Стив МакМанаман: Еуро-96 жұлдызы және Англия құрамасының тарихы

English footballer (born 1972)

However, he managed to string together a series of match winning performances for his country at UEFA Euro 1996, earning praise from Pelé, who according to the BBC touted him as the tournament's best player and said he was the player he "was most impressed" by; before going on to say that he was "one of the best players in Europe" and could be the "best in the world" (at the time). The tournament began with a game against Switzerland in which McManaman swapped wings interchangeably with Darren Anderton and created "all kinds of problems on the left". McManaman and Teddy Sheringham, and later Paul Gascoigne, were then substituted in order to save them for the next game when England were leading 1–0 with 15 minutes remaining. This decision led to an immediate outpouring of unhappiness and jeering from the crowd at Wembley. Following this, England switched to a defensive 4–5–1 formation which saw them concede a late penalty and end up drawing the game 1–1. McManaman was noted by pundits for his "mesmerising dribbling skills" and willingness to take players on. Gary McAllister later claimed in the BBC's post match analysis of England's next game against Scotland that it was Venables' change of England's tactics at half time to switch to a five man midfield and introduce Jamie Redknapp into the midfield that allowed McManaman the freedom to open up the Scottish defence. McAllister believed that this changed the game, with Redknapp and McManaman unlocking the openings which led to Gary Neville's cross for Alan Shearer's headed opener in the 2–0 win. Despite having a quiet first half in England's next game against the Netherlands, McManaman was involved in all of England's first three goals against the opposition: firstly, he supplied the inside cut final pass for Ince who was subsequently brought down in the area for a penalty which Shearer scored from; secondly, his cross to Anderton was deflected for a corner kick from which Sheringham headed the second goal; and finally, his quick one two with Gascoigne led to England's third and Shearer's second in the game which ended up in a 4–1 victory. This was believed to be a landmark result at the time. Frequently man marked in the quarter final against Spain, McManaman burst back into the latter part of the semi final against Germany and in the final moments of extra time nearly assisted Darren Anderton in scoring a late winner. However, Anderton's shot from McManaman's cross hit the post and the ball bounced back into the hands of the goalkeeper. Together with team mates Gascoigne, Shearer and David Seaman, McManaman was listed in the official Team of the Tournament, as well as shortlisted behind eventual winner, Jürgen Klinsmann, for the Most Valuable Player award.

