Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs (2015)
Personnel
Surname	Ryan Joseph Giggs
birthday	November 29, 1973
place of birth	Cardiff ,  Wales
size	180 cm
position	Wing , midfield
Juniors
Years	station
1985-1987	Manchester City
1987-1992	Manchester United
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1990-2014	Manchester United	672 (114)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1988-1989	England pupil	9 00(4)
1989	England U-16	1 00(1)
1989	Wales U18	3 00(0)
1991	Wales U-21	1 00(0)
1991-2007	Wales	64 0(12)
2012	Team GB	3 00(1)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
2013-2014	Manchester United (player assistant coach)
2014	Manchester United ( player-manager ; interim)
2014-2016	Manchester United (assistant coach)
2018–	Wales
1 Only league games are given.

Ryan Giggs autograph

Ryan Joseph Giggs , OBE (* 29. November 1973 in Cardiff as Ryan Joseph Wilson ) is a former Welsh football player and coach at English club Manchester United . As a player, Giggs has won a total of 36 titles with the club since 1991 - primarily as a left winger - including the most English championships of all Premier League players (13), four FA Cup trophies , four league trophies and in 1999 and 2008 the Champions League . According to some sources, for some time he was the most successful footballer of all time at club level by number of titles won. In May 2008, he also replaced Bobby Charlton as the player with the most competitive games for Manchester United (he played over 900 games for the club) and was the record player in the Premier League from May 11, 2011 to September 25, 2017 with 632 appearances . Gareth Barry followed suit in September 2017 . Personal honors range from two-time career early career titles to England's Footballer of the Year and Sportsman of the Year in Great Britain  - the most prestigious general award in British sport. He also held the record for most appearances in the Champions League from October 2, 2013 to December 10, 2014 .

The early years

Giggs was born Ryan Joseph Wilson at St. David's Hospital in Cardiff's downtown Canton Canton. The original surname can be traced back to the father Danny Wilson, a grandson of a merchant marine who immigrated from Sierra Leone in the 1920s and who, like many at the time, had settled in the Cardiff waterfront, Tiger Bay . Wilson was a rugby player and made his way as an amateur in rugby union for Newport and the Cardiff RFC . Mother Lynne Giggs, who like her father was 17 when the child was born, was a pediatric nurse. So that enough money got into the household budget, she also did other jobs. Brother Rhodri was born two years after Ryan and the young family grew up in humble circumstances in the suburb of Ely, west of the Welsh capital. Young Ryan spent a lot of time with his maternal grandparents living in Pentrebane; there he also learned to play football on the street "around the corner". His athletic talent showed up here early on. When assigning teams, his comrades either always chose him first or asked him from the outset to stand in the goal because of the imbalance in opportunities. While he owed the athletic prerequisites in the form of speed and maneuverability as well as ball control to his father, according to observers, the interest in football was more due to his mother, who was a supporter of the then English second division club Cardiff City . The focus on football in the rugby stronghold of Wales was not surprising - despite the father's sporting activities - because Cardiff was more a football city.

When the father an offer of English professional clubs Swinton RLFC in Rugby League assumed the family of four moved to the metropolitan Manchester to Swinton around. Giggs also took a serious interest in rugby between the ages of 10 and 14. On the weekends he played up to four games, including football and rugby games for the Salford Boys and missions for the rugby club "Langworthy" and the Sunday League active "Dean's Football Club". Since Giggs was also talented in the rugby league and Langworthy was one of the best teams in the region, he was faced with a path decision at the latest after his appointment to the selection of the county of Lancashire . He played in a game for Lancashire against a team from Cumbria , where he also played his speed on the outside lane - a parallel to soccer - but not the feeling of "having your heart in soccer" and not being in the midst of the "big boys" Feeling belonging led to the decision against rugby. Much more fun was his time at Dean's FC, coached by Dennis Schofield. The contact with Giggs had come about when Schofield stopped at a field during his main job as a milkman, while watching Giggs in a game of the Salford Boys and then offered him a job on his team for the following Sunday. The first game was lost with 0: 9 against Stretford Victoria, but the newcomer stood out clearly through his skills and at the end of the season Dean's won behind the "Vics" the runner-up.

