I’m a Manchester United star and Roy Keane was an idol but I’d never approach him if I saw him
There aren’t too many players in the world of football that have crossed the divide in two major cities. But Aoife Mannion has.
The 28-year-old – who grew up as a Birmingham City fan – started her senior career with rivals Aston Villa, before joining her beloved Blues in 2013.
A move to Manchester City followed in 2019 but two years later, Mannion crossed the divide again by signing for City’s arch-rivals Man United.
It was a brave move from Mannion which typifies her personality on the pitch.
And it’s no surprise that the versatile defender looked up to no-nonsense characters when she was growing up.
“There’s probably three players in particular,” she explains, speaking exclusively to talkSPORT.
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“I was a Birmingham City fan and I remember watching Robbie Savage bolt about the pitch, getting stuck into tackles [and being] really hard in the tackle and that spoke to me as a player and I really liked that. His hair was a bit longer, so he looked a bit different, so I liked him.
“I loved Roy Keane for United and Ireland and then Karen Carney went to the same primary [and] secondary school that I did and to see her doing what she did, I found that really inspiring.
“I’ve never ever met him [Roy Keane] but I think if I saw him out and about, I would just respect him from a distance. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, so I don’t think I’d approach him I saw him!”
It has been a difficult two years for Mannion through injury, with the defender rupturing her ACL back in 2022 which ruled her out for almost a year.
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To make matters worse, she also tore her quad in September which kept her on the sidelines for five months.
Thankfully, the 28-year-old is now enjoying her football again and she played the full 90 minutes as Man United beat Chelsea for the first time recently to make it through to the Women’s FA Cup final next month.
And if the Red Devils manage to defeat Tottenham at Wembley, she can replicate her idol Keane by lifting the FA Cup at the home of football.