McManaman, however, failed to win over new England coach Glenn Hoddle despite being in excellent club form in the years Hoddle was in charge, raising questions about either his effort, his attitude, or his relationship with the manager, with some sections of the British press even lobbying Hoddle to pick McManaman. Roy Evans (McManaman's coach at the time) also voiced his opinion regarding his England situation to The Independent before the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, saying: "There is not a player like him in England. I think he's fantastic, he's certainly a great asset from our point of view We don't pick the England team but I see him as the perfect linkman in the international team. But that's only our opinion. We believe he is top, top quality." and often spoke highly of McManaman's ability, but noted that McManaman's best position was "floating" dangerously and it was hard to fit him into a system to suit the team and so he often selected Paul Merson and the rising Beckham instead. When McManaman (and Robbie Fowler) opted out of Le Tournoi in 1997 to choose to undergo non urgent medical operations ahead of international duty, it was noted that this reportedly lost them their team spots as Hoddle though angered at losing them, found a winning team in their absence, and this made it even harder for McManaman to regain his place later. McManaman (and Fowler) were also reported at the time to have been marginalised by Hoddle for not embracing Hoddle's employment of a "faith healer" and mystic named Eileen Drewery, who had been brought in by Hoddle to do psychiatric, vague spiritual or psychological interactions with the players because Hoddle had said she helped him in his career in the past. McManaman and Fowler allegedly poked fun at the lady by asking her "if she knew the winner of the 3.15 at Wincanton so they could put a bet on", while McManaman was reported as saying that 'Hoddle's training camps were "like joining the Moonies."' McManaman's England colleague, Gary Neville conceded Hoddle's methods were regarded as bizarre and included other devices such as 'heart touching', getting staff to walk around the pitch anti clockwise to create 'positive energy' and the use of legal sporting injections, with McManaman and Fowler allegedly not the only ones who were unable to accept or fit in with Hoddle's training system, and McManaman accusing Hoddle of running things like a cult; favouring those players who were willing to acquiesce to him. McManaman made a total of four starts in seven appearances under Hoddle, and only one appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Colombia, as a substitute for Paul Scholes. Despite only playing 17 minutes, the press described McManaman's performance: "In 17 minutes did enough to demonstrate that his dainty dribbling could yet be influential against miserly defences. Still gives ball away too much." In Beckham's eponymous autobiography in 2013, he revealed that on the day after the defeat to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, when he felt all alone and distraught back at the team hotel, it was McManaman (along with Terry Byrne and the England team's masseur, Steve Slattery), who stayed behind to accompany him and play snooker with him late into the night; in order to help take his mind off the fallout of that defeat (having been made the culprit in getting sent off during that match by some sections of the media and fans). Before McManaman joined Madrid, Spanish media outlets like El País, eager to make sense of why Madrid were insisting on signing McManaman when he had not even featured much in the last World Cup, concluded that the only rationale to explain McManaman's non selection by Hoddle must have been because McManaman was known as a free role playing playmaker, and was "difficult to classify. He needs the point of freedom not provided in the English team" and that he was therefore by implication, difficult to place into Hoddle's system. According to Ian Ridley of the Irish Independent Newspaper, " it was significant that the best ball carrier in the country, Steve McManaman, prospered under Venables but languished under Hoddle." When interviewed by FourFourTwo, McManaman stated, "I think I probably least enjoyed my time when Glenn Hoddle was the manager. But I wouldn't say he was necessarily the worst. He had his ways of training and ways of acting and all managers have different ways of doing things; it's the same with club managers. Sometimes when you join up with England and you don't play as often as you did under a certain other manager—then you'll think it's terrible. I loved going to play with England. For instance, I did get to go to the World Cup even though I only played for 17 minutes. That kind of experience leaves an indelible mark on your mind. So I don't really think of it in terms of "worst"; but going to the World Cup and not playing much was a big thing for me, really, and that was under Glenn, of course." Hoddle also arranged for McManaman to meet a disabled fan (and thus fulfil his lifelong wish of meeting McManaman) while the fan was on the verge of death, in 1997, though the story only broke a year after Hoddle had been sacked from the England job for alleged disparaging comments about disabled people.

After Kevin Keegan was appointed as England manager, he quickly reinstated McManaman to the England starting lineup, further adding that he thought McManaman was one of the best midfielders in Europe. John Barnes spoke about McManaman in his autobiography in 1999 as "probably the greatest individual talent in English football and has to be presented the correct way", and Keegan gave several interviews in 1999 backing up that point; adding that he was finding out how best to utilise McManaman. Keegan eventually decided on deploying McManaman on the left wing on several occasions in 1999 and under Keegan, McManaman finally broke his international goal scoring duck when he scored twice on 4 September 1999 in the 6–0 Euro 2000 qualifier victory over Luxembourg, again, at Wembley. Keegan took McManaman's new career at Madrid as a basis to reinstate his confidence in him, and handed him a coveted free role ahead of UEFA Euro 2000, stating that "in the past we compromised him  but [following McManaman's UEFA Champions League success], we said 'we'll fit in with you, you've earned that chance'. At the time, even former coach Glenn Hoddle chimed in with support for this decision, adding that though he feared teams would not give McManaman (and the team) the space he thrived on at the tournament, he believed that finding a way to deploy McManaman effectively in a special system was difficult "but it can be done." McManaman's free role for England was shortlived as he played only once in Euro 2000, scoring the last of his three England goals in the opening game against Portugal, where he put England 2–0 ahead (with a volley off David Beckham's cross) after only 18 minutes, but got injured early in the second half whilst making a tackle on Rui Costa in midfield, forcing a tactical switch. England ended up losing the game 3–2, and McManaman would remain injured and miss the rest of the tournament as England exited at the group stage. McManaman never played another competitive match for Keegan again as he was ruled out with injury for Keegan's last couple of games before his shock resignation from the England job in October 2000.