Schofield, who also worked as a scout for Manchester City , strongly recommended the protégé to his employer and from then on Giggs trained on the club's own artificial turf on Platt Lane. At the same time, Giggs played for the Salford Boys and led them as captain in a pupil's cup final, which was played in Anfield in 1987 . There he was successful against a youth team of the Blackburn Rovers and Giggs received the trophy from the hands of the Liverpool chief scout Ron Yeats . Yeats was very impressed with the Welshman's performance but his recommendation to head coach Kenny Dalglish came too late as Giggs had already reached an agreement with Manchester United . Although the people in charge at Manchester City had taken great care of the talent, the temptation for Giggs to join his dream club was too great. He first visited Old Trafford at the age of eight and has since felt drawn to the Red Devils - and especially to Welshman Mickey Thomas  , who was then the winger there . Any obligations at Manchester City had basically not existed before the 14th birthday and so nothing stood in the way of the blue-red change. An important part of this was played by a Salford-based newsagent named Harold Wood. Wood was also employed as a steward at Manchester United and regularly attended Dean's games. He tried several times to convince "his" club to examine Giggs' skills. Such requests were always ignored until Wood introduced himself to coach Alex Ferguson and convinced him with the words: "He is currently with City and if you lose him, you will regret it". Ferguson finally dispatched one of his employees, who in turn was sufficiently convinced to give Giggs a trial training session. Shortly before that date, he played a game for Salford against a Manchester United U-15 team, and Ferguson himself witnessed the game from his office, in which Giggs scored three goals. Audition had become obsolete; on the day of his 14th birthday, Ferguson and Scout Joe Brown introduced himself to their parents' house. Ferguson presented Giggs with an apprenticeship contract for two years plus the prospect of a move into professional business, which Giggs accepted after a brief period of reflection. There were also specific offers from Manchester City, Preston North End and Bury FC as well as an offer from an unspecified club that wanted to "sweeten" a signature with a one-off payment of 50,000 pounds.

Still under the name Ryan Wilson, Giggs played nine times for an English selection of students between 1988 and 1989, whereby only the English location of his school was decisive - he would never have been eligible to play for the English national team in the course of his career. Seven of the nine games ended victorious, including a piquant 4-0 win against Wales, and only the encounters with Scotland (with Christian Dailly as team captain) at Old Trafford (0-1) and Germany at Wembley Stadium (1-3) ended in defeat. Giggs' motivation was not superficially to play for England, but rather saw this step as a good opportunity for further athletic development in the very professionally equipped academy of the English Football Association in Lilleshall. In addition, he got the opportunity to lead the student eleven as captain. Shortly after the final separation of his parents, who had never married, Giggs took on his mother's maiden name. In previous years, Lynne's mother had looked after her two sons as a single parent and Ryan, who despised his father despite a certain admiration for the violence he had in the family, fell into an identity crisis, especially since he was having a hard time finding his new stepfather Accepting his mother's side. From then on he wanted to be called Ryan Giggs, which was linked to a clear declaration of attachment to the mother.

In retrospect, Giggs described the years of his apprenticeship at United as "old school", referring to fundamental differences from today's standard life in the academy of a Premier League club. Brian Kidd was responsible for the development of the youth department as a whole and with Eric Harrison a “grinder” was responsible for the fortunes of the senior junior team. Just 15 years old, Giggs also played a handful of games for the reserve team, with quite a few comrades and opponents twice his age. Basically, however, Giggs took a "shortcut" that catapulted him from the youth field to the first team squad at a young age.

Player career

In the club

Debut and sporting breakthrough (1990–1992)

On the day of his 17th birthday, Giggs moved to the professional field of Manchester United. In the previous season, Ferguson had won the FA Cup for United, the first title since his arrival four years earlier, and from then on he began to form a contender from the former midfield team who snuck up to the then dominant clubs Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC . On the left wing position Ralph Milne and later Danny Wallace had not been able to meet the coach's expectations and suddenly Giggs saw himself only with the 19-year-old Lee Sharpe in the fight for a regular place on the left midfield position. On March 2, 1991, the 17-year-old made his debut in a home game against FC Everton (0-2) by substituting for the injured full-back Denis Irwin . This appearance was more due to the general injury misery and to make matters worse, he had to try his hand at Wallace's side in the unfamiliar role as a striker. A good two months later, the statistics recorded the 1-0 derby win against Manchester City  - at the same time the first appearance in the starting XI, especially as a left winger - his first goal for United, which was more like an own goal by Colin Hendry . In the 1991 final for the European Cup Winners' Cup , he was not represented in the squad; in his position acted instead Sharpe and as his representative, Wallace, already ousted by Giggs, took his place on the bench; in the previous rounds Ferguson had also done without him.

