people are leaving their bit of pineapple left, right and centre and I don't see what football should be any different.

It's a short career, unless you're Giggsy or someone like that obviously, and you have to make your money while you can. The opportunities to earn a bit of extra cash for your family are pretty tempting: only this afternoon I had a very attractive offer from one of Altrincham's most prestigious skip-hire firms to open one of their new skips.

But in the end, United comes first, and I had to reluctantly decline after telling them that I had to wash Sir's car.

Alan Tyers