The last of McManaman's caps came in 2001 when new coach Sven Göran Eriksson utilised him for England's first few games in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers — including a game back at Anfield against Finland (where McManaman admitted before the game that he had yet to achieve significant success with England and was hungry to prove himself) and where he would go on to set up David Beckham's winner. By late 2001, however, after coming on as a substitute when England beat Germany 5–1 in the Olympiastadion, McManaman put in a display against Albania of "such apathy" according to The Guardian that the paradox of McManaman was stated as follows: "If McManaman is thought of at all in England now, it is as a man for whom exclusion beckons. Given his status at Real, England's World Cup squad should be comfortably within his grasp but McManaman, befitting someone who patrols the flanks, is drifting towards the periphery of Sven Goran Eriksson's radar. The question is not whether McManaman, 30 a month ago, has the ability to force his way back into the centre of Eriksson's considerations but whether he has the will. In England's World Cup qualifier against Albania at St James' Park last September, four days after Munich, he made a fleeting appearance of such apparent apathy that even he was taken aback, never mind Eriksson." as that was his penultimate game; making just one substitute appearance after that in the critical qualifier against Greece in 2001. McManaman stated in his biography that he was struggling at the time working out if Eriksson rated him, saying that although he could see reasons why the coach dropped him (Eriksson picked Emile Heskey ahead of McManaman to start the Greece game and only brought McManaman on when England were still 2–1 down with 15 minutes to go), he (McManaman) wondered: "[I didn't understand it]; if he didn't rate me, why would he bring me on against Greece [when we were losing]?" This prompted some media commentators such as Brian Reade to suggest that it was McManaman's attitude, mentality or pride that Eriksson did not like and was the reason for his drop. Later that year, McManaman "chose not to play" in the game against Sweden by calling the FA to have himself dropped from the squad, before assistant coach at the time, Tord Grip said: "McManaman has never really played well for England". Following that, McManaman was not selected for another England squad. By early 2002, Eriksson apparently left a message on McManaman's answering machine to inform him that he was not going to be in the final World Cup squad. Despite the pleas of McManaman's Real Madrid team mates Zinedine Zidane, Raúl and Fernando Hierro for McManaman's case, McManaman said he never heard from or met Eriksson again. Zidane went on to state England had made a mistake and described McManaman as one of the highest quality players he ever played with. Support for McManaman also came before the 2002 FIFA World Cup in the British media, after Sky Sports published an article based on Opta statistics, revealing that despite a poor goalscoring record, McManaman had, in fact, an 88% dribbling completion rate (having embarked on a run every 17 minutes), and an 84% pass completion rate, all three of which were higher by over 15% than any English midfield Premiership player at the time. However, the same statistics also cast light on a different kind of dilemma for Eriksson after it was revealed that: " For Real Madrid, he (McManaman) completed 83% of his passes and while that figure only fell to 82% in the Champions League it dropped to 73% when he was wearing an England shirt. For Madrid, he completed 85% of his dribbles and runs in the league and 83% in Europe but under Eriksson for England he only managed to keep the ball 63% of the time the general belief for this drop in form when playing for England is simple. At Liverpool and Real Madrid, McManaman was in a side that liked to hold possession and move the ball about, pull teams apart and create spaces to move into. England tend to be more direct and less patient with their football and keep a more rigid formation. While at Anfield he was given pretty much a free role and at Real Madrid the players all move about as they pass teams into submission, but England stick to a 4 4 2 formation and that does not suit him."

