Ryan Giggs

Ryan Joseph Giggs Order of the British Empire (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973) is a Wales association football who has played for Manchester United F.C. for the entirety of Ryan Giggs club career to-date. Ryan Giggs established himself as a Midfielder Winger during the 1990s and continued in this position well into the 2000s, but more recently playing in a deeper playmaker role.

Giggs holds a host of football records, including that of being the most decorated player in English football history. On 16 May 2009, Ryan Giggs became the first footballer to collect 11 top division English league title medals. Giggs was the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993) and is the only player to have played and scored in every single season of the Premier League since its inception.

Giggs has had a long-lasting domestic and continental career and is the first player in UEFA Champions League history to have scored in 12 successive seasons, on top of being elected into the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Century in 2007, the English Premier League Team of the Decade, in 2003, as well as the FA Cup Team of the Century. Giggs is also the only United player to have played in all 11 Premier League winning teams and all three League Cup winning teams. At the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, held on 21 May 2008, Giggs surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for Manchester United to become the club's all-time leader in appearances.

At international level, Giggs played for the Welsh national football team prior to Ryan Giggs retirement from international football on 2 June 2007, and was once the youngest player to ever represent Ryan Giggs country. As well as the many honours Giggs has received within football such as being named in the Football League 100 Legends, Ryan Giggs was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List, and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005, for Ryan Giggs services to English Football.

Early years

Giggs was born at Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust St David's Hospital in Canton, Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, to Danny Wilson (rugby), a rugby union player for Cardiff RFC, and Lynne Giggs (now Lynne Johnson). As a child, Giggs grew up in Ely, Cardiff, a suburb of western Cardiff, but spent much time with Ryan Giggs mother's parents and playing football on the roads outside their house in Pentrebane. In 1980, when Giggs was six years old, Ryan Giggs father switched rugby codes and signed for Swinton Lions, forcing the whole family to move north to Manchester. The move was a traumatic one, as Giggs was very close to Ryan Giggs grandparents in Cardiff, but Ryan Giggs would often return there with Ryan Giggs family at weekends or on school holidays. Giggs is mixed race — Ryan Giggs paternal grandfather is from Sierra Leone — and has spoken of the racism Ryan Giggs faced as a child.

After moving to Manchester, Giggs appeared for the local team, Deans FC, who were coached by Manchester City F.C. scout Dennis Schofield. Ryan Giggs first game for Deans ended in a 9–0 defeat to Stretford Vics, but, nevertheless, many people commented to Giggs that Ryan Giggs was the best player on the pitch that day. Schofield recommended Giggs to Manchester City, and Ryan Giggs 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, and the trophy was presented to Ryan Giggs by Liverpool F.C. chief scout Ron Yeats. Yeats was impressed by Giggs' performance, and would have recommended Ryan Giggs to the Liverpool management, had Giggs not already been picked up by Manchester United.

While playing for Deans, Giggs would be watched regularly by local newsagent and Old Trafford steward Harold Wood. Wood regularly told the senior staff at Manchester United about Giggs, but they did not send anyone down to watch Ryan Giggs until Wood spoke personally to Alex Ferguson. Wood told the United boss "He's with City at the moment, and if you lose Ryan Giggs you'll regret it". So Ferguson sent a scout to a Deans match, who was impressed enough that United offered Giggs a trial over the Christmas period in 1986. Prior to the trial, Giggs played in a match for Salford Boys against a United Under-15s side at The Cliff (training ground) and scored a hat trick, with Ferguson watching from Ryan Giggs office window. The following November, on Giggs' 14th birthday, Ferguson turned up at Giggs's house with United scout Joe Brown and offered Ryan Giggs two years on associate schoolboy forms. They also waived Youth Training Scheme forms, and persuaded Giggs with the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Giggs signed there and then.

Ryan Giggs represented England national football team at Schoolboy level (using the name Ryan Wilson) playing at Wembley Stadium against German national football team in 1989. Ryan changed Ryan Giggs surname at the age of 16, two years after Ryan Giggs parents' separation, so "the world would know Ryan Giggs was Ryan Giggs mother's son." Lawrie McMenemy, then-coach of the England national under-21 football team team, checked to see whether Giggs was eligible to play for England. However, Ryan Giggs was rebuffed after finding that Giggs had no English grandparents, and was only available to play for Wales.

