'Scrooge' Ferguson says no to Christmas party at Manchester United

September 27, 2010

Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, has cancelled Christmas in a bid to keep his wayward football superstars on the straight and narrow.

The manager has apparently put a complete ban on raucous Christmas revelry, in the wake of the lurid allegations about Wayne Rooney's purported use of prostitutes. The legendary Scottish manager has apparently reached the end of his tether with the behaviour of his players.

Previous Christmas parties saw a hotel room trashed in 2006 and young player, Jonny Evans, accused of rape a year later, although the charges were eventually dismissed. Sir Alex is said to have laid down the law as he believes the personal distractions that stem from team parties are affecting the players' professional performance.

One Manchester United insider said, "In recent years it was seen as more acceptable for private functions to get the green light rather than when the players went on bar crawls in the city but Sir Alex can't even legislate for what goes on behind closed doors."

Another said that to cancel the Christmas party would just encourage the players to go celebrate Christmas elsewhere and that Ferguson was just being a 'big Scrooge'.

The manager is said to have told players that he does not want to be a killjoy, but it is the only option if they hope perform to their best abilities throughout their busy Christmas game schedule.