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Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has opened up on his decision to step away from football punditry after spending years covering European football with TNT Sports. The former England midfielder was part of a punditry team that included Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch and Joe Cole and would analyse games from the Premier League, Champions League and Europa League. He was particularly tasked with giving his opinion on United. Fans may have noticed Scholes has made limited appearances this season, following Ferdinand, who also stepped away from his pundit role. He explained his reasons for quitting live football while making a guest appearance on the Stick to Football podcast. "Strict Routine" - Scholes Quits Punditry Scholes has a non-verbal, autistic 20-year-old son named Aiden, whom he is prioritising because he requires an intense level of attention due to his condition. He spoke about this with former United teammates Roy Keane and Gary Neville: "I made a decision this year (because) of Aiden, obviously due to his special needs you might know about." He added: "All the work I do now is just around his routines because he has quite a strict routine every single day, so I just decided everything I'm going to do it is around Aiden." Scholes split with his wife, Claire, in 2020 and the pair now handle the responsibility of caring for Aiden routinely: "I'm not with [his mother] Claire anymore so we have him three nights each, and Claire's mum has him on a Friday night... We always do the same things with him as he doesn't know what day of the week it is or time. But he'll know from what we're doing what day it is." Scholes, who has three children, including Aiden, continued: "I pick him up every Tuesday from his daycare and we go swimming. Loves swimming then we get his pizza on the way home. Thursday pick him up, go for something to eat, go home. Sunday, I pick him up from Claire's house and we go to Tesco where he buys a trolley full of chocolate. So, he doesn't know what day or time it is, but he knows from what we're doing what day it is. He'll be 21 in December." The 11-time Premier League champion has undertaken charity work in support of autism. This includes representing Curzon Ashton FC in a charity match to raise money for I AM — Celebrating Autism in Greater Manchester and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity. "Didn't Want To Be There" - Scholes on Impact on Playing Career Scholes said that Aiden was diagnosed at the age of two-and-a-half years old, but he could see signs that something was wrong early on. This impacted his playing career, which he'd have been participating in around the 2007-08 season of a 20-year Old Trafford spell: "I didn't speak to anyone at the club about it. Even now I don't want sympathy or anything. I just thought even if I did speak to someone about it, it's not going to help Aiden. I don't know what would help me." He recalled one game when the situation took hold: "I remember the first time after we were playing Derby away and I just didn't want to be there. I remember the manager dropped me the week after actually, and I hadn't told anyone (about the diagnosis). I ended up telling them a few weeks later, I think as it was quite hard." Scholes retired in May 2013 after becoming one of the most decorated players in English football history, with 716 club appearances. He had initially retired in May 2011 before coming out of retirement to play in the last season of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign. The 50-year-old then took to punditry in July 2014 and also appeared on ITV during major international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup. He launched a new podcast last month, 'The Good, The Bad & The Football,' with former teammate Nicky Butt and TV presenter Paddy McGuinness, which airs every Monday.
