plays for Manchester United . Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season . He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continued in this position well into the 2000s, though he has been increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his later years. Giggs is known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him. [5] Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history. [6] He also holds the club record for competitive appearances. [7] During his time at United, he has won 13 Premier League winners medals, four FA Cup winners medals, three League Cup winners medals and two Champions League winners medals. He has two runner-up medals from the Champions League , three FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of the team five times when it finished second in the Premier League. In recent years, Giggs has captained the team on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007– 08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries. Giggs has a number of personal achievements. He was the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993), though he did not win the PFA Player of the Year award until 2009. He is the only player to have played and scored in every season of the Premier League .[8][9] He is the only remaining player in the Premier League who played in the old First Division. He was elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, [10] the Premier League Team of the Decade in 2003, as well as the FA Cup Team of the Century. Giggs holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history, with 271. [11] At international level, Giggs played for the Welsh national team prior to his retirement from international football on 2 June 2007, and was once the youngest player to ever represent his country. Giggs was named one of the three overaged players for the Great Britain team to compete at 2012 Summer Olympics , and was subsequently named as the teams captain. [12] In addition to the many honours Giggs has received within football such as being named in the Football League 100 Legends (the last active player in the list), he was appointed an OBE in the Queens 2007 Birthday Honours List, and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005, for his services to English Football. He was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2009. [13] On 31 January 2011, Giggs was named Manchester Uniteds greatest ever player by a worldwide poll conducted by Uniteds official magazine and website. On 10 October 2011, Giggs was honoured with the 2011 Golden Foot Award . Early years Born as Ryan Joseph Wilson[14] (he later adopted his mothers maiden name as his professional surname) at St Davids Hospital in Canton, Cardiff , to Danny Wilson, at the time a rugby union player for Cardiff RFC who would go on to become a Wales international representative in rugby league , and Lynne Giggs (now Lynne Johnson). As a child Giggs grew up in Ely, a suburb of western Cardiff. His younger brother, Rhodri, is a former manager of non-league Salford City . He spent much time with his mothers parents and playing football on the roads outside their house in Pentrebane. In 1980, when Giggs was six years old, his father switched rugby codes and signed for Swinton RLFC , forcing the whole family to move north to Swinton, a town in Salford , Greater Manchester. The move was a traumatic one, as Giggs was very close to his grandparents in Cardiff, but he would often return there with his family at weekends or on school holidays. Giggs is mixed race – his paternal grandfather is from Sierra Leone – and has spoken of the racism he faced as a child. [15] After moving to Salford, Giggs appeared for the local team, Deans FC, who were coached by Manchester City scout Dennis Schofield. Schofield recommended Giggs to Manchester City, and he was signed up to their School of Excellence. Meanwhile, Giggs continued to play for Salford Boys, who went on to reach the final of the Granada Schools Cup competition at Anfield in 1987. Giggs captained the Salford team to victory over their Blackburn counterparts, was man of the match, and the trophy was presented to him by Liverpool chief scout Ron Yeats. [16] Giggs also played rugby league at schoolboy level.[17] While playing for Deans, Giggs was observed regularly by local newsagent and Old Trafford steward Harold Wood. Wood spoke personally to Alex Ferguson who sent a scout, and Giggs was eventually offered a trial over the 1986 Christmas period. Giggs played in a match for Salford Boys against a United Under-15s side at The Cliff and scored a hat trick, with Ferguson watching from his office window. On 29 November 1987 (his 14th birthday), Ferguson turned up at Giggss house with United scout Joe Brown and offered him two years on associate schoolboy forms. They offered to waive YTS forms, and persuaded Giggs to sign by offering the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Using the name Ryan Wilson, Giggs captained England at schoolboy level, playing at Wembley Stadium against Germany in 1989.[18] He changed his surname at the age of 16, when his mother remarried, two years after his parents separation. [19] Manchester United first team 1990–1995: Debut and early career Giggs was offered his first professional contract on 29 November 1990 (his 17th birthday). He accepted the contract and became a professional two days later (1 December 1990). At this time, United had recently won the FA Cup – their first major trophy since the appointment of Alex Ferguson as manager in November 1986. After two seasons in the league where they had finished mid table, they were finally starting to threaten the dominance of Liverpool and Arsenal, though they only managed to finish sixth that season. Fergusons quest for a successful left winger had not been an easy one since the departure of Jesper Olsen two years earlier; he had initially signed Ralph Milne , but the player was not a success at United and lasted just one season in the first team before Ferguson secured the Southampton winger Danny Wallace in September 1989. Wallace had failed to shine at Old Trafford, and by the time Giggs turned professional Wallace was contending with 19-year-old Lee Sharpe for the role of first choice left winger. [citation needed] Giggs made his League debut against Everton at Old Trafford on 2 March 1991, as a substitute for the injured full-back Denis Irwin in a 2– 0 defeat. In his first full start, Giggs was credited with his first ever goal in a 1–0 win in the Manchester derby on 4 May 1991, though it appeared to be a Colin Hendry own goal. However, he was not included in the squad of 16 that defeated Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final 11 days later. Lee Sharpe, who had won the race to displace Danny Wallace, took to the field as Uniteds left winger, while Wallace was selected as a substitute. Giggs became a first-team regular early in the 1991–92 season , yet remained active with the youth system and captained the team, made up of many of Fergies Fledglings , to an FA Youth Cup triumph in 1992. [citation needed] Giggs broke into the first team even though he was still aged only 17, and paved the way as the first of many Manchester United youth players to rise into the first team under Ferguson. As the youngest member of the United first team squad, Giggs looked to the older players such as Bryan Robson for advice. Robson recommended that Giggs sign up with Harry Swales, the agent that he himself had inherited from Kevin Keegan. [20] That season, Giggs played in the team that finished as runners-up to Leeds United in the final year of the old First Division before the advent of the Premier League . United had led the table for much of the season before a run of dismal results in April saw them overtaken by the West Yorkshire side. Giggs collected his first piece of silverware on 12 April 1992 as United defeated Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final , after Giggs had set up Brian McClair to score the only goal of the game. At the end of the season, he was voted PFA Young Player of the Year – the award which had been credited to his colleague Lee Sharpe a year earlier.[ citation needed ] By the start of the 1992–93 season, the first season of the newly formed Premier League , Giggs had ousted Sharpe to become Uniteds first- choice left winger. He was recognised as one of English footballs two best emerging young wingers, alongside Steve McManaman,[21] who were notable for being a throwback to the Stanley Matthews era of the 1950s winger. [22] Giggs helped United to their first top division title win for 26 years. His emergence and the arrival of Eric Cantona heralded the dominance of United in the Premier League. Ferguson was protective
Posted on: Mon, 09 Dec 2013 13:57:53 +0000
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