RYAN GIGGS

[b]Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE[1] (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973 in Ely, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom) is a Welsh footballer who has played for Manchester United as a left midfielder for the entirety of his club career to-date, and is famed as one of the greatest wingers of all time in the game. Giggs holds a slew of football records including being the most decorated player in British Football history, as well as the most successful English League winner as he collected his 10th FA Premier League winning medal on 11 May 2008.

Giggs was the first player in history to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award consecutively and as of today has played and scored in every single season of the FA Premier League since its inception, also holding the league's records for most all time goal assists with 289 assists in 535 appearances. Giggs has had a stellar 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 PFA Team of the Century in 2007[2], the English Premiership 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 10 League winning teams and the only Manchester United player to have played in both League Cup winning teams. At the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, held on 21 May 2008, Giggs passed Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 759 appearances for Manchester United to become the club's all-time leader in appearances.

On the 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. As well as the many honours Giggs has received within football such as being named in the Football League 100 Legends, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List, and was inducted into the exclusive English Football Hall of Fame in 2005, for his services to English Football.

Early years

Giggs was spotted as a 13-year-old by Manchester City scout Dennis Schofield. His talent became widely recognised, and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson went to his house personally to urge him to sign for United instead of City, and he joined them on 29 November 1987 - his 14th birthday. He persuaded Giggs by waiving YTS forms with the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Giggs ended up signing with Manchester United. He represented England at Schoolboy level (as Ryan Wilson) playing at Wembley against Germany in 1989.

Similarly, England Under-21 coach Lawrie McMenemy checked to see whether he was eligible to play for the national team. Apart from Wales (his birthplace) and England, the only other country he was also eligible to play for Sierra Leone, where his grandfather, on his father's side, originated from. He only played for England schoolboys because he attended a school in England.

[edit] Manchester United first team

[edit] Overview

Giggs is Manchester United's longest-serving player.[citation needed] He made his first appearance for the club during the 1990-91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991-92 season. He has played the highest number of competitive games for the club, and holds the club record of team trophies won by a player (23).[3] Since 1992, he has collected ten FA Premier League winners' medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, two League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's medals. He also has runners-up medals from two FA Cup finals and two Football League Cup finals, as well as being part of four United teams who have finished second in the league. He has worn the squad number 11 since squad numbering came into effect in 1993.[citation needed] He has captained the United squad for numerous big matches, with Gary Neville the usual squad captain.

[edit] Beginnings

Giggs turned professional on 29 November 1990 (his 17th birthday) and made his League debut against Everton F.C. at Old Trafford on 2 March 1991, as a substitute for Denis Irwin. In his first full start, Giggs was credited with his first ever goal in a 1-0 win in the Manchester derby, though it appeared to be a Colin Hendry own goal.

He became a first-team regular early in the 1991-92 season, yet remained active with the youth system- captaining the team known as the class of 1992 youth; "Fergie's Fledglings" (which included the likes of Robbie Savage), to an FA Youth Cup triumph in 1992. 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 under Ferguson, into the first team; a mark of his skill and maturity early on. That season, Giggs played in the team that finished runners up in the final year of what was known as the First Division, where United finished runners up to Leeds United. 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. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year, and United finished second in the league.

[edit] Superstardom

By the start of the 1992-93 season - the first season of the newly-formed Premier League, Giggs was firmly established as United's first choice left winger, and became known as one of British football's most prodigious young players. His emergence and the arrival of Eric Cantona heralded the dominance of United in the new Premier League. His manager was very protective of him, refusing to allow Giggs to be interviewed until he turned 20, eventually granting the first interview to the BBC's Des Lynam for Match of the Day.

His ability to consistently dribble past opposing players by using his own exceptional balance, pace, and skill became the most noticeable aspect of his game. He was also renowned for pre-meditating celebrations with team-mates, such as Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis. He was afforded many opportunities which were not normally offered to footballers at his young age, such as hosting his own television show, Ryan Giggs' Soccer Skills, which was a hit with ITV and Granada in 1994. A book based on the series was also released. During the same year, the BBC described Giggs as "one of the most photographed persons" in Great Britain. Giggs, or "Giggsy", as he is known, was also hailed as one of the FA Premier League's biggest stars and could often be found as the picture-book merchandising icon of the league's early years. He was part of the league's attempt to market itself globally, re-forging its image after the hooliganism-affected years of the 1980s.

His goals were regularly shortlisted for various Goal of the Season awards, and tended to be memorable, particularly the ones against Queens Park Rangers in 1993, Tottenham in 1994, Everton in 1995, Coventry in 1996, and the most remarkable of all, his amazing solo-goal against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final. During extra time, Giggs picked up possession just after Patrick Vieira had given the ball away, then ran away from the half-way line, dribbling past the whole Arsenal back line, including Tony Adams and Martin Keown before launching his left-footed strike just under David Seaman's bar and beyond him. It has been hailed as the best FA Cup goal of all time by some sections of the media and football fans. It does have the distinction of being the last ever goal scored in an FA Cup Semi-Final Replay as, from the following season, the FA Cup Semi-Finals have been decided in a single game, with extra time and a penalty shootout if required. Perhaps the only aspect of Giggs' game to ever receive criticism was that of his goals return, however, his constant ability to assist in creating goals from the flank often meant he was credited with success, which, when combined with the fact that he was winning the title every other year in the 1990s, meant he was still held in great honour.

