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Ryan giggs
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Welsh Wizard or also known by Ryan Joseph Giggs is the most decorated player in Welsh and English football history. Playing in the top flight of Premier League football since 1991, spent his whole career in Manchester United, he collected almost 1000 appearance for the club.
Ryan Giggs was born at Cardiff, Wales on November 29, 1973. He was born with the name Ryan Joseph Wilson and soon changed his surname into his mother’s name which is Giggs because of his relationship with his father was not going well.
He also holds the club record for competitive appearances. During his time at United, he won 13 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's 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. Giggs captained the team on several occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.
He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continued in this position well into the 2000s, though he was increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his later years. Giggs was known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him.
He made his first appearance for the club during the 1990-1991 season and become a regular player from the 1991-1992 season.
Giggs has many 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. Until the end of the 2012−13 season, he was the only player to have played and scored in every season of the Premier League, but he failed to score in his final season and has now retired.
He was elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, 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 assists.
At international level, Giggs played in the Welsh National team and retired from international football on 2 June 2007 and 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 named as the team's captain.
In addition to the many honours Giggs has received within football, he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List for his services to English football.
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.
By the start of the 1992–93 season, the first season of the newly formed Premier League, Giggs Sharpe spot to become United's first-choice left winger. He was recognised as one of English football's two best promising and exciting young wingers, alongside Steve McManaman, who were notable for being a throwback to the Stanley Matthews era of the 1950s winger.
At the end of the 1993–94 season, Giggs won a second title in a row, and became the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards, before equalled by Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.
Giggs proved to be a scorer of great goals, with many of them being shortlisted for various Goal of the Season awards. The most famous one among his best were those against Queens Park Rangers in 1993, Tottenham in 1994, Everton in 1995, Coventry in 1996, and his solo effort against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final.
Talking about one of his best goal ever, it was against Arsenal in the FA Cup semifinal replay in 1999. During extra time, Giggs picked up possession after Patrick Vieira gave the ball away, then ran from his own half, dribbled past the whole Arsenal defense, including Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown before launching his left-footed strike just under David Seaman's bar and beyond his reach. He famously took off and spin his shirt as he ran to celebrate with his teammates. It was also the last ever goal scored in an FA Cup semi-final replay as, from the following season, the FA Cup semi-finals are decided in a single game, with extra time and a penalty shootout if required.
Giggs had his first real chance to shine in Europe. Having played a key role in United winning their third league title in four seasons, he helped them reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the first United side in 28 years to achieve this. However, their hopes of European glory were ended by Borussia Dortmund, who knocked them out by winning each leg of the semi-final 1–0. At the end of this season, Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero told Italian media that Giggs was one of his two favourite players, and gave the following memorable quote: "This is embarrassing to say but I have cried twice in my life watching a football player. The first one was Roberto Baggio and the second was Ryan Giggs."
Giggs became United's longest serving player when Denis Irwin left in May 2002. Giggs received a testimonial match to celebrate his 10 year anniversary at Old Trafford against Celtic with a 4-3 loss featuring Eric Cantona at the beginning of 2001-2002 campaign.
On 25 February 2003, Giggs played one of his most memorable games, in a 3–0 victory against Juventus. After coming on as a substitute for Diego Forlan in the eighth minute, Giggs scored twice, including a goal that would later be recognise as one of his greatest goals and one of his finest Champions League moments.
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 in September 2004 made him the third player to play 600 games for United, alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes. He was included into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game.
Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with United when chief executive David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year.
On 6 May 2007, with Chelsea only able to manage a 1–1 draw with London rivals Arsenal, Manchester United became the champions of England. In doing so, Giggs set a new record of nine league titles, beating the previous record of eight he shared with Alan Hansen and Phil Neal (who won all of their titles with Liverpool).
Giggs scored his 100th league goal for United against Derby County on 8 December 2007, which United won 4–1. More records have been achieved: on 20 February 2008 he made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a game against Lyon and on 11 May 2008 he came on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for United. Giggs scored the second goal in that match, sealing his, and United's, 10th 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 Champions League Final against Chelsea. United won the final, defeating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time, with Giggs converting the winning penalty in sudden death.
