RUBEN AMORIM has added his own tribute to long-term employee Kath Phipps who passed away this week.
Messages flooded in from Manchester United greats following the news of Kath’s death on Thursday at the age of 85 after 56 years working for the club in a variety of roles.
New United boss Amorim had met the former receptionist when he came to Carrington seven years ago on a coaching internship under Jose Mourinho.
Amorim said: “Yeah, you feel it today, it’s a sad day.
“Everybody talks about lady Kathy. I met her seven years ago during the internship, she was the lady behind the reception.
“And you feel it, the love. The way Darren Fletcher speaks about her.
“She was a really important person here that represents everything about this club, friendly, professional, taking care of everybody, it’s a sad day.”
David Beckham added his own heartfelt message late last night for the lady who looked after him after he arrived as a 15-year-old lad from London.
Beckham posted a message on Instagram saying: “The first and last face I would always see was Kath sat at reception at Old Trafford waiting to give me my tickets for the game, she was the heartbeat of Manchester United, everyone knew who Kath was and everyone adored her.
“I moved up to Manchester at 15 and Kath made a promise to my mum and dad ‘I’ll look after your boy for you don’t you worry.’
“And from that first day till the last day I spent with her that’s exactly what she did .
“Old Trafford will never be the same without your smile as we walk through those doors. We love you .”
United’s club statement partially read: “Kath was a one-woman institution, whose memory will be cherished by everyone at the club who had the privilege of knowing her.
“She said last year: “I can’t imagine doing anything else.” Well, we can’t imagine the place without her.
“Rest in peace, Kath.”
The Red Devils paid tribute to Kath in 2023 with a feature about her life and career, in which they described her as the “heartbeat of United”.
Kath’s first role at the club was as a telephone switchboard operator, in 1968 when Sir Matt Busby was in charge.
She featured throughout last year’s Netflix documentary on Beckham.
In it she discusses his rise to fame – and all the letters he received from adoring supporters.
Asked if she remembered when Becks got his first fanmail, Kathy revealed: “I can’t honestly remember. It just built up and built up. All these young ladies writing to him.”
Asked what they said, as Beckham revealed he was sent underwear, she added, with a slight smile: “It’s not nice is it, sending underwear to a boy. I put them to one side and didn’t reply.”
When she was then asked “did it get to his head”, she firmly replied: “No.”
Kath also spoke about how it felt when the nation turned on Beckham after he was sent off in England’s last-16 defeat to Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.
Kath said: “I didn’t like it at all but I had no say in the matter. I’d loved to have said something but you just can’t. You just keep your (mouth shut) like I’ve always done.”
The treasured employee later opened up about watching the historic 1999 2-1 Champions League final victory against Bayern Munich from home.
She said on watching the stunning climax to the Treble-winning season, when United equalised in the dying seconds with a goal following a Beckham corner: “I said to my husband at the time, before he passed away, ‘Oh dear, I’m going to make a cup of coffee’.
“They scored, and he said, ‘They’re going to do extra time’. Then I said, ‘Oh, I’m going then’. I went out again.”
