AUTOGRAPH hunters crowded the entrance to The Cliff, craning their necks above a sea of security guards, hoping to catch a glimpse of Manchester United's last minute preparations for the FA Cup final.

Those with a telescopic reach would have seen Alex Ferguson's men in playful mood.

David Beckham - the clown prince - performed the odd party-piece before skipping past Phil Neville for the umpteenth time.

Andy Cole threw off his bib in mischievous disgust after being dumped on the floor by a careless challenge.

And even Gary Neville attempted the odd Cruyff-turn before popping up in the box to slam a shot past keeper Dwight Yorke.

After a mammoth season and, with one trophy firmly in the bag, United relished the opportunity to fool around in front of the world's media.

Yet one man was trying harder than most.

Five years after signing from Blackburn Rovers, David May is still scrapping to establish himself as a leading figure at Old Trafford.

So after winning back a place in Ferguson's plans over the last couple of weeks, he's not about to reliniquish it without a fight.

Since his £1.25 million transfer from Ewood, he's had his fair share of ups and downs.

November 23, 1994, will certainly go down as one of his lowest points.

United were chasing Champions League glory in Gothenburg and May was subjected to the roasting of his life by current team-mate Jesper Blomqvist.

That night, he trudged off the pitch a sad, dejected figure, his reputation in tatters.

But May's fortunes were set to turn full circle this afternoon, when he was due to face Newcastle United in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

It's been a big week in the life of the Oldham-born defender. After playing only a handful of games all season, injuries to Jaap Stam and Henning Berg have seen the former Rover brought in from the cold.

On Sunday, he helped United clinch the Premiership title at Old Trafford against Tottenham.

Today, they could wrap up another double in the shadow of the Twin Towers.

"It's been brilliant," said May.

"To win the championship at home in front of fifty-odd thousand United fans was a fantastic feeling and I just hope I can keep my place in the side.

"It would be unbelievable if we went on to do the treble.

"People keep talking about it, but it's going to be very hard.

"First and foremost we're concentrating on the Newcastle game and, if we win that, then we''ll take it from there.

"But we don't need any motivating for these next two games because we know what's at stake."

Everyone wants a piece of United at the moment and May is clearly enjoying the attention.

The world and his wife descended on The Cliff on Tuesday to meet the players before today's game.

And May, together with fellow stragglers Teddy Sheringham and Stam, waited around long after everyone else before Ferguson finally broke up the party.

But then who could blame him after a stop-start career which has been studded with disappointments, set-backs, and injuries, all set against a backdrop of trying to convince the fans he has a part to play at Old Trafford.

Even May himself must have thought he had done that after scoring the goal against Middlesbrough which opened the door to securing the championship in 1996, and then appearing at Wembley the following week to complete the double.

He had taken the place of Steve Bruce and, with the skipper's subsequent departure to Birmingham City, the way seemed clear for May to become Gary Pallister's long-term partner.

But even before the champagne had gone flat, a new threat arrived in the form of Norwegian international Ronny Johnsen, who joined from Besiktas. May started the season as first choice and didn't seem to have anything to worry about as United flew out for their Champions' League tie with Juventus on the back of a four-goal send-off against Leeds United.

But, when the team was announced shortly before kick-off, Pallister was back after injury with Johnsen his partner and May found himself on the bench, on the outside looking in.

Johnsen has been a permanent fixture ever since.

Former team-mate Henning Berg then signed from Blackburn in a £5 million transfer the following summer to further intensify the competition.

And, when Gary Pallister decided to join Bryan Robson on Tyneside last summer, Ferguson then smashed the world transfer record for a defender by recruiting Jaap Stam from PSV Eindhoven.

Throw in the likes of Wes Brown - the latest product of United's youth scheme - and May has barely had a look-in.

"It's been frustrating because everybody wants to play first team football but you know there's going to be a lot of swapping and changing going on at a club like United.

"But all you can do is take your chance when it does come."

That chance has now come and he plans to grab it with both hands in a bid to remind Ferguson and the fans that he's far from surplus to requirements.

With so much at stake, not only for the club but for him personally, he will need to draw on all his character.

That's something he appears to have in abundance, judging by the way he's survived the ups and downs of his Old Trafford career.

It was a quality recognised by former Blackburn Rovers boss Don Mackay, who gave May his big break in a 1-1 draw at Swindon in 1989.

He had been spotted playing for Boundary Park Boys - the youth team which later produced Paul Scholes, the Nevilles and Nicky Butt - by Rovers' Youth team coach Jim Furnell. "All Mackay players had character - some to a greater extent than others.

"But David May was a young man who was always determind to be successful in professional football," said Mackay.

"And I'll be certainly thinking of him at three o'clock today."

That kind of resolution, strength of character, and will to succeed, has seen May through his darkest hours, spent on the treatment table or in the Pontin's League.

"Everyone who comes to Manchester United has got to have character because it's such a massive club.

"But character is something that's either in you or it isn't - it's in your make-up.

"And I think I've got the character to handle anything at United.

"I've never lost faith in my own ability and I think in the last few games I've proved to myself and to other people that I am capable of playing for this club.

"Some of my mates suggested it wasn't the best move for me to leave Blackburn.

"But you only get one chance to join Manchester United and if I had turned it down I would never have lived with myself."

United will close the gates on their Cliff training ground at the end of the season before moving to a new multi-million pound complex at Carrington.

May hopes he will be moving with them.

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