In February 2009, Giggs signed a one-year extension to his current contract – which was due to expire in June 2009. After a successful season, Giggs was nominated 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 12 games throughout the 2008–09 season (at the time of receiving the trophy). This was the first time in his career that Giggs had received the award.
Giggs made his 800th appearance for Manchester United on 29 April 2009, in the 1–0 semi-final win over Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. On 16 May 2009, Manchester United won the Premier League after a 0–0 draw against Arsenal, both United's and Giggs' 11th Premier League titles.
On 12 September 2009, Giggs made his 700th start for United. Giggs scored his 150th goal for United, only the ninth player to do so for the club, against Wolfsburg in his first Champions League game of the season. On 28 November 2009, in his 36th birthday, Giggs scored his 100th Premier League goal (all for Manchester United) scoring the final goal in a 4–1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park, and becoming only the 17th player to reach the milestone in the Premier League.
On 18 December 2009, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with United, keeping him at the club until June 2011, taking him past the 20th anniversary of his first professional contract, a rare occurrence of a player reaching the 20-year mark with the same club and with unbroken service. On 31 December 2009, Giggs was named the Manchester United Player of the Decade.
On 17 January 2011, Giggs reached 600 league appearances (all for Manchester United), as he played in their goalless draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United on 18 February, keeping him at the club until June 2012. On 6 March 2011, Giggs surpassed the Manchester United league appearance record of Bobby Charlton by playing his 607th game against Liverpool. On 26 April, against Schalke 04 in the Champions League Semi-Final First Leg, Giggs scored the first goal from a Wayne Rooney pass, also making himself the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history to date.
Giggs made his first start of the 2011–12 season in the UEFA Champions League away at Benfica. He scored United's equalising goal in a 1–1 draw at the Estádio da Luz, in the process breaking his own record for the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history. He also became the first man ever to score in 16 different Champions League campaigns, moving clear of Raúl who was tied with Giggs on 15 seasons.
Giggs maintained his record of scoring in each of the past 22 top-flight seasons by scoring United's third goal against Fulham at Craven Cottage in a 5–0 win on 21 December, his first of the season in the league. On 10 February 2012, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United.
On 26 February 2012, Giggs made his 900th appearance for Manchester United, in a 2–1 away win against Norwich City. He marked the occasion by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute, scoring from a cross by Ashley Young. After the match, Alex Ferguson told BBC Sport he believed that a player playing in 900 games for one club "won't be done again".By March 2011, Giggs had played with more than 140 different players for the Manchester United first team.
Giggs scored his first Premier League goal of the 2012–13 season against Everton on 10 February 2013 in a 2–0 home win, extending his goalscoring sequence to 23 consecutive seasons in the highest division including all 21 Premier League seasons.
He signed a new one-year contract with Manchester United on 1 March 2013, keeping him at the Old Trafford club until June 2014. On 4 July, Giggs was appointed as player/coach by new manager David Moyes. Giggs became interim player-manager when Moyes was sacked in April 2014.
On 2 October, after coming off the substitute bench against Shakhtar Donetsk, Giggs became all-time leading appearance holder in the European competition, overtaking Raúl, an achievement he described as 'special'
Giggs announced his retirement from professional football on 19 May 2014 in an open letter to all Manchester United fans posted on the club website. Upon retirement, Giggs received many plaudits for the achievements he earned throughout his career, and the longevity of it.
After Giggs was appointed as a player–coach at Manchester United on 4 July 2013, Giggs took over as the club's interim player-manager he compiles a record of two wins, a draw and a defeat in the final four games of the 2013–14 season. After his final match in charge, a 1–1 draw with Southampton, Giggs admitted to breaking down in tears, in part due to the pressure of managing United, and also said he had struggled to sleep during the period. When Louis van Gaal was announced as Moyes' permanent replacement on 19 May 2014, Giggs was also appointed as Van Gaal's assistant manager.
