May went on to play in the Football League for Huddersfield Town and Burnley before finishing his career with non-League club Bacup Borough.

May retained his regular place in the Blackburn team after they reached the Premier League, despite the many millions that manager Kenny Dalglish spent on rebuilding the squad ready for a title challenge.

[6] In July 1994, Manchester United bought May for £1.2 million,[7] as he was apparently unhappy at Blackburn in his final months due to the breakdown in contract negotiations.

[8] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had been searching for a defender to add to the squad, and specifically needed an Englishman who would not be affected by the restrictions on foreign players in European competition that were in place at the time.

[citation needed] Manchester United finished the season in second place in the Premier League, losing out to May's old club Blackburn Rovers.

[11] His form meant that he received a late call-up to the England national team for a friendly against Mexico, but he never actually won an international cap.

[12] The purchases of Henning Berg and Jaap Stam as well as the emergence of Wes Brown limited his chances further during the late 1990s and he saw very little action with the first team.

– in reference to the lack of success enjoyed by May's former Blackburn colleague Alan Shearer,[5][17] who was one of the finest strikers of his generation but won just one trophy in a career which lasted nearly 20 years at the highest level.

[19] At the end of his contract with Manchester United in the summer of 2003, May was given a free transfer[20] and snapped up by Burnley manager Stan Ternent,[21] an old friend of Ferguson's,[22] to bolster his leaky defence.