When Mark Lawrenson and Jim Beglin named McManaman in their team of the 1990s, they said that most managers in the league used the same tactic of marking McManaman to stop Liverpool and whilst it was a tremendous compliment to McManaman, the opposition could stop Liverpool because the tactical system of 3–5–2 or 3–4–1–2 was too dependent on McManaman and would fail if McManaman was off form, or if the team was not complemented by a quality defence (players who could play both wingback and centre half to cope with onslaughts), or the presence of a steely defensive midfielder, which was what happened with the team of that time. Nevertheless, McManaman was voted in on the official Liverpool FC website as the club's midfielder of the 1990s, was named by Ruud Gullit as one of his top two players from the entire Premier League era, and despite Liverpool fans' disappointment over the nature of how McManaman conducted his departure, it is believed that many fans still regard McManaman, along with Fowler, as the two players who kept Liverpool in a good position through the 1990s. In 2012, as part of the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards, McManaman was named on the shortlist for the award of best right midfielder, which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2018, Sky Sports named McManaman and Fowler the third greatest goals assists partnership in the Premier League era, just behind Drogba/Lampard, Sheringham/Anderton and just ahead of Pires/Henry. In 2020, Sky Sports placed McManaman at number 25 on a list of the "top 50 players to have never won a Premier League title", while FourFourTwo magazine listed McManaman at number 22 on a list of the Premier League's 25 best players of the 1990s. In June 2022, Liverpool's elite fan website, This is Anfield placed McManaman at number 4 of the top 10 players with the most assists in Liverpool's history; ranking only behind John Barnes, Steven Gerrard and Sir Kenny Dalglish.

McManaman remains popular in Madrid. He is listed as a club legend on the official Real Madrid website, which also describes him as a man who "in only four seasons, won the hearts of Madrid's followers" owing to the "mixture of his gentlemanly nature both on and off the pitch, combined with teamwork and quality". In Madrid, McManaman is also remembered as "the versatile Englishman". McManaman was also twice voted as the Real Madrid supporters' favourite player during his tenure at the club. The Spanish media frequently covered his love of a Madrid lifestyle, his willingness to learn Spanish and immerse into Spanish culture, his home in La Moraleja, and noted a supposed androgynous resemblance to Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman, all of which bolstered his amiable image. According to El País, fans saluted him with their 'white handkerchiefs' (as a terrace favourite) after he scored a long range high volley from a Roberto Carlos cross against Real Oviedo in 2001. McManaman still owns a house in Spain, which is situated in the bay of La Palma. McManaman has spoken of his "adoration" for Real Madrid and is still in contact with all his former team mates owing to a WhatsApp group.

While he was seen as an early Galáctico in his time at Real Madrid, McManaman increasingly saw his playing time reduced each year as the club further initiated their Galácticos policy, with new high profile players like Luís Figo, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo arriving each year and often starting more matches than him. At the time, however, McManaman was known for his dogged determination to stay positive for the club's cause, even if it meant he had less playing time. In 2002, McManaman turned down a transfer to Inter Milan at the time when he was made available for exchange as part of Ronaldo's signing. It was widely reported in the Spanish media that McManaman's commitment to the team won the respect of his fellow professionals like Zidane, Raúl, Guti, Iván Helguera and the two men often considered to be his two best friends at the club, Figo and Ronaldo, who backed him publicly on several occasions in press interviews. Additionally, it is believed that McManaman also forced himself to reinvent his game and transform himself with a versatility that enabled him to play utility roles in the side, thus helping him shake off a nickname he was initially given by the Spanish press, El Cartero ("the postman"), which suggested that his delivery was unpredictable. It was widely regarded as a credit to McManaman that he managed to constantly reinvent himself to be effective and useful in a squad that was widely regarded at the time as the "best team in the world" under the Galácticos policy. According to certain critics in the Spanish press, McManaman and several other teammates became "victims" as the Real Madrid's Galácticos policy was often said to be based more on marketing and revenue generation. This sometimes meant players were arguably picked not according to form, but instead owing to their money making potential off the pitch. McManaman never spoke ill of the Galácticos policy's effects on him during his tenure, only critiquing the policy and ultimately describing it in his autobiography El Macca in 2004 as the "Disneyfication of Real Madrid" upon his departure from the club.