Giggs was praised for giving debuts to youngsters James Wilson and Tom Lawrence in a 3–1 victory over Hull City, a game in which he brought himself on as a substitute for Lawrence.
Ryan Giggs was born at Cardiff, Wales on November 29, 1973. He was born with the name Ryan Joseph Wilson and soon changed his surname into his mother’s name which is Giggs because of his relationship with his father was not going well.
He also holds the club record for competitive appearances. During his time at United, he won 13 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's 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. Giggs captained the team on several occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.
He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continued in this position well into the 2000s, though he was increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his later years. Giggs was known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him.
He made his first appearance for the club during the 1990-1991 season and become a regular player from the 1991-1992 season.
Giggs has many 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. Until the end of the 2012−13 season, he was the only player to have played and scored in every season of the Premier League, but he failed to score in his final season and has now retired.
He was elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, 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 assists.
At international level, Giggs played in the Welsh National team and retired from international football on 2 June 2007 and 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 named as the team's captain.
In addition to the many honours Giggs has received within football, he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List for his services to English football.
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.
By the start of the 1992–93 season, the first season of the newly formed Premier League, Giggs Sharpe spot to become United's first-choice left winger. He was recognised as one of English football's two best promising and exciting young wingers, alongside Steve McManaman, who were notable for being a throwback to the Stanley Matthews era of the 1950s winger.
At the end of the 1993–94 season, Giggs won a second title in a row, and became the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards, before equalled by Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.
Giggs proved to be a scorer of great goals, with many of them being shortlisted for various Goal of the Season awards. The most famous one among his best were those against Queens Park Rangers in 1993, Tottenham in 1994, Everton in 1995, Coventry in 1996, and his solo effort against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final.
Talking about one of his best goal ever, it was against Arsenal in the FA Cup semifinal replay in 1999. During extra time, Giggs picked up possession after Patrick Vieira gave the ball away, then ran from his own half, dribbled past the whole Arsenal defense, including Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown before launching his left-footed strike just under David Seaman's bar and beyond his reach. He famously took off and spin his shirt as he ran to celebrate with his teammates. It was also the last ever goal scored in an FA Cup semi-final replay as, from the following season, the FA Cup semi-finals are decided in a single game, with extra time and a penalty shootout if required.
Giggs had his first real chance to shine in Europe. Having played a key role in United winning their third league title in four seasons, he helped them reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the first United side in 28 years to achieve this. However, their hopes of European glory were ended by Borussia Dortmund, who knocked them out by winning each leg of the semi-final 1–0. At the end of this season, Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero told Italian media that Giggs was one of his two favourite players, and gave the following memorable quote: "This is embarrassing to say but I have cried twice in my life watching a football player. The first one was Roberto Baggio and the second was Ryan Giggs."
Giggs became United's longest serving player when Denis Irwin left in May 2002. Giggs received a testimonial match to celebrate his 10 year anniversary at Old Trafford against Celtic with a 4-3 loss featuring Eric Cantona at the beginning of 2001-2002 campaign.
On 25 February 2003, Giggs played one of his most memorable games, in a 3–0 victory against Juventus. After coming on as a substitute for Diego Forlan in the eighth minute, Giggs scored twice, including a goal that would later be recognise as one of his greatest goals and one of his finest Champions League moments.
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 in September 2004 made him the third player to play 600 games for United, alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes. He was included into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game.
Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with United when chief executive David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year.
On 6 May 2007, with Chelsea only able to manage a 1–1 draw with London rivals Arsenal, Manchester United became the champions of England. In doing so, Giggs set a new record of nine league titles, beating the previous record of eight he shared with Alan Hansen and Phil Neal (who won all of their titles with Liverpool).
Giggs scored his 100th league goal for United against Derby County on 8 December 2007, which United won 4–1. More records have been achieved: on 20 February 2008 he made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a game against Lyon and on 11 May 2008 he came on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for United. Giggs scored the second goal in that match, sealing his, and United's, 10th 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 Champions League Final against Chelsea. United won the final, defeating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time, with Giggs converting the winning penalty in sudden death.
