In the summer of 1999, after Manchester United had won the treble the previous season, Dwight Yorke walked into Alex Ferguson's office and asked if could have a year off - fully paid - to restock his reserves of motivation.
"Yeah but with pay," Yorke told the UTD Podcast when asked if it was true he asked for the 1999/00 season off to celebrate.
"I mean what else is there to do in football after winning the treble?
"I was on such a high. It was ridiculous. Concorde was flying back then and I remember we went to New York. Back in the days they used to put you up with the pilot.
"I got to New York and I thought 'What else is there to achieve after this?' because everything else will be a failure or deemed as a failure.
20 July 2002; Dwight Yorke, Manchester United, celebrates with teammate Roy Keane after scoring a goal. Shelbourne v Manchester United, Pre-season friendly, Tolka Park, Dublin. Soccer. Picture credit; David Maher / SPORTSFILE *EDI*
"I went into the gaffer's office and said 'What are we doing? After winning the treble there's nothing to do. Can I have a year off from football with pay? Then I'll come back the next year rejoin the team'.
"I honestly don't know what made me think that. What more could we possibly do as a team? Yeah, we could repeat it but if you don't then the team is a failure.
"If there was a time you were going to ask the gaffer for anything, that was it. I didn't have anything to lose.
"He could only tell me to eff off, which he did. He said 'Eff off and get lost'.
"It was said jokingly but if he had said to take a year off then I would have done. But I knew that wasn't going to happen so I thought it was worth a try."
Featured image credits: Sportsfile and Melinda Nagy / Shutterstock.com
