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Former City and United star Sammy McIlroy talks crossing the Manchester divide and cheating death

Sammy McIlroy tells two rather traumatic stories about going out to get fish and chips.

The first ended with the late Brian Greenhoff, his friend and team-mate, having a gun pulled on him in a Sydney chippy while they were on tour in 1975 after helping Manchester United win promotion back to the top flight.

‘The hotel reception recommended it and I said to Brian, “You go”,’ recalled McIlroy. ‘He ran back to the room white as a ghost.’

Former Man United and City forward Sammy McIlroy has reflected on his eventful career

Greenhoff escaped injury that night but McIlroy was not so lucky when he drove his pregnant wife-to-be Cynthia to pick up a supper in Stretford two years earlier.