In February 2009, Giggs signed a one-year extension to his current contract – which was due to expire in June 2009. After a successful season, Giggs was nominated 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 12 games throughout the 2008–09 season (at the time of receiving the trophy). This was the first time in his career that Giggs had received the award.
Giggs made his 800th appearance for Manchester United on 29 April 2009, in the 1–0 semi-final win over Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. On 16 May 2009, Manchester United won the Premier League after a 0–0 draw against Arsenal, both United's and Giggs' 11th Premier League titles.
On 12 September 2009, Giggs made his 700th start for United. Giggs scored his 150th goal for United, only the ninth player to do so for the club, against Wolfsburg in his first Champions League game of the season. On 28 November 2009, in his 36th birthday, Giggs scored his 100th Premier League goal (all for Manchester United) scoring the final goal in a 4–1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park, and becoming only the 17th player to reach the milestone in the Premier League.
On 18 December 2009, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with United, keeping him at the club until June 2011, taking him past the 20th anniversary of his first professional contract, a rare occurrence of a player reaching the 20-year mark with the same club and with unbroken service. On 31 December 2009, Giggs was named the Manchester United Player of the Decade.
On 17 January 2011, Giggs reached 600 league appearances (all for Manchester United), as he played in their goalless draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United on 18 February, keeping him at the club until June 2012. On 6 March 2011, Giggs surpassed the Manchester United league appearance record of Bobby Charlton by playing his 607th game against Liverpool. On 26 April, against Schalke 04 in the Champions League Semi-Final First Leg, Giggs scored the first goal from a Wayne Rooney pass, also making himself the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history to date.
Giggs made his first start of the 2011–12 season in the UEFA Champions League away at Benfica. He scored United's equalising goal in a 1–1 draw at the Estádio da Luz, in the process breaking his own record for the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history. He also became the first man ever to score in 16 different Champions League campaigns, moving clear of Raúl who was tied with Giggs on 15 seasons.
Giggs maintained his record of scoring in each of the past 22 top-flight seasons by scoring United's third goal against Fulham at Craven Cottage in a 5–0 win on 21 December, his first of the season in the league. On 10 February 2012, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United.
On 26 February 2012, Giggs made his 900th appearance for Manchester United, in a 2–1 away win against Norwich City. He marked the occasion by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute, scoring from a cross by Ashley Young. After the match, Alex Ferguson told BBC Sport he believed that a player playing in 900 games for one club "won't be done again".By March 2011, Giggs had played with more than 140 different players for the Manchester United first team.
Giggs scored his first Premier League goal of the 2012–13 season against Everton on 10 February 2013 in a 2–0 home win, extending his goalscoring sequence to 23 consecutive seasons in the highest division including all 21 Premier League seasons.
He signed a new one-year contract with Manchester United on 1 March 2013, keeping him at the Old Trafford club until June 2014. On 4 July, Giggs was appointed as player/coach by new manager David Moyes. Giggs became interim player-manager when Moyes was sacked in April 2014.
On 2 October, after coming off the substitute bench against Shakhtar Donetsk, Giggs became all-time leading appearance holder in the European competition, overtaking Raúl, an achievement he described as 'special'
Giggs announced his retirement from professional football on 19 May 2014 in an open letter to all Manchester United fans posted on the club website. Upon retirement, Giggs received many plaudits for the achievements he earned throughout his career, and the longevity of it.
After Giggs was appointed as a player–coach at Manchester United on 4 July 2013, Giggs took over as the club's interim player-manager he compiles a record of two wins, a draw and a defeat in the final four games of the 2013–14 season. After his final match in charge, a 1–1 draw with Southampton, Giggs admitted to breaking down in tears, in part due to the pressure of managing United, and also said he had struggled to sleep during the period. When Louis van Gaal was announced as Moyes' permanent replacement on 19 May 2014, Giggs was also appointed as Van Gaal's assistant manager.
Giggs was praised for giving debuts to youngsters James Wilson and Tom Lawrence in a 3–1 victory over Hull City, a game in which he brought himself on as a substitute for Lawrence.