Ryan Giggs intends to resume his managerial career at the next opportunity after two charges against him of assault and coercive behaviour against former partner Kate Greville and another of common assault against her sister Emma were withdrawn on Tuesday.
The two-year and eight-month investigation and trial came to an end at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday morning when prosecutors told Judge Hilary Manley that the complainants were unwilling to give evidence in a new trial due to begin on July 31. The previous trial in August had seen the jury fail to reach verdicts on the two charges.
With prosecutors no longer proceeding with the second trial, Mr Manley entered two counts of not guilty. It means that Giggs, who was Wales national team manager at the time of his original arrest in Nov 2020, is now free to resume his career. Sources close to him say he intends to do so immediately. The 49-year-old eventually formally stepped down as Wales manager in June last year before the World Cup finals. He had not managed the team until before his arrest.
He still has a desire to coach at the highest level possible, having also briefly been Manchester United manager at the end of the 2013-2014 season and then subsequently as an assistant to Louis van Gaal. In his absence the Wales team have reached the last 16 of Euro 2020 in 2021, and the country’s first World Cup finals since 1958. Giggs feels that he has unfinished business in management having resigned from the job during a golden era for the Wales team in order that the trial would not have a direct bearing on the World Cup preparation.
The intimate nature of the disclosure in evidence for last August’s trial means that Giggs had seen text messages and WhatsApps revealed in court and widely reported. Friends say that it has been a period of high stress for the former United player, still the most successful in the history of the English game in terms of trophies won. Yet having had time to reflect during almost three years with his life on pause he is ready to go into football again.
He was a contender for a number of club jobs before the Football Association of Wales appointed him as national team manager in January 2018. During the last three years out of the public eye he has been working at Salford City, the League Two club he co-owns with a number of United team-mates including Gary Neville and David Beckham as well as the Singapore billionaire Peter Lim.
At Salford recently, Giggs has worked as the director of first team and of performance and has enjoyed the role. Nevertheless he has ambitions to work in the Premier League.
