Ryan Giggs - Wing Wizard

Long ago, during the early days of the great Scotsman’s reign, much before there were stars and superstars, much before Manchester United had legions of global support, there was a shy little lad, determined to succeed. Much akin to any talented youngster, he burst on to the scene, scorching across the pitch, and ripping apart defenders with his impossibly fleet feet. Thankfully, perhaps, for the United fans that were, and were to be, money wasn’t being thrown around like used diapers back then. So it was that this young lad, Ryan Giggs, stayed on at United.

It might surprise many to know that Ryan Giggs, as a lad of 12, was signed up by the Blue side of Manchester, not the Red side, for their school of excellence. However, thanks to the skilled eye of Old Trafford steward, Harold Wood, who spotted him, and spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson, Giggsy was offered a trial at United in the Christmas of ’86. Impressive with the ball that he was, Sir Alex is said to have turned up at his doorstep on the 29th of November, 1987, his 14th birthday, with an offer to join a school associated with United. Spurred by the promise of an opportunity to be playing professional football in three years, Giggs captained his adopted nation, England, at the school level against Germany, at the Old Wembley stadium.

As promised, Giggs was offered a professional contract on his 17th birthday, which saw him enter a United squad which was just emerging as serious contenders, having slowly risen from mid-table mediocrity over the past couple of seasons. Giggs’ entry into the first team was anything but easy, since the promising Lee Sharpe had excelled in that role the previous season, and at 19 years of age, showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. While Lee Sharpe suffered from injury, and upon return, was faced with a left full-back or right-wing role, Ryan Giggs made the left wing his own. Giggs even won the PFA Young Player of The Year award, an accolade which had been Sharpe’s the previous season. While we celebrate Giggs’ career, a silent thought does indeed go out to what irresistible force Lee Sharpe himself may have been.

Part of the reason for the Welshman’s unmatched success, has to be the fact that his style of play did not simply have one facet to it. While blessed with neck-breaking pace, Giggs still had some of the best ball-control skills the world had ever seen. The ball stuck to his left foot like it was super-glued to it, some people said. What is perhaps Giggsy’s most famous goal, the one against Arsenal in the FA cup semi-final of ’99, showcased that with his mixture of pace and skill, he was simply unstoppable.

The treble of ’99, in which Giggs played a starring role, alongside fellow members of the ‘Golden Generation’, heralded the firm establishment of United’s era of dominance. An era which has seen United, and Giggs, bag a total of 12 Premier League titles out of 20. An era which has seen United win Europe’s elite competition twice, reaching the final on 2 other occasions and an era which has seen Alex Ferguson knighted, for his achievements ad contribution to the game.

Amid all the glamour and glitz that surrounded United’s stars, first Cantona, then Beckham, Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Rooney, and the scores in between who came and left, Giggs continued to work hard, shying away from the media. Ironically however, Giggs is often considered as the Premier League’s first true ‘poster boy’, appearing on the covers of several magazines and tabloids, during the league’s attempt to reach out and grab the attention of the world. To this effect, a BBC article quotes;

“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.”

A quick look at the record books will show you that Giggs is United’s, and the Premier League’s most capped player. He has played and scored in every Premier League competition, scoring at least four times in each of them. He also holds the record for most assists provided in the Premier League, and is one of only three players to have won the PFA Young Player of The Year honour twice. Add to this the fact, that he is the only player to have scored in sixteen different Champions League tournaments, and you can claim that he has done it all, and won it all with United.

For a player of his calibre, however, international success has been a distant dream, with him not having participated in a single major international competition thus far. All that is set to change when Giggsy captains the Great Britain football team at the London Olympics later this month, in their quest for Gold.

Yet, after all the glory, Giggs’ personal life came crashing down after the misdoings of a couple summers ago, and came as a shock to many, completely against the reputation he had built up. While most of us do not find ourselves on a sufficiently high moral perch to judge personal affairs, the professionalism that Giggs displayed in returning to the game is numbing, yet laudable. An incident which would have had average folk hopping off to see their shrinks was endured by the Welshman, in an undeniable tribute to his mental strength.

It is this mental strength, along with the pace of his early years, and ever-present skill that has defined the United of today. The innumerable comebacks, the wing-play, the success; none would be as famous as they are today without Giggs’ contribution to Old Trafford, making it a true Theater of Dreams. Make no mistake, along with Sir Alex, and the cream of the Golden generation, Ryan Giggs has built Manchester United, the new United that most of you know and love. For that, some day, he will be immortalised.