sport news Former Manchester United striker Brian McClair is back topping the charts trends now
Brian McClair is musing over his new image and the confusion it can cause people when they encounter him these days.
‘It happens an awful lot more than I ever imagined it would, particularly the fact I’m covered in this lovely grey stuff that’s growing out of my face,’ he says.
‘It’s entertaining listening. Sometimes I’ve been in situations where my name has cropped up and they’ve no idea it’s me, which is pretty bizarre.
‘What I tend to say now when they ask if I’m Brian McClair is “I used to be”, which is quite flummoxing for a lot of people. How can you used to be? Who are you now? What are you now?’ Musing is what McClair does. He has his own podcast, Life With Brian, which has run for two years and 35 episodes.
Launching it in lockdown, the man nicknamed Choccy (it’s a McClair/eclair pun) throughout a football career scoring goals for Manchester United and Celtic playfully introduced himself as Chocrates ‘because I’m a philosopher now’.
Former Man United and Celtic star Brian McClair is unrecognisable from his playing days
McClair (R) was part of four Premier League title-winning sides during his time at Old Trafford
Maybe that explains the new look. Not so much Homer as homeless, it might be said.
Typically, McClair can see the funny side. When he joined a 30th year reunion of United’s 1993 title-winning team at the Lowry Theatre last weekend, he reassured the audience that he had somewhere to stay for the night.
It’s certainly a departure from the clean-shaven image so familiar during his playing days. With a thick, grey beard reaching down to his chest and long hair falling onto his shoulders, McClair is barely recognisable.
When he was pictured with a fan in the Gold Cup pub in Manchester last month, the photo of the 59-year-old former United star went viral on social media.
McClair seems equally happy to engage with the public or just sit on his own. ‘I’ve always been pretty good at avoiding people,’ he says.
‘I don’t have to particularly participate in any conversations, but I can listen and watch and I find that energising. I’ve always been a people watcher. Every day I see things that amuse me.
‘It’s always been a positive experience. I haven’t had many people wanting to ask me outside for what is colloquially known in Scotland as ‘a square go’ or castigating me. I feel blessed in that.’
Speaking on the popular podcast, he recalls an encounter in the Saracen Head pub in Glasgow with an older man who simply refused to believe it was him despite searching for a photo on his phone and holding it up to McClair’s face.
McClair (C) was nicknamed 'Choccy' and was a cult hero at both Celtic and the Red Devils
After retirement, McClair's exploits included spending 13 years on the coaching staff at United
On another occasion, a number of years earlier, someone who heard Brian McClair was in the bar mistakenly approached the player’s friend and asked him for an autograph.
‘My mate looks nothing like me and is comfortably three stones heavier for a start,’ chuckles McClair. ‘He pointed at me and the guy said, “no that’s not Brian McClair”.
‘My mate handed me a bit of paper and I signed it. The guy was totally disgusted and turned to my mate and said: “What kind of f*****g person are you? Can’t you even f*****g sign an autograph?”
‘He was away telling all his friends that that Brian McClair is a d**k. Maybe he’s still wandering around cursing me for being too arrogant to sign my own autographs!’
Another nugget is the story of how McClair came to
