David May (soccer player)

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David May
May, David.jpg
David May in July 2013.
Personnel
Surname David May
birthday June 24, 1970
place of birth Oldham ,  England
size 183 cm
position Inside and outside defenders (right)
Juniors
Years station
Blackburn Rovers
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1988-1994 Blackburn Rovers 123 (3)
1994-2003 Manchester United 85 (6)
1999-2000 →  Huddersfield Town  (loan) 1 (0)
2003-2004 Burnley FC 35 (4)
Bacup Borough
1 Only league games are given.

David May (born June 24, 1970 in Oldham ) is a former English football player . The central defender , who was also used as a right full-back at times , began his active career with Blackburn Rovers before moving to Manchester United in 1994, where he won two English championships ( 1996 & 1997 ) and the FA Cup ( 1996 ) within a short period of time . Afterwards, injuries and high-profile new purchases such as those of Jaap Stam and Henning Berg ensured that May fell permanently behind and was only a substitute for "United" until the end of the 2002/03 season. After a last second division season for Burnley FC , May's professional career ended in the summer of 2004.

Professional career

Blackburn Rovers (1988-1994)

A good week before his 18th birthday, David May, who was trained at Blackburn Rovers, signed his first professional contract and made his first team debut for the then second division on April 1, 1989 against Swindon Town (1: 1). Although he was not used in the remaining eight championship games or in the subsequent playoff games of the 1988/89 season, he returned as a regular player in the team then coached by Don Mackay at the beginning of the 1989/90 season. Until the beginning of December 1989 he was in the starting line-up 16 times before the veteran David Mail replaced him again. It was not until January 1991 that he returned to the first team on a regular basis , replacing Keith Hill , but by the end of the 1991/92 season, the sporting breakthrough for May, who was physically robust in various central defensive positions, but also appeared somewhat limited in terms of technology, ceased wait

It was only under the new coach Kenny Dalglish that he made the longed-for leap in development, although immediately after his engagement in mid-October 1991 he had to vacate his seat again. He then only played two league games in the regular season before suddenly playing as a right- back in the playoffs against Derby County (4: 2; 1: 2) and Leicester City (1: 0) - as rarely tried before - and thus had a significant share in the promotion to the 1992 newly created Premier League . In the following two top-flight years May became Blackburn team regular, contested mainly on the right side 74 Premier League games and was involved in the "sky tower" of the club, the first on the fourth ended and 1994 in the runner- led . Despite these successes, May's time with the "Rovers" ended with a bitter aftertaste. Since he had a lucrative transfer offer from Manchester United , he went into contract negotiations with confidence, demanded that his weekly salary be increased from £ 500 to £ 4,000 if he continued to work, referring to the £ 9,000 that teammate Alan Shearer pocketed at the time. All attempts at agreement failed and for a transfer fee of 1.4 million pounds May moved to the "Red Devils" in Manchester in July 1994.

Manchester United (1994-2003)

In Alex Ferguson's team , May initially only served as a replacement for Paul Parker and he struggled to confirm his previously good form as a right-back. Only during his occasional appearances in the defense center did he draw attention to himself with good positional and header play, in this role he also scored the first three competitive goals for the new club and made claims to be the long-term successor to 34-year-old Steve Bruce . Behind the two central defenders Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister , he was initially behind in the 1995/96 season. Together with captain Bruce, he finally formed a good duo in three consecutive games against Chelsea , Sheffield Wednesday and Liverpool, and also took his next chance when Bruce struggled with thigh problems at the end of the season. He also represented this in the FA Cup final , which United won 1-0 against Liverpool. This success was rounded off with a "double" after winning the English championship , during which May was used 16 times. When Bruce finally cleared the place for May with his departure from Manchester, he rose to become a regular. He was only one of four United players that Ferguson used in all four competitions and on 41 competitive games of the 1996/97 season he scored four goals. This included the first goal of the 4-0 quarter-final victory against FC Porto , which made up for a previous disappointment when he hit his shoulder in his own goal in the group game against Fenerbahçe Istanbul and the 0-1 defeat for a late 40 -year series without a home defeat in European Cups. Despite this, he defended the English championship with the Red Devils . In addition, he was appointed to the squad of the English senior team for the first time by Glenn Hoddle .

That he would not continue his career at the highest level was announced in the preparation for the 1997/98 season when May tore a muscle fiber, then fought for his fitness due to persistent knee problems and was no longer in the starting eleven until February 1998 . Although he signed a new six-year contract in October 1997, Ferguson had provided Henning Berg two months earlier for further reinforcement in the defensive area, which significantly worsened May's prospects in the medium term. In the 1998/99 season, the Dutch international Jaap Stam was joined by new high-profile competition and since May continued to suffer from a series of injuries, he only played six league games, which despite his use in the decisive 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur was not enough to receive an official championship medal. Favored by generally big problems in the squad due to injuries and suspensions, he was at least in the FA Cup final against Newcastle United (2-0) for United and was in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich (2: 0) 1) on the bench. He gained greater notoriety because, although he had not stood on the pitch for a minute during the Champions League season, he led the winners' celebrations and “pushed” himself into the center.

His predicament changed little in the 1999/2000 season and at the end of the year he was loaned to the second division Huddersfield Town , which was looked after by Steve Bruce, who had meanwhile been promoted to coach. But even there the bad luck remained true to him and in his only game for the "Terriers" he injured himself again and returned to Manchester prematurely for treatment. He painstakingly worked on his fitness there, but then suffered another setback during training in April 2000. Almost a year after his last professional appearance, he returned to the reserve team in November 2000, where he said goodbye again after just two minutes with thigh problems. It was only at the end of the season that Ferguson granted him two "honorary" bets after winning another championship had already been secured. When Jaap Stam suddenly left the club in September 2001, May suddenly found himself back in the starting line-up against Ipswich Town (4-0), but after only two more competitive appearances, the old problems prevented a sustainable "comeback". In the 2002/03 season he came in December 2002 by substitution in Anfield against Liverpool (2-1) for Manchester United for his last Premier League and two days in the League Cup for the final competitive game. In the summer of 2003, May's contract in Manchester ended, which - unsurprisingly - was no longer extended.

Burnley FC (2003-2004)

May moved to the second division FC Burnley free of charge in August 2003 , where he was supposed to strengthen the somewhat holey defensive and provide it with experience. At the "Clarets", despite occasional injury breaks (and bans), he was a regular player straight away with 39 competitive games, also caused danger in standard situations in opposing penalty areas and scored four league goals. However, it was Mays last year in professional football. In June 2004 he said goodbye to the big stage and hired to finish his career at the low-class Bacup Borough in the amateur sector .

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David May: What Happened Next? (FourFourTwo)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 142 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 162 f .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 183 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 200 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 204 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 215 .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 203 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 279 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 289 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 273 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 1-85291-662-1 , pp. 477 .
personal data
SURNAME May, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldham , England