Ryan Giggs
{{Football player infobox |
playername = Ryan Giggs |
image =
|
fullname = Ryan Joseph Giggs |
nickname = The Welsh Wizard, Giggsy|
height = 5'11" / 1.80 m |
dateofbirth =
29 November,
1973 | cityofbirth =
Cardiff | countryofbirth =
Wales | currentclub =
Manchester United | position =
Left wing, centre midfield |
youthyears = |
youthclubs =
Manchester City,
Manchester United | years =
1990-
| clubs =
Manchester United F.C. |
caps(goals) = 474 (94) |
nationalyears =
1991- | nationalteam =
Wales |
nationalcaps(goals) = 56 (11) |
ntupdate = February 26 2006 |
pcupdate = February 26 2006 |
Ryan Joseph Giggs (born
Ryan Joseph Wilson on
29 November 1973 in
Cardiff) is a
Welsh football player, renowned throughout the world as being one of the greatest
wingers in the history of the sport. As unlikely as it may seem, he is of half Black Welsh and half White Welsh origin.
He was born in
Wales to father Danny Wilson, a noted Rugby League player, and mother Lynne, but was brought up in
England.
Giggs currently plays for
Manchester United. He is their longest-serving player. Giggs had played for the England Schoolboys (which all schoolboys in England are eligible to do, regardless of nationality), but plays for the
Welsh national team as an adult, once holding the record for being the youngest player to ever play for Wales.
Giggs is the most decorated footballer in the history of Manchester United, having won eight
FA Premier League championships (a record he shares with
Liverpool F.C.'s
Alan Hansen,
Phil Neal and
Kenny Dalglish), four
FA Cup titles, two
League Cup titles and one
Champions League.
He has also won the
PFA Young Player of the Year award twice, making him the first player to win the award in consecutive years - a feat matched only by
Robbie Fowler and current team-mate
Wayne Rooney. Giggs holds many other records, including that of the top all-time scorer in the
FA Premier League not to play in the position of
striker, and, interestingly, holds the record for scoring Manchester United's fastest goal (15 seconds), set in November
1995 against
Southampton F.C.He also has the honour of scoring Manchester United's greatest goal as voted by the fans. The goal in question was scored in the semi final of the FA cup in 1999 against Arsenal where Giggs beat 4 defenders(Lee Dixon twice!) to score an amazing goal. Giggs's
squad number for both
Manchester United and
Wales is
11. He is known affectionately as
The Welsh Wizard to the United faithful.
Giggs began his football career at
Manchester City, signed as a 14 year old by the club after being spotted on the streets of Manchester. His mazy dribbling skills would earn him comparisons to players such as
George Best,
Diego Maradona, and
Johan Cruyff.
Giggs's talent grew in reputation, and thus
Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, went to his house to urge him to sign for Manchester United instead of Manchester City. He persuaded Giggs by waiving YTS Scheme forms with the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Giggs ended up signing with Manchester United.
Similarly,
England Under-21 coach
Lawrie McMenemy checked to see whether he was eligible to play for the nation. Contrary to popular belief, Giggs could not have played for the full England national side. He was only eligible to play for the English Schools' team because he went to school there.In order to play for the
England national football team, he would have had to have been born in England or have had English parents or grandparents. However, both his parents and all four grandparents are
Welsh. Giggs has often been seen by England supporters as the dream solution to the lack of left-sided English talent for the national team during the 1990s.
A left-sided
winger who occasionally plays as a supporting
striker for United, Giggs shot to superstardom in
Great Britain in 1992 as one of the most exciting talents in the history of the game when he was barely 18 years old. He earned the tag of
Boy Wonder, and in one description by the
tabloids, became
The boy who converted a million innocent teenage hearts into United fans.