Giggs' shirt from the FA Youth Cup final on display at the Manchester United Club Museum

Giggs' athletic breakthrough came in the 1991/92 season. He not only played 38 league games for the senior team (32 from the start), but also won as captain in 1992 with other highly talented young players who later also found their way into the regular formation and were known as "Fergie's Fledglings" (meaning: " Fergie's Chick ”) were celebrated, including the FA Youth Cup , although he only made his contribution in the semifinals against Tottenham and in the final second leg against Crystal Palace . As the youngest player in the professional squad, midfield strategist and veteran Bryan Robson was an important advisor to him at the time and, reinforced by important newcomers such as Peter Schmeichel , Andrei Kantschelskis and Paul Parker , United won the league cup in 1992 in addition to the runner- up and thus the first "big trophy" in the young professional career of Ryan Giggs. He also prepared the decisive final goal for the 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest by Brian McClair . The fact that he was able to work in both field positions and in the center of the storm as well as the fact that he had an advocate with Brian Kidd, whom Ferguson promoted to his new co-trainer in 1991, were helpful for the rapid ascent. In retrospect, Giggs also viewed this process as critical, as he now practically only “rehearsed game situations” in training and was less able to invest in his own development - this included the technical training of the comparatively weak right foot. Regardless of this, he won the election to England's Footballer of the Year as the best young professional and thus replaced the previous title holder Lee Sharpe in this regard.

The "title collector" (1992–1999)

Ryan Giggs in action for Manchester United (2009)

By the time the Premier League went into its first season in 1992/93 , Giggs had already become an established Manchester United regular. After a somewhat subdued start, the signing of Éric Cantona in November 1992 was essential for Giggs' further development. Giggs succeeded, especially in cooperation with Cantona, to better and better play out his speed and technical skills on the left wing position and thus presented the opposing defensive formations with ever greater problems. Lee Sharpe had meanwhile mostly dodged to the right and had dueled with Kantschelskis there. With his extraordinary speed and agility, the Welshman developed into one of the first "superstars" of the young league. In addition to Cantona, "midfielder" Paul Ince and striker Mark Hughes , Giggs had a large share in winning the English championship in 1993 - the first for United after a 26-year "dry spell" - and with nine goals in 41 league games contributed the second-most goals behind Hughes . Former teammate Steve Bruce said in retrospect in 2007:

“When Ryan ran, he ran like the wind. He was walking so lightly that you couldn't hear him. He had that natural maneuverability that only great players have when combined with the ball. Without being disrespectful to [David] Beckham and Scholesy [Paul Scholes], but he [Giggs] was the only one who was always a superstar. "

- Steve Bruce as a former player with Ryan Giggs (until 1996) in 2007.

Giggs signed a five-year contract in October 1993 that earned him £ 350,000 annually. The dominance of Manchester United began to grow and Giggs won the "double" of the English championship and the FA Cup in 1994 - the possible triple success had previously prevented a 1: 3 defeat in the league cup final against Aston Villa . Looking at the statistics, the 1993/94 season was the most profitable in Ryan Giggs' career with 17 goals in 58 competitive games. In the center, the Irish Roy Keane , who was signed up at the beginning of the season, played in the team as a long-term replacement for 37-year-old Bryan Robson; the midfield formation now took on solid contours with Giggs-Ince-Keane-Kantschelskis / Sharpe. However, the untitled 1994/95 season was disappointing, in which Giggs only managed one goal in 29 league games and numerous teammates such as Keane, Sharpe and Kantschelskis (due to injury) and Cantona (long suspension) were often not available to the team. To make matters worse, Giggs had a thigh injury, which he had sustained on March 9, 1994 in an international match against Norway, had long not fully recovered and often went with a "handicap" in important games; Characteristic was his appearance in the 1995 FA Cup final against Everton , in which shortly after being substituted for the second half when the score was 0: 1, the right thigh muscle hardened and Giggs felt "more bad than right" until the end of the game. dragged through.

In the 1995/96 season, Giggs found United back on the road to success. Actors like Ince, Hughes and Kantschelskis had left the club - sometimes under controversial circumstances - and Giggs' side was now pushed by his old companions from the youth team; Since October 1994, Gary Neville , Paul Scholes , David Beckham, Nicky Butt , Keith Gillespie , Ben Thornley and Phil Neville have made their debuts successively . They now found their (more or less permanent) place in the "first team", with Andrew Cole and, in July 1996, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, two unerring strikers. With eleven league goals, Giggs himself proved his scoring skills again, including a spectacular 3-2 winning goal against Everton on September 9, 1995, which narrowly failed in the election for the "goal of the 1995/96 season". The starting line-up in midfield was now Giggs-Butt / Scholes-Keane-Beckham and in addition to winning the Premier League , Giggs played a full 90 minutes in the victorious FA Cup final in 1996 against Liverpool (1-0 after a Cantona goal in the 87th minute).

