Eric Harrison: Tributes from David Beckham, Gary Neville and Sir Alex Ferguson to an inspirational man and mentor

Mr Harrison, who hailed from nearby Mytholmroyd, mentored Manchester United’s celebrated “class of ’92” and was responsible for forging Beckham’s fledgling career, as well as those of Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Gary and Phil Neville – many of whom are also expected at Halifax Minster.

Mr Harrison died earlier this month at 91, having been diagnosed with dementia four years ago.

Thousands attended the funeral of the former Halifax Town player yesterday.

Posting on Instagram David Beckham said: "Today we say goodbye to a great man.

"As I look back on what and who made me as a person and as a player, my dad, the Boss and Eric.

"I was stood one day in the cliff training ground in the reception just about to go to Annie Kay’s house (my digs) and Neil Webb walks past me and out the door, then Eric walks down the stairs from his office and right up to me and says “You will replace him in the first team one day“ I smiled with excitement but I also thought that’s not gonna happen any time soon and then it did.

"The cliff training ground brings back so many memories as does Littleton road of Eric, 2 laps warm up, 5 ball routine, 12 minute run and the damn heading game which as you can imagine I did not like, but it was all about preparing us for the first team and preparing to play for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.

"David stop playing those #*!¥*+€ Hollywood balls will forever be the words that stay in my head but then Eric has me kicking a ball against a wall 60 times with both feet from different distances and that became one of my biggest strengths.

"Ultimately it was The Boss that had that faith in us and took us to the next level but the person that prepared us and we wouldn’t have been the players and men we turned out to be was Eric. Thank you Eric and goodbye."

On Instagram Ryan Giiggs simply put: "A great man and mentor, thank you Eric Harrison and goodbye."

The Minster is just a 10-minute walk from The Shay, the Halifax Town ground where Mr Harrison’s professional career began.

Gary Neville also paid this tribute to Mr Harrison on Instagram.

"Today is the funeral of this great man. Your own success in life is dependant on many things. However the people you are surrounded by and the guidance and example they set for you to follow are critical .

"Your family , teachers , coaches , friends , work colleagues , boss and many others influence your outcome .

"At the age of 16 I was fortunate enough to join Manchester United full time. I was young , naive and in the hands of the coach. It’s difficult to put into words what Eric did for me that would do it justice.

"He never let up from the minute we walked in to the minute we moved up. He grounded us everyday. He made me understand the importance of consistency and reliability.

"A boss wants to know what his players are going to do. Always be there , always give their best and achieve the standard you’ve set yourself.

"He pushed us in training to a point of stress to know how far mentally and physically we could take ourselves . The match at weekend became the easy part, the fun and the reward for what you had done during the week.

"I still remember the moment he told me “I had a chance “.

"What more can you ask for in life. I trusted him. I believed him. That’s all I needed .

"Repetitive training drills everyday . The 5 ball routine where we passed between us for 20 mins accepting and receiving the ball in different ways , the teamshape ( back 4 work for me ) that made me understand my position , the 2 laps around Littleton rd to warm up everyday ( 2km) , the shuttle runs on a Friday , the heading game !!!

"A game where you could only score with your head and you had to basically challenge each other aerially to score to ensure you had a competitive streak( why do you think my nose is like this!!), 1 v 1’s all the time , man to man marking games and that moment on a Friday when he walked down into the corridor and put the A and B team up on the wall and you found out where you were playing ( if you were playing ) was nerve wracking .

"My family gave me the base to build on , Sir Alex had the ultimate faith and courage to see it through but in between that it would have all fallen over if I hadn’t met Eric Harrison. Thank you Eric."