By the late 1990s, with the retirement of Eric Cantona and the emergence of younger players like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Philip Neville and Nicky Butt, his popularity and fame gradually evened out and attention was paid to some of the younger stars, with David Beckham receiving particularly high levels of media attention on and off the field. However, his football skill was still marked genius, and he developed into a more mature senior player by the time Manchester United F.C.|United won their record breaking and unprecedented "Treble" in 1999. Giggs missed several games due to injury, but his form was consistently excellent and he played in both cup finals that the club reached that season. Memorable moments were his extra-time goal in the FA Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Arsenal (see above) to give United a 2-1 win, and his 90th minute equalizer in the home leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Juventus.

Giggs set up the equalising goal scored by Teddy Sheringham in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final that set United on their way to the treble. Giggs was also the man of the match as United beat Palmeiras to claim the Intercontinental Cup that year. Once Sir Alex Ferguson said "Giggs can twist your blood" referring to his style of play where combining with his speed at running at defenders, they would eventually be left dazed and confused.

In November 2003, Giggs was mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons, entitled "The Regina Monologues", which takes place in England. In response to Marge complaining that Homer punched out three people on the street, Homer replies, "That was over soccer results. Can you believe they gave Giggs a yellow card in the box?!". Giggs therefore has the distinction of being the only Premier League footballer to be mentioned in the show. Some claim that Giggs was the only ever footballer mentioned onThe Simpsons until an episode in season 18 featuring Ronaldo, however, Pelé also appeared in an episode, appearing before a football match between Mexico and Portugal.

The later years

Giggs was one of United's most experienced and senior players at United when Denis Irwin left in May 2002, and he became a pivotal part of the club, despite still being only 28 years old. According to a BBC Sport article in 2003, "the trajectory of Giggs' United career follows that of the club almost exactly", underlining his importance to United. Giggs continued to excel in the four years that followed the treble triumph of 1999. United were Premier League champions in three of the four seasons following the treble, as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals three times and the semi-finals once. He celebrated his 10-year anniversary at Old Trafford with a testimonial match against Celtic at the start of the 2001-02 campaign. A year later, he bagged his 100th career goal in a draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

He played in his fourth FA Cup triumph on 22 May 2004, making him one of only two players (the other being Roy Keane) to have won the trophy four times, while playing for Manchester United. He has also finished with a runners-up medal three times (1995, 2005 and 2007). His participation in the victory over Liverpool F.C. in September 2004 made him the third player to play 600 games for United, alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game. During the first half of the 2004-05 season, there was transfer speculation linking Gigg's with Newcastle United, a club his best friend at United, Nicky Butt, had left for. However, no move was made before the transfer window closed on 31 January 2005.

After that season, Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with United when chairman David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year. This would keep him at Old Trafford until at least June 2008, he has since signed another contract extension. Giggs has reinvented himself and continues to contribute positively to the United cause even after team-mates like David Beckham and Roy Keane had left. Giggs has also benefited from being largely injury-free aside from a series of hamstring problems which, according to his autobiography, prevents him from running at full throttle to this day.

On 6 May 2007, with Chelsea only able to manage a 1-1 with London rivals Arsenal, Manchester United became the champions of England. In doing so Ryan Giggs set a record (which he has since broken) of nine league titles, thus beating the previous record of eight he shared with Alan Hansen and Phil Neal (who won all of their titles with Liverpool). Giggs played a starring role in United's 2007 Charity Shield victory after netting in the first half to bring the game to a 1-1 draw, which led to penalty triumph for the Red Devils after keeper Edwin Van Der Sar saved all of Chelsea's first 3 penalties.

In the 2007-08 season, Alex Ferguson adopted a rotation system between Giggs and newcomers Nani and Anderson; however he was the favoured choice for the anticipated clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford and put in a glorious cross with the outside of his boot for Carlos Tevez to score his first United goal. Giggs signed a contract extension that will keep him at Old Trafford until the end of the 2008-09 season, when he will be in his 36th year. Sir Alex Ferguson has stated he believes Giggs can carry on playing for United beyond this date.

Giggs scored his first league goal of the season in a 4-1 United romp away to Aston Villa. This goal meant that along with Gary Speed (currently at Sheffield United), Giggs had scored in every single FA Premier League season since its inception in 1992. Giggs scored his 100th league goal for United against Derby County on 8 December 2007, which United won 4-1. More landmarks have been achieved: on 20 February 2008 he made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a game against Lyon, and on May 11, 2008 he 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 the League title for United and also marking the tenth time he has won the FA Premier League trophy. 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 fellow veteran Paul Scholes in the Champions League Final against Chelsea. 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. [4]

[edit] International career

Giggs captained England Schoolboys (which all schoolboys in England are eligible to play for, regardless of nationality), but played for the Welsh national team as an adult. At the time of his début in 1991, Giggs (still only 17 at the time) was the youngest player to represent Wales at the highest level.