McManaman is also believed to have influenced other British players to join Real Madrid with players such as Michael Owen stating that they asked him for advice before signing for the club. McManaman later encouraged Welsh footballer Gareth Bale to sign for Madrid a decade later, and upon Bale's signing, he gave Bale advice on how to succeed at Madrid. Bale later became the first player to emulate McManaman when he ended up winning the Champions League with Madrid in his first season.

In a tribute to McManaman, four years after he left the club, ex coach Vicente del Bosque told AS Marca, that McManaman and Geremi were the two most important players in his squad, because "together they kept the whole team united". Del Bosque added, "I was very happy with Macca. He was a caballero, a gentleman, a stupendous guy; he always had a smile, he never complained, he was great, a leader. He related to everyone very well; he united people. He had a bad time [towards the end] with achilles pain, but every day he trained with the same attitude. He was exemplary and a good footballer too, very good. A fantastic player in every sense." McManaman was also listed in Spanish based British sports reporter Sid Lowe's Real Madrid Team of the Decade for the 2000s.

McManaman was once described as "England's forgotten man" but was also accused of being apathetic and having a laidback attitude and having a reputation for being a troublemaker, which began after an incident before Euro 96, where along with Teddy Sheringham and Paul Gascoigne, McManaman was photographed drinking in Hong Kong, and subsequently accused of causing thousands of pounds' worth of damage to a Cathay Pacific first class flight cabin, although this was later reported to have not been caused by McManaman or Robbie Fowler as the whole England team took collective responsibility for Gascoigne's antics on the flight, while the party in Hong Kong was a team party. McManaman's reputation was also not aided by the fact that he was also known for being a serial prankster with Fowler, which did nothing to help new coaches' negative opinions about him, with the Spice Boys' image also making it worse, though colleague Gareth Southgate did say McManaman's and Fowler's antics, though "silly", helped foster team spirit. In 2004, certain journalists even called for McManaman to be included in the Euro 2004 squad, arguing that McManaman's experience would have been worth his inclusion in the side alone,

In January 2009, McManaman gave a press interview where he stated his intention to go into management. "I'm still thinking of getting back into the game and hopefully I will do my coaching badges at some point this year  It is going to be hard, though. There seems to be far less jobs available for the younger guys. Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Tony Adams — it seems as if people have got it in for them. It's becoming a bit less attractive  If I do get back in, I don't want to be a coach  I want to be a manager, but that's easier said than done  I want to be able to pick the team, make the decisions and everything that goes with it. That said, I can't do anything without my badges", he told the Liverpool Echo. In 2024, McManaman graduated with his Diploma from the PFA Business School, having successfully undertaken the PFA Diploma in Sport Directorship programme.