Manchester United first team

Overview

Giggs made Ryan Giggs first appearance for the club during the 1990-91 in English football and has been a regular player since 1991-92 in English football. Ryan Giggs has played the most competitive games for the club, and holds the club record of team trophies won by a player (23). Since 1992, Ryan Giggs has collected 11 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three Football League Cup winner's medals and two UEFA Champions League winner's medals. Ryan Giggs also has runner-up medals from the UEFA Champions League, two FA Cup finals and two Football League Cup finals, as well as being part of four United teams to have finished second in the 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 is the only Manchester United player to score in every season of the Premier League for the club.

Debut and breakthrough season

Giggs turned professional on 29 November 1990 (his 17th birthday), by which time Ryan Giggs was described by various sources to be the finest prospect in English football since George Best in the 1960s.

Ryan Giggs made Ryan Giggs League debut against Everton F.C. at Old Trafford on 2 March 1991, as a substitute for Denis Irwin in a 2–0 defeat. In Ryan Giggs first full start, Giggs was credited with Ryan Giggs 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, Ryan Giggs was not included in the squad of 16 that defeated FC Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final 11 days later. At this time, the 20-year-old Lee Sharpe was United's first choice left winger, having displaced Danny Wallace at the start of the season.

Ryan Giggs became a first-team regular early in the 1991-92 in English football, yet remained active with the youth system - captaining the team, made up of many of "Fergie's Fledglings", to an FA Youth Cup triumph in 1992. Giggs broke into the first team even though Ryan Giggs 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; a mark of Ryan Giggs skill and maturity in the early years of Ryan Giggs career. Despite Ryan Giggs maturity, though, as the youngest member of the United first team squad, Giggs looked up to the older players – such as Bryan Robson – for advice. Robson recommended that Giggs sign up with Harry Swales, the agent that Ryan Giggs himself had inherited from Kevin Keegan.

That season, Giggs played in the team that finished as runners-up to Leeds United A.F.C. 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 Ryan Giggs first piece of silverware on 12 April 1992 as United defeated Nottingham Forest F.C. in the 1992 Football League Cup Final, after Giggs had set up Brian McClair to score the only goal of the game. At the end of the season, Ryan Giggs was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

Early career

By the start of the 1992-93 in English football season - the first season of the newly formed Premier League, Giggs was firmly established as Manchester United F.C. first choice left winger, and became known as one of British football's most prodigious young players. Ryan Giggs emergence and the arrival of Eric Cantona heralded the dominance of United in the new league. Ryan Giggs manager was very protective of him, refusing to allow Giggs to be interviewed until Ryan Giggs turned 20, eventually granting the first interview to the BBC's Des Lynam for Match of the Day in the 1993-94 in English football season, the season where United won the double and Giggs was one of their key players alongside the likes of Eric Cantona, Paul Ince and Mark Hughes. They topped the table from the fourth game in late August and were not headed all season. Giggs also played for United in the Football League Cup final, where they lost 3-1 to Aston Villa F.C., ending their hopes of a unique domestic treble.

Ryan Giggs was afforded many opportunities which were not normally offered to footballers at Ryan Giggs young age, such as hosting Ryan Giggs own television show, Ryan Giggs' Soccer Skills, which aired in 1994. A book based on the series was also released. Giggs was part of the league's attempt to market itself globally, re-forging its image after the hooliganism-blighted years of the 1980s and was featured in countless football and lad mag covers, becoming a household name. Despite Ryan Giggs aversion to attention, Giggs had also become a teenage pin-up at the time and was once described as the "Premiership's First Poster Boy", and the "boy wonder" - where Ryan Giggs was arguably the original footballer who catapulted the term into the public lexicon. Ryan Giggs was hailed as the first football star to capture the public imagination in such a popular way unseen since the days of George Best, and the irony was that Best and Bobby Charlton used to described Giggs as their favourite young player, specially turning up at The Cliff (training ground) training ground to watch him, where Best once quipped, "One day they might even say that I was another Ryan Giggs." Ryan Giggs burst onto the football scene at a time where football was becoming more popular and less working class and Ryan Giggs was trapped in the fame superhighway where photogenic young players became pop star-like figures (other players to enjoy this popularity in the early to mid 1990s included Liverpool F.C. Jamie Redknapp), and it was not uncommon to have roads blocked and traffic jams when Giggs was at booksignings.

