Sir Alex Ferguson said Ryan Giggs had a ‘fantastic temperament’ and was ‘the best example’ he had at Manchester United as he gave evidence at his former player’s domestic violence trial.

The legendary manager arrived at Manchester Crown Court just after lunchtime and was called as a defence witness by Giggs’s barrister Chris Daw QC.

He told jurors Giggs was ‘without doubt the best example we had at the club’ and ‘everyone looked at Ryan Giggs as the number one’.

Asked by Mr Daw if he had ever seen him ‘lose his temper or become aggressive’, Sir Alex replied: ‘No.’

He told jurors he was Manchester United manager for 24 years and ‘first got to know’ the young winger when he was 13.

Sir Alex, 80, said Giggs was playing for a local club at the time and was training at Manchester City’s ground.

He said: ‘After that we visited his house to try to convince him to come to Manchester United. Myself and my assistant Archie Knox.’

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Mr Daw asked: ‘Did you get to know him as a child during that period?’

Sir Alex replied: ‘His main contact was his mother. She was very good. Very accommodating. Ryan was a quiet boy. He just sat there listening to what was being said. His mum did all the talking.’

He said they spoke about the club’s ‘ambitions’, telling the court: ‘They had been going through a bad period when I arrived at the club in 1986.

‘We had a big job to do. We saw Ryan as one step towards a better situation in regard to young players.’

Sir Alex said Giggs signed a schoolboy form with Manchester United before getting into the first team at the age of 17.

He went on: ‘That was the first time we had to really think about looking after him.

‘The thing was, the press started comparing him with George Best. We had to face a lot of attention on the boy.

‘I said to his mother: “Look, if you are able to trust me, I’ll look after him”. If any media came to him they had to come through me. We did this to protect him.

‘When someone’s saying you’re the next George Best, it’s a big issue. But the boy was great, no problems. Any media who came towards him wanting to do articles had to come through me.’

Mr Daw asked Sir Alex if he was aware of Giggs having girlfriends.

The former manager said: ‘When we had dinners at the end of the season he would bring a friend with him, yeah.’

He said Giggs played for Manchester United from the ages of 17 to 41 and had a ‘fantastic record’.

Sir Alex told the court: ‘When he got older the issue of the dressing room became – I used Ryan a lot in the sense of, when I lost my temper about performance I would use Ryan as an example sometimes.

‘He got the sharp end of my tongue but I knew he could take it, he was strong enough. Everyone else in the dressing room would think: “If Ryan Giggs can take it, we can all take it”.’

Sir Alex said Giggs had a ‘fantastic temperament’, telling the court: ‘To have a career as long as he had in a difficult position, in terms of energy, he fulfilled everything we ever wished for.’

He said the Welshman was ‘without doubt the best example we had at the club’.

‘Everyone looked at Ryan Giggs as the number one,’ he added.

Asked by Mr Daw if he had ever seen him ‘lose his temper or become aggressive’, Sir Alex replied: ‘No.’

Giggs, 48, denies using controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville, 38, between August 2017 and November 2020, assaulting her, causing actual bodily harm, and the common assault of her younger sister, Emma Greville, 26.

The trial continues.

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