Ryan Giggs: Ex-Man Utd and Wales star’s future uncertain after court case ends

Ryan Giggs was one of the greatest players in the Premier League era and the most decorated British footballer of all time.

Now, at the end of a two-and-a-half-year fight to clear his name after charges over domestic violence were withdrawn, the footballer whose place in history is not in doubt still faces an uncertain future.

BBC Sport has been told Giggs, 48, does intend to work again, to return to football, but what now for him and his reputation?

An original 12-day trial in August 2022 saw a jury fail to reach a majority verdict on charges of controlling behaviour as well as his assaulting his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville and her sister Emma.

Always eager to clear his name and return to the managerial career he had begun with Wales, including leading his country to Euro 2020 qualification, Giggs’ head dropped when he heard how long it could take for the case to conclude after a retrial was ordered.

Almost a year on, a judge has directed he be found not guilty of all three of the charges he faced, cleared of any wrongdoing as the prosecution offered no evidence against him.

The CPS’ decision to withdraw the charges and the abandonment of the retrial mean that Giggs is free to resume the career placed on hold when allegations first arose in November 2020.

However, some will believe that what was left of his good name – already tainted by previous extra-marital affairs – has been damaged.

During the original trial last year, Giggs’ defence barrister Chris Daw QC described his client as a man of “limited” education, but who was “not on trial for being flirtatious”, for being a “compulsive womaniser” or for being a “no-good heartbreaker”.

“If they were crimes, he probably would be guilty for at least some of them,” Daw said at the time.

Following the not guilty verdict Daw said his client was “deeply relieved” at the end of the case and that he “intends to build his life and a career as an innocent man”.

But where and how to rebuild his career?

Even if his managerial hopes have not been ended by the details of his behaviour read out in court, has his reputation suffered to the extent there is not a way back to the football world that has carried on at pace without him?

And if the door has not been closed, who will invite him back in?