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READ: Taddy Featured on BBC Sport

Jay Taylor19 Aug 2016 - 12:14
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Read the story below that made it onto the worldwide famous BBC Sport website and social media.

FA Cup: Ex-Man Utd player Jonathan Greening helps non-league team.

When Jonathan Greening collected his Champions League winner's medal at the Nou Camp in 1999, little did he know that 17 years later he would be in his wellington boots clearing fish from Tadcaster Albion's flooded pitch.

The Brewers midfielder, an unused substitute when Manchester United beat Bayern Munich in the most dramatic of circumstances in Spain, sprang into action when the Yorkshire town was ravaged by floods and his latest club suffered more than £300,000 worth of damage at the start of the year.

"The water was not just up to the ankle or knee - it was eight or nine feet deep and it was flowing rapidly," said Tadcaster chairman Matthew Gore, whose side entertain Northern Premier League Division One North rivals Scarborough Athletic in one of 160 FA Cup preliminary round ties this weekend.

"Jonathan was down at the ground in his wellies and overalls. There were fish in there and he was helping, along with many others, clear up."

After leaving Old Trafford, Greening's career highlights include winning the League Cup with Middlesbrough in 2004, leading West Bromwich Albion out at Wembley in the 2008 FA Cup semi-final and playing in the 2010 Europa League final for Fulham.

The York-based 37-year-old is ending his career playing for free alongside his younger brother, Josh, a striker, in the eighth tier. He could not be happier.

"It's not about the money," Greening, who started his second spell at Tadcaster last December, told BBC Sport. "It's about the banter, your team-mates and it's nice to spend a bit of time with my brother.

"When we won the Northern Counties East Football League last season it felt as good as 2008 when West Brom were promoted to the Premier League after winning at QPR.

"I've been fortunate enough to have some amazing experiences in my career.

"I'd only been at Old Trafford a few months when I found myself on the bench for the Champions League final in 1999 because Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were suspended.

"I was given Luis Figo's dressing-room locker and he'd left all his cup medals in there. I couldn't believe he'd left them in his locker. It was a crazy night. You have to remember I was only 20 and I was a United fan."

Greening will miss the Scarborough tie as he is on a family holiday but will be available should Tadcaster, promoted from Northern Counties East last season, advance to the first qualifying round.

"He doesn't want paying," added Gore, who also has 38-year-old former Stoke, Leeds and Preston striker Richard Cresswell at the club.

"He said 'just cover my expenses as I have had enough out of football'. He still ended up giving his expenses back to the club at the end of last season."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37010623

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