In October 2013, it was announced by then Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers that McManaman would be taking up a coaching role with Liverpool at the academy to help nurture the club's future talents. McManaman would continue this role at the academy under Jürgen Klopp. McManaman was heavily involved with the cultivation of the talent Trent Alexander Arnold, among others. By 2007, McManaman became a full time media pundit, having joined Setanta Sports as a football analyst and, for the 2007–08 season, he was given his own television show — Macca's Monday Night — reflecting on life in the Barclays Premier League. He hosted the show and was joined by Neil Warnock, James Richardson, Emmanuel Petit, Tim Sherwood, and Les Ferdinand. The show was finally cancelled in favour of Football Matters, a live late Monday night discussion show hosted by Richardson and Rebecca Lowe. Renowned for his direct comments, in one of McManaman's broadcasts in February 2008, McManaman found himself criticised in the Liverpool press and by former Liverpool fans when his comments for Setanta after a Merseyside derby, on the ownership issue concerning debt involving Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Anfield went down poorly with the supporters. Since July 2010, having joined commentator Ian Darke and former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann, as well as Dutch international Ruud Gullit, on the ESPN coverage team as a studio analyst for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he then signed on with the network to be an color commentator for Major League Soccer and the MLS Cup 2010, the Premier League, the UEFA Euro 2012, while McManaman was also a guest on daily panel show, ESPN PressPass (now re branded as ESPN FC), alongside Steve Nicol, Robbie Mustoe, Shaka Hislop, Robbie Earle and Gabriele Marcotti. From the 2013–14 season, McManaman joined BT Sport as one of its lead co commentators for its new Premier League coverage, In 2014, McManaman and Darke partnered each other for one last time as co commentators exclusively for the USA's ESPN coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in which Darke and McManaman commentated on the match between Brazil and Germany; and got plaudits for their incredulous statements, reactions and colourful comments during the game. From the 2014–15 season onward, McManaman then returned home to be permanently based in England and also could be regularly seen as a guest on BT Sport's Champions League coverage, and on shows like Premier League Tonight with Jake Humphrey. In 2016, McManaman served as a co commentator for UEFA Euro 2016 on ESPN, alongside Darke for England games as well as a pundit in the studio. In 2018, McManaman returned to ESPNFC as a pundit for the first time since 2012, and on 29 June became the only pundit to correctly predict 12 out of the last 14 in the knockout stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup including getting the semi finals, final, and ultimate winner exactly correct. He worked UEFA Euro 2020 in the studio for ESPN mostly alongside Alessandro Del Piero, Craig Burley and Rece Davis. In 2021, McManaman returned to ESPN/ABC more prominently as their La Liga co commentator, alongside Darke.

In October 2006, McManaman played in a charity match for Liverpool Legends against Celtic Legends. In late 2006, McManaman joined production for the film, Goal II: Living the Dream, the sequel to Goal! By the time of release in 2007, McManaman had also become an associate producer of the film, and appears in the film as one of the coaching staff for Kuno Becker's lead character. McManaman was also active in promoting the film with star Anna Friel at its premiere. In June 2008, McManaman participated in Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna's Showdown in Chinatown, an 8 on 8 charity soccer game at Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Nash scored two goals in his team's 8–5 victory, which included McManaman scoring one goal and making five of the goals in a team including Thierry Henry, Robbie Fowler, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, and Phoenix Suns team mates Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa. In December 2011, McManaman was also invited to be a part of the United Nations Development Programme football squad by ex team mates Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo (ambassadors of the UNDP), to take part in a series of friendly matches to raise funds known as Match Against Poverty. Finally, in 2017, McManaman joined the Liverpool Masters team on their "Battle of the Masters Asia Tour" (along with the Arsenal Masters team), and played and scored his last goal for the Masters team in Singapore.

In 2010, McManaman became an ambassador for UEFA alongside Christian Karembeu in its Champions League Trophy World Tour, as well as at the Madrid Festival leading up to the 2010 Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. McManaman, has also been taking part in several "legends" squads for testimonial matches and fundraisers, most notably, at domestic level with the likes of ex Liverpool players, but also for the European Association of Former Players (EFPA) along with a host of retired stars like Hristo Stoichkov, Enzo Scifo and Lothar Matthaus. In May 2010, McManaman played for the Real Madrid Veteranos against Milan's Glorie team for charity known as the Corazon Classic, in front of a crowd of 80,000 at the Santiago Bernabéu, and in an all star game featuring Emilio Butragueño, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Chendo, Alfonso, Paolo Maldini, Cafu, Rui Costa and other world class football stars. In 2011, McManaman joined several former star players including Diego Maradona and former team mates Figo and Robbie Fowler in a select World XI to play against Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and his select XI in a match to mark the opening of the new national stadium in the war torn nation's capital of Grozny. The match drew criticism from some commentators and human rights groups due to Kadyrov's alleged human rights abuses. McManaman commented "This is not a piece of propaganda for us  We are not here politically. We are just here to play football." In 2012, McManaman was officially declared as UEFA's sole ambassador for the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final to be held at Wembley. to participate in the 'Shoot for Love Challenge" fundraiser. In 2018, McManaman was officially named a La Liga ambassador. McManaman spent a month in 2018 travelling around Europe, the US and Asia, promoting the competition. In 2019, McManaman joined La Liga's Managing Director Ivan Codina as representatives to Asia to be present for the inking of La Liga's partnership with Asian cryptocurrency exchange, GCOX, to build its partnership with businesses in Asia and the Middle East. In 2019, McManaman was also named as being part of the UEFA Euro 2020 official 48 man all star ambassador squad from 12 nations, alongside ex team mates Figo, Michael Owen, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer. Also in 2019, McManaman commenced his role as a FIFA ambassador, and began with a visit to Cambodia. In 2024, McManaman was announced as part of Real Madrid's Legends team alongside ex team mates Iker Casillas, Zidane, Figo and Roberto Carlos, for the Corazon Classic match, against FC Porto Legends.

