Former Everton captain Phil Neville has announced his retirement and paid tribute to his former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Neville, who has also been linked to jobs at Brighton, Stoke and Everton this summer, is currently in the process of finishing his UEFA A licence - a course he approaches with some advice from Sir Alex Ferguson in the back of his mind.

"He gave us a great lesson when we were doing my B licence, with Roy Keane, Gary, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs," he said.

"When you are a footballer at Manchester United, you are probably looking for a bit of a short-cut or can we get someone in to do the sessions for us, sign it off, and he gave us not a rollicking, but said 'no fast track to coaching or management'.

"'But we've got to go to Lilleshall for two weeks in the summer'. He said: 'Get it done'.

"'Can you phone the FA and ask if we can leave a couple of days early?' 'No, I want you to stay longer'.

"It was the biggest jolt that we had. We were thinking, we're Manchester United. We know everything. He said: 'Actually you don't.'

"There's no short cut to being a manager or coach. He sowed the seed early on in our coaching career."