He was arguably the first teenage football poster boy to have garnered such attention since the likes of
George Best, a player Giggs has been compared to, and who, alongside
Bobby Charlton, personally went down to United's training sessions at 'the Cliff' specifically to watch Giggs play. Giggs's form in the years to come was impeccable, earning him two
PFA Young Player of the Year awards and admirers world-wide. Other world-class players like
Roberto Baggio described Giggs as 'the most exciting British footballer' they had seen in years. According to an article in World Soccer by Stephen Thanabalan he was, alongside
Steve McManaman, regarded as the leader of a new breed of creative new wingers in the English game that was crucial to its new image, dispensing with that of the often seen as 'boring' long-ball styles of previous generations.
In 1994, the
BBC described Giggs as "one of the most photographed persons" in
Great Britain. Giggs or "Giggsy" as he was known, was also hailed as one of the
FA Premier League's biggest stars and could often be found as the picturebook merchandising icon of the league's early years. He (along with
Jamie Redknapp and
Lee Sharpe) was part of the league's attempt to market itself globally, reforging its image after the
hooliganism affected years of the 1980s.
Giggs turned professional in November
1990 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 scored his first ever goal in a 1-0 win in the
Manchester derby. He collected his first piece of silverware in
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.
By the start of the
1992-93 season - the first season of the newly-formed
FA Premier League, Giggs made the left-wing position at United his own, and became known as one of British football's most prodigious young players.
His ability to consistently
dribble past opposing players by using his own exceptional balance, pace, and skill to beat players he ran at became the most noticeable aspect of his game. Giggs 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.
Ryan Giggs chants often heard from the fans during the Manchester United games include:
"Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Running down the wing, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Can do anything, Feared by the Blues, Loved by the Reds, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs." and:
"Giggs, Giggs will tear you apart, again"
the latter adapted from the enduringly popular
Joy Division song, '
Love Will Tear Us Apart'.
His goals were constantly on shortlists for
Goal of the Season and tended to be memorable, particularly the ones against
Queens Park Rangers F.C. in 1993,
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in 1994,
Everton F.C. in 1995,
Coventry City F.C. in 1996, and the most remarkable of all, his amazing solo-goal against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final. It has been hailed as one of the best goals ever scored in the competition.
By the late 1990s, with the emergence of Giggs's fellow fledgling young colleagues like
David Beckham,
Paul Scholes,
Gary Neville,
Philip Neville and
Nicky Butt, Giggs's popularity and fame gradually dissipated. However, his football skill was still marked genius, and he developed into a more mature senior player by the time United won their record breaking and unprecedented "Treble" in 1999, an achievement aided by Giggs's goals and form in the competitions. With his contributions, United finally defeated
Juventus F.C., along with other continental rivals.
Giggs set up the equalising goal scored by
Teddy Sheringham in the
UEFA Champions League Final that set United on their way to the treble. Giggs was also the
man of the match on the United side that beat
Palmeiras to claim the
Intercontinental Cup that year. He has been considered a
Manchester United 'Legend'.
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 was one of United's the most experienced and senior players at United when
Denis Irwin left, and he become a pivotal part of the club. 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's form in the years after the achievements of 1999 were reflective of Manchester United's dominance of the English game up until 2003 (when the club won its last
FA Premier League title)- with Giggs still relishing his left wing slot. United won the League title four times within those years, and had always made it to
UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals at the very least. He celebrated his 10-year anniversary at Old Trafford with a testimonial match against
Glasgow Celtic at the start of the
2001-02 campaign. A year later, he bagged his 100th career goal in a draw with
Chelsea F.C. at
Stamford Bridge.
He managed to win the
FA Cup once more in 2004, making him the only player in history to have won the trophy four times. He has also finished with a runners-up medal twice.
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 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, Giggs was linked in a transfer speculation with
Newcastle United F.C., 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. In that season, Giggs still managed to churn out a 'masterclass performance' (in the words of
Sky Sports commentator
Martin Tyler) when given the chance, and together with the old guard of
Paul Scholes, looked to be the epitome of the football saying 'form is temporary, but class is permanent'.
After that season, Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with Manchester United when chairman David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year. The extension, which runs through to July 2008, will most probably keep him at
Old Trafford for the remainder of his playing career.