Together with Robbie Fowler, McManaman has invested in several racehorses through a company named The Macca and Growler Partnership, their most prolific horse being Seebald —trained by Martin Pipe and raced by jockey Tony McCoy — winner of 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase. In 2013, McCoy named his horse for the Chepstow races, "El Macca" in reference to McManaman. "El Macca" was five years old as of 2018 and as of 2024 is still owned by JP McManus. "El Macca" was last foaled on 8 February 2024.

In July 2007, McManaman was named executive director of Carson Yeung's Hong Kong listed company Grandtop International Holdings Ltd, which subsequently took a 29.9% stake in Premier League side Birmingham City. In August 2009, Yeung confirmed that once his proposed takeover of Birmingham City went through, a role at St Andrew's would be given to McManaman, although he did not specify what role that would be. By 2010, McManaman was appointed as a board director at Birmingham City, with fellow director Peter Pannu citing McManaman as being present when some critical board decisions were made—a claim which McManaman denied. On 4 June 2012, it was announced that McManaman had resigned as an executive director of Birmingham International Holdings, the company that owned Birmingham City. On 19 September 2012, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange criticised McManaman "  for failing to use best endeavours to procure Birmingham City International Holdings' compliance with the Exchange Listing Rules". The exchange said the company failed to disclose a large deposit it had to make as it was preparing to buy the English football club Birmingham City in 2009. The exchange also said the purchase of the club should have been put to the company's shareholders for their approval, which it was not. By 2014, Yeung was convicted of money laundering and Birmingham International was alleged to have been running out of money, leading to its suspension. McManaman maintained throughout that 'he had agreed to be on the board of BIHL for a role which was "more of a PR exercise". He said he had no involvement in any financial dealings, and "stepped away" after June 2011 when Yeung was arrested in Hong Kong and charged with money laundering offences.' The company made news for wrong reasons as Sure Trace had made several major contract announcements which had not become actual, revenue generating contracts and was delisted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company then set up True Product ID as a company to conduct technology joint ventures in China and the company was transferred to McManaman. To protect investors, the SEC suspended Sure Trace Security in August 2005, citing the accuracy of public information regarding its technology sales.

In 2004, McManaman released his autobiography, El Macca uniquely co written in collaboration with and from the point of view of The Telegraph journalist, Sarah Edworthy a work which was described as a biography of "unusual quality" and shortlisted as one of the Sunday Times Books of the Year and William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

McManaman's grandfather was a bookmaker and his father (in the printing and publishing business) described the family as having "horseracing in their blood". From November 2019, McManaman began writing an exclusive bi monthly op ed column for British Horse Racing website, Horseracing. net. McManaman married his longtime girlfriend (whom he met in the early 90s), Victoria Edwards, a barrister and law lecturer (who taught at the Complutense University of Madrid during her time in Madrid with McManaman), on 6 June 2002, in Mallorca's Palma Cathedral. Victoria gave birth to their daughters Ella in 2006 and Lara in 2009, and son Lucas James in 2012. The family divides its time between homes in Bay of Palma, London and Cheshire. McManaman has also described being a Roman Catholic and how Real Madrid sought out the blessing of Pope John Paul II in 2002, saying: "I am a Catholic and what with all the Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilians, we are predominantly a Catholic team "