Ryan Giggs became a professional footballer aged 17 in December 1990, having been personally scouted by Sir Alex Ferguson at 14 years old, whilst at Manchester City’s School off Excellence.
He burst onto the scene and was quickly labelled the new George Best, with The London Evening Standard saying he had “single-handedly revolutionised football’s image with pace to burn, a bramble patch of black hair bouncing around his puppy popstar face and a dazzling, gluey relationship between his impossibility fleet left foot and a football”.
Ryan’s record is astounding, making 963 appearances for Manchester United, surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton’s 758, and scoring 168 goals. he made 157 appearances in European competitions, and 64 for the Wales international team. What may be even more impressive is that he was never sent off in his 24-season playing career for Manchester United.
Ryan was named captain of Stuart Pearce’s Great Britain Olympic squad for the 2012 London Games, before announcing his retirement from professional football in May 2014.
Take a look at the video showreel above and to the right…
…The greatest FA Cup goal ever?
Well, that’s open to debate, but one thing for sure is that this clip has gone down as one of the greatest goals ever. In 1999, Manchester United against Arsenal was the rivalry that really matters in English football. Only a point separated them at the top of the Premier League going into the FA Cup semi-final. There was nothing between them at 120 minutes either. Three days later, they ha to do it all over again.
Once again, they found themselves in extra time and Manchester United were down to 10 men. Late in the day, Ryan got hold of the ball and ran past five Arsenal players to give them the lead and send them through to the final. The game is often described as one of the team’s greatest ever matches. Afterwards, Ryan said, “It wasn’t until I got back and watched it back that I realised I had beaten that many men. It was pure adrenaline.”
Awards, Honours, and Accolades
Ryan’s impressive career has seen him win a number of titles with Manchester United, as well as many awards and accolades as an induvial player, including:
With Manchester United:
– 13 x Premier League Wins
– 4 x FA Cup Wins
– 4 x Football League Cups
– 9 x FA Community Shield Wins
– 2 x UEFA Champions League Titles
– 1 x UEFA Super Cup
– 1 x Intercontinental Cup
– 1 x FIFA Club World Cup
As An Individual:
– 2 x PFA Young Player of the Year
– 6 x Member of PFA Team of the Year
– 2 x Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year
– 1993 Bravo Award
– 2 x BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
– 2 x Welsh Footballer of the Year
– Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year 1997
– BBC Goal of the Season 1998-99
– Intercontinental Cup Most Valuable Player of the Match 1999
– PFA Team of the Century
– Manchester United Players’ Player of the Year 2005
– 2 x Premier League Player of the Month
– PF Players’ Player of the Year 2008/09
– 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year
– 2010 GQ Sportsman of the Year
– 2011 Golden Foot
– 2016 PFA Merit Award
– 2019 Globe Soccer Awards Player Career Award
Coaching
Ryan initially joined the coaching team at Manchester United as a player-coach in 2013 under David Moyes. When Moyes left in 2014, he became the club’s interim player-manager. When Louis van Gaal was announced as the new manager in 2014, Ryan became his assistant manager until 2016.
In 2018, Ryan was appointed the manager of the Wales national team, a post he kept until 2022. During that time, he successfully led Wales to qualification for the Euro 2020, before stepping down in 2022.
After Football
In 2010, Ryan released his autobiography Ryan Giggs: My Life, My Story, which celebrated his illustrious career in his own words and with contributions with some of his former teammates.
Ryan and former teammate Gary Neville launched the hospitality company GG Hospitality in 2013. The two players are also co-owners of Manchester hotels The Stock Exchange and Hotel Football, and are heavily involved in a padel venture, with Ryan tries to play “pretty much every day”. Ryan was also involved in a range of recovery cocktails at George’s Dining Room and Bar.
He has featured in advertisements for the likes of Celcom, ITV Digital, Kagome, Quorn, and Reebok, as well as appearing in the FIFA video game series.
Ryan is now a popular keynote and after-dinner sports speaker, touching on topics including:
– Sporting Success
– Elite Sport
– Drive and Determination
– Peak Performance
– Entrepreneurship
– Football Coaching