Giggs has reinvented himself and continues to contribute positively to the Manchester United cause even after team-mates like
David Beckham and
Roy Keane had left. He has become the role model to the latest batch of talents at the club like
Wayne Rooney and
Cristiano Ronaldo. Giggs is used today as an example, alongside
Gary Neville and
Paul Scholes, as a model professional for young players with hot tempers, such as
Wayne Rooney, to follow.
This is largely due to his upbringing by United manager
Alex Ferguson, who has sheltered the player since developing him. It remains to be seen whether Giggs outstays his career mentor at the club or vice versa. His versatility has supplemented his raw skill and talent in recent years, and he has been called upon by his manager to play as a
forward and a central midfielder for his team, roles in which he applied himself admirably.It is without question that Ryan Giggs will be ranked alongside the best wingers ever to play the game of football.
As of 2006, Giggs has logged 48 caps and 11 goals for the Welsh national football team. However, his career for his national side has been nothing short of frustrating. As of 2006, he has not played a single match in either a European or a World Championship, because Wales failed to qualify. Giggs has also received criticism in the media for his alleged reluctance to participate in friendly international matches.
Giggs has never played a World Championship match for his national side, a fate shared with e.g.
Alfredo Di Stefano, whose national side was
Argentina, and
George Best from perennial minnow
Northern Ireland.
Other than his notorious spate of womanizing as detailed 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 described Giggs' difficult upbringing. He endured racial taunts as a child because he was the product of a
mixed marriage. Although he admired his
rugby-playing father's sporting gifts (Giggs' attributes his speed and balance to his father's genes), he hated the impact his "bullying aggressive nature" had on his family.
In an infamous interview with the
Daily Telegraph, Giggs described his father as a "real rogue". He adopted his mother's surname after his parents' separation so that "the world would know I was my mother's son".
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 done ads for
Reebok,
Sovil Titus,
Citizen Watch Co., Ltd,
Givenchy,
Fuji and
Patek Phillipe, and has been used for video-mapping in computer game simulations like
EA Sports'
FIFA 2003 series 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 Murphy) at a time when Becks was being sent on loan to Preston."
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." Giggs is also an active campaigner in the fight against
racism in football. Alongside fellow mixed-raced players like
Rio Ferdinand and
Thierry Henry, Giggs is adamant about stamping racism out of the game.
He told the Football Anti-Racism site 'Stop the BNP' the following in 2004: "A lot of people don't know that my father is black. He was a professional rugby player in the area that I played as a youngster. So a lot of people who I went to school with knew who he was and knew that he was black. So I would get racist taunts in school."
He also added in the
French L'Equipe Sports Newspaper: "Looking at me from the outside, it is not very obvious, I know but half my family is black and I feel close to their culture and their colour. I am proud of my black roots and of the black blood that runs in my veins. I do not wish to hide my origins, nor do I seek to make it a subject of conversation. I am what I am."
Manchester United Career
Honours
*
FA Premier League - Champions: 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03
*
UEFA Champions League Winner: 1998/99
*
FA Cup Winner: 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004
*English
League Cup Winner: 1992, 2006
*English
FA Youth Cup Winner: 1992
*
FA Cup Runners Up: 1995, 2005
*
FA Premier League - Runners Up: 1991/92, 1994/95, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2005/06
*
Intercontinental Cup: 1999
*
UEFA Super Cup Winner: 1991 Runner Up: 1999
Individual honours
*Manchester United Players player of the year award
2005/2006*Inducted into the
English Football Hall of Fame,
2005*Honoured with the greatest goal ever scored in the FA Challenge Cup,
2005*Inducted into the Premiership team of the decade,
2003*U-21 European Footballer of the Year (
1993)
*
Intercontinental Cup man of the match (
1999)
*
FootballDatabase provides Ryan Giggs's profile and stats*
Manchester United Official Website Biography*
The National Football Museum Hall of Fame*
Video of Ryan Giggs*
ITV Digital TV Commercial featuring Ryan Giggs