Giggs won 64 caps and scored 12 goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007. However his international career was frustrating as, like Alfredo Di Stéfano and George Best, he did not play in either a European Championship or a World Cup finals, because Wales failed to qualify. He was appointed captain of Wales in 2004.

Giggs received criticism for his reluctance to participate in friendly international matches. Since his début in 1991 against West Germany, Giggs failed to attend a friendly international until some nine years later, missing a massive 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[5]

In September 2006, Giggs put in a dazzling performance in a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane. Such was his display that, following the 2-0 win for Brazil, Brazil coach Dunga paid Giggs the ultimate compliment by stating he would not look out of place playing for the five-time world champions alongside stars such as Kaká and Ronaldinho.[6]

Giggs announced his 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. His final game for Wales, and as captain, was the Euro 2008 Qualifier against the Czech Republic on 2 June at Cardiff. He earned his 64th cap in this game and won the Man of the Match award as Wales drew 0-0.[7]

[edit] Discipline

Giggs had a very good disciplinary record during his early career receiving relatively few bookings. In fact, he has never been sent off when playing for Manchester United and only once when playing for Wales. His only red card came in 2001 in an international match against Norway which Wales lost. In November 2003 he was found guilty of improper conduct by the FA due to his behaviour following a game against Arsenal, his punishment was a £7,500 fine and a warning about his future behaviour. In the same week Giggs received a two match suspension from international football for deliberately elbowing Russian player Vadim Yevseyev in the face, the offence was missed by the referee but he was later charged using video evidence.

[edit] Personal life

Other than his notorious spate of womanising as alleged in tabloids such as the Daily Mirror over the years, Giggs has otherwise managed to avoid the limelight of celebrity trappings that tagged his earlier years. In his autobiography, Giggs: The Autobiography, he revealed possible reasons for his aversion to attention, and accounted for his quiet and bashful demeanour. The biography told of the racial taunts that Giggs endured as a child because he was the product of a mixed marriage. Also, although he admired his Rugby league-playing father's sporting gifts (Giggs attributes his speed and balance to his father's genes), he called his father "a real rogue" in an interview with the BBC once and said growing up, he hated the impact his "bullying aggressive nature" had on his family, and thus changed his surname from Wilson to Giggs; his mother's surname, so "the world would know I was my mother's son".

Giggs was involved in controversy in November 1997 when his then-girlfriend Davinia Murphy alleged he assaulted her in a nightclub, claiming he punched her in the stomach and face.[8]

Giggs is considered by many as a player who, unlike Lee Sharpe and George Best, achieved considerable fame despite a relatively low profile overall as a celebrity. He has hosted adverts for Reebok, Sovil Titus, Citizen Watches, Givenchy, Fuji, Patek Phillipe, Quorn Burgers and Celcom, and has been used for video-mapping in computer game simulations like EA Sports' FIFA 2003, for which he also did a commercial.

According to an article by BBC Sport: "In the early 1990s, Giggs was David Beckham before Beckham was even holding down a place in the United first team. If you put his face on the cover of a football magazine, it guaranteed you the biggest sales of the year. Why? Men would buy it to read about 'the new Best' and girls bought it because they wanted his face all over their bedroom walls. Giggs had the million-pound boot deal (Reebok), the lucrative sponsorship deals in the Far East (Fuji) and the celebrity girlfriends (Dani Behr, Davinia Taylor) at a time when Beckham was being sent on loan to Preston North End."[9]

Giggs married his long-term partner Stacey Cooke in a private ceremony on 7 September 2007.[10] They have two children; a daughter Liberty, who was born in 10 April 2003, and a son Zach who was born in October 2006.

Giggs has a younger brother, Rhodri, also a winger, who currently plays for Curzon Ashton in the Northern Premier League Division One North. He was released by F.C. United of Manchester, the non-league club set up by disaffected Manchester United fans after Malcolm Glazer's takeover of United, in August 2007.

Giggs also has a younger half-sister, Bethany, who was born in 1992 to his mother and her second husband.

[edit] Campaigner

In recent years, Giggs has also become a UNICEF representative, launching a campaign to prevent landmines from killing children in 2002.

Giggs, who had visited UNICEF projects in Thailand, told the BBC: "As a footballer I can't imagine life without the use of one of my legs...Sadly this is exactly what happens to thousands of children every year when they accidentally step on a landmine."[11] Giggs is also an active campaigner in the fight against racism in football, alongside current and former Premier League players like Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry.

Giggs is also a patron of the Manchester-based 'five Star Scanner Appeal', a charity that aims to raise £1m to fund a new scanner at a new Manchester Children's Hospital due to be built ready for 2009.[b]