Giggs showed such unique talent that words like "genius" and "magician" were often flaunted in descriptions of Ryan Giggs by team mates like Paul Ince, and Gary Pallister said that United defenders used to say they had "got twisted blood trying to mark Ryan Giggs in training". Ryan Giggs older team-mates were in awe of Ryan Giggs during the 1990-91 in English football before Ryan Giggs even made Ryan Giggs first-team debut, constantly asking the manager during training when Giggs would be selected for the first team. More landmarks have been achieved: on 20 February 2008 Ryan Giggs made Ryan Giggs 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a game against Olympique Lyonnais and on 11 May 2008 Ryan Giggs came on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for United. Fittingly, Giggs scored the second goal in that match, sealing his, and United's, tenth Premier League title. Ten days later, on 21 May 2008, Giggs broke Bobby Charlton's appearance record for United when coming on as an 87th minute substitute for Paul Scholes in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final against Chelsea F.C.. United would go on to win the Final, defeating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time. Giggs converted what became the winning penalty in sudden-death for United (after Chelsea F.C. Nicolas Anelka missed the final penalty) and joined Steve McManaman and team-mate Owen Hargreaves in becoming the only British players to have played in and won more than one Champions League final.

At the start of Manchester United's 2008–09 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson began placing Ryan Giggs at central midfield, behind the forwards, instead of Ryan Giggs favoured wing position. Giggs has since adapted very well to Ryan Giggs new position and supplied two assists in as many games, against Middlesbrough and AaB Fodbold. Sir Alex Ferguson said in an interview, "Ryan (Giggs) is a very valuable player, Ryan Giggs will be 35 this November but at 35, Ryan Giggs can be United's key player. At 25, Ryan would shatter defenders with Ryan Giggs run down the flank, but at 35, Ryan Giggs will play deeper." Giggs has begun taking Ryan Giggs coaching badges and Ferguson has hinted that Ryan Giggs would like Giggs to serve as Ryan Giggs coaching staff after retirement like Ole Gunnar Solskjær did.

On 8 February 2009, Giggs maintained Ryan Giggs record of being the only player to score in every season of the Premier League since its inception in 1992 by netting the only goal in a 1–0 win over West Ham United F.C.. Following speculation earlier in the year, in February 2009, Giggs signed a one-year extension to Ryan Giggs current contract – which was due to expire in June 2009. After a successful season, Giggs was short-listed along with four other Manchester United team mates for the PFA Player of the Year. On 26 April 2009, Giggs received the award, despite having started just twelve games throughout the 08/09 season (at the time of receiving the trophy). This was the first time in Ryan Giggs illustrious career that Giggs had received the award. Prior to the awards ceremony, Alex Ferguson had given Ryan Giggs backing for Giggs to win the award and stated that it would be fitting, given Giggs' long term contribution to the game. Giggs made Ryan Giggs 800th appearance for Manchester United on 29 April 2009, in the 1–0 semi-final win over Arsenal F.C. in the UEFA Champions League. On 16 May 2009, Manchester United won the Premier League after a 0-0 draw against Arsenal; this marked both United's and Giggs' 11th Premier League titles. Giggs scored Ryan Giggs first Manchester United hat-trick in a pre-season friendly against Hangzhou Greentown F.C. after coming on as a second-half substitute.

International career

As a youngster, Giggs captained England Schoolboys but played for the Wales national football team as an adult. In 1991, Ryan Giggs held the national record for being the youngest player at the time to play for Wales. Ryan Giggs went on to win 64 caps, and scored twelve goals for the Wales national football team between 1991 and 2007. Ryan Giggs was appointed captain of Wales national football team in 2004.

Giggs received criticism for Ryan Giggs reluctance to participate in friendly international matches. Since Ryan Giggs début in 1991 against Germany, Giggs failed to attend a friendly international until some nine years later, missing 18 consecutive friendly games. The official reason given for such absences was that Giggs was injured on each occasion. However, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in fact had a policy of refusing to release the player for friendly games.

In September 2006, Giggs played in a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane. Such was Ryan Giggs display that, following the 2-0 win for Brazil, Brazil coach Dunga paid Giggs the compliment by stating Ryan Giggs would not look out of place playing for the five-time world champions alongside stars such as Kaká and Ronaldinho.

To surprise of some, Giggs announced Ryan Giggs retirement from international football on Wednesday 30 May 2007 at a press conference held at The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, drawing the curtain on a 16-year international career.

Discipline

Giggs had a very good disciplinary record during Ryan Giggs early career receiving relatively few bookings. In fact, Ryan Giggs has never been sent off when playing for Manchester United F.C. and only once when playing for Wales. Ryan Giggs only red card came in 2001 in an international match against Norway national football team, which Wales lost. In November 2003, Ryan Giggs was found guilty of improper conduct by the FA due to Ryan Giggs behaviour following a game against Arsenal. In the same week, Giggs received a two-match suspension from international football for deliberately elbowing Russian player Vadim Evseev in the face. The offence was missed by the referee but Ryan Giggs was later charged using video evidence.