On the banks of the River Irwell, under the same roof as past farewells to Bobby Charlton and George Best, Manchester United said a final goodbye to another treasured figure on Monday afternoon: English football’s most beloved receptionist.
Kath Phipps, who passed away aged 85 last month, was remembered at a ceremony at Manchester Cathedral on Monday afternoon following her remarkable 56 years of service for the club. Sir Alex Ferguson told journalists afterwards: “I did 26 and I thought that was unbelievable.”
Such longevity meant that every era of United’s modern history was represented among the 400-strong congregation who came to pay their respects, including Brian Kidd, Bryan Robson and David Beckham — famously one of Kath’s favourites.
Beckham was one of the first to arrive, accompanied by his parents Sandra and Ted. Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes all sat along the same row. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was joined by Michael Carrick.
The entire current first-team squad arrived en masse half an hour before the ceremony started, led in by Ruben Amorim, while Sir Dave Brailsford and chief executive Omar Berrada were the most senior executives present.
Tributes poured in for Kath Phipps on the day of her funeral ❤️
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 6, 2025
Around 30 academy players were also in attendance, as well as Marc Skinner, Maya Le Tissier and Ella Toone as representatives of the women’s side.
Ferguson led the tributes once the ceremony began, starting his eulogy by noting he was “pleased the team got a result last night” after Sunday’s spirited 2-2 draw with Liverpool. “Kathy would be happy with that,” he said.
The Scot was one of many club figures to regularly visit Kath over recent months to help keep her spirits up, only to find that she was doing a pretty good job of that herself, sometimes aided by a surreptitious glass of Bacardi and coke.
“Did you speak to your doctor about that?” Ferguson said he enquired after discovering what she was drinking. “I never asked him,” she replied.
Ferguson remembered how during his early years as manager, while United were still training at The Cliff, every internal call had to go through Kath’s desk. “No matter who you wanted to talk to, she had the number, right off the top of her head,” he said. “You realised then Man United was run by one girl.”
Considering that level of responsibility, it was not long before Kath’s reputation started to precede her, and players would arrive at United for the first time expecting the warmest of welcomes. That was certainly the case for Jonny Evans, who delivered a touching reading on behalf of the current squad.
An avid collector of books and magazines about the club when growing up, Evans’ first memory of Kath was reading about her in a Q&A with Beckham where he revealed that she was his first kiss. “It was a few years later when I joined the first team that I got my own kiss from Kath,” he told those in attendance. “We all did.”
“Not one person ever walked past Kath without a short embrace,” he added, even if it came after one of her “polite words” over the training ground’s PA system telling a player to report to reception to pick up a parcel.
A tribute to Kath Phipps at Old Trafford last month (Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)
There would be plenty hugs and kisses down the years, but one from earlier this season while Kath was struggling with an ear infection particularly stood out in Evans’ memory.
“She wrapped her arms around me, except this time, instead of a kiss on the cheek, she rested her head on my chest.” Evans noticed she was crying. Kath told him that she was struggling to hear people properly and had started to worry others might think she was not doing a good job.
“I couldn’t help but be amazed at the dedication of this incredible woman, that even after all these years, Kath still took so much pride in her work,” Evans recalled. “It was her life.”
But it was a life she loved, finding as much joy in the day-to-day as she did in her cups of tea with Peter Schmeichel, or the reminders to Tom Heaton that Heaton was her maiden name, or those occasions when she would give Jaap Stam advice on how to defend.
“You can’t think of a moment where she didn’t enjoy it,” Ferguson said after making his way down the cathedral’s steps. “She was a real United person.”
GO DEEPER
Remembering Kath Phipps: ‘She treated everyone at Man United like royalty. She was royalty herself’
(Top photo: Manchester United staff and players attended the funeral of Kath Phipps; by Manchester United via Getty Images)