From 1996 Giggs began to show himself increasingly on the European stage with Manchester United. He moved United to the semi-finals after showing a particularly good performance in the quarter-final first leg against FC Porto (4-0) in the unfamiliar position in central midfield as a game designer. In the subsequent round of the last four teams, however, he failed after two 0-1 defeats at Borussia Dortmund , where he was substituted on for Ole Gunnar Solskjær after just under an hour. The fourth league title in five years served as a "consolation" in 1997 , but with only three league goals in 26 games, Giggs had shown himself in shape for the first time in his career over long periods of time. This remained largely without consequences, since the 1996 primarily for the left wing position signed Jordi Cruyff never found connection to the specific style of play of the United team and thus never turned out to be a real competitor for Giggs.

The Premier League trophy was also close in the subsequent 1997/98 season , before poor results in the spring of 1998 ensured that Arsenal FC still overtook. At the beginning of the groundbreaking 1998/99 season, Giggs was increasingly struggling with injuries, but was then an important factor in winning the "triple" of the English championship , FA Cup and Champions League in the final phase . Especially in the cup competitions, Giggs made a lasting mark in the football history books. His decisive goal in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, outnumbered, is considered to be one of the most remarkable goals in English Cup history: playing in extra time against Arsenal, he scored the decisive 2-1 after a solo run from the center line through the entire defense line. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger described Giggs' FA Cup goal as a crucial turning point this season, one that gave United the confidence to make more late comebacks. In addition, there was the 1: 1 equalizer in the 90th minute in the semi -final first leg against Juventus Turin and his goal preparation in the Champions League final against FC Bayern Munich to the interim 1: 1 by Teddy Sheringham in stoppage time, which Solskjær in two minutes later converted a 2-1 win. In the subsequent 1-0 win against Palmeiras São Paulo in the World Cup , he was named “Most Valuable Player of the Match”.

The "long-running hit and record hunter" (1999-2014)

Giggs 2006

Giggs taking a corner against Everton FC (2007)

Although further European and domestic cup successes failed to materialize in the following four years until 2003, Giggs won three of four possible Premier League titles with United. Only in the 2001/02 season he had to admit defeat to Arsenal when there was hope of a renewed Champions League final, which was then shattered due to a semi-final defeat by outsider Bayer 04 Leverkusen . His club had previously honored him before the start of the 2001/02 season on the occasion of the ten-year professional jubilee with a friendly game ("testimonial match") in Old Trafford against Celtic Glasgow . After Denis Irwin left in May 2002, the 28-year-old Giggs became the longest-serving player in the ranks of Manchester United and with his debut goal in the 2002/03 season to 2-2 against Chelsea , he scored the 100th competitive goal in his career.

Further records followed after 2003, with the exception of an FA Cup win in 2004 and a league cup win two years later, no further trophies worth mentioning joined them in the following three years; the English championship titles went to the competition from London. In September 2004, he reached the 600 competitive game limit, previously only Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes had done for United , and a year later he was inducted into the English football hall of fame . With the Premier League trophy in the 2006/07 season he struck his ninth English championship, surpassing Alan Hansen and Phil Neal , who had each won eight titles with Liverpool FC. In addition, his 700th competitive game for United came in Anfield in March 2007.

Although Ferguson with Nani and Anderson had signed two more midfielders for the left and central area before the start of the 2007/08 season and Giggs had temporarily fallen victim to the rotation system in relation to his original position, he remained first choice. On December 8, 2007, he met against Derby County (4-1) for the 100th time in a league encounter. Other milestones on February 20, 2008, the 100th Champions League match against Olympique Lyon and 11 May 2008 via Substitutes for Park Ji-sung 's record setting 758 United inserts of Bobby Charlton, where he faced Wigan Athletic and the Hit to the 2-0 final score marked. Ten days later, he was the sole record holder after he had played in the Champions League final against Chelsea from the 87th minute for Paul Scholes - he had scored on penalties and helped the club to victory. With the second win of the Champions League title, he was next to Steve McManaman and his then teammate Owen Hargreaves only the third British player (after the introduction of this designation in 1992) to receive this success. Having won the Premier League in 2008 , Giggs now held a total of ten championships.

In the 2008/09 season Ferguson Giggs used more in the midfield center, where he should be more integrated into the game structure with his experience. In the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal Giggs played his 800th competitive match. After the third league cup success in March 2009, he won his eleventh championship title in the same year . During the 2009/10 season, Giggs extended his contract for another year until the end of the 2010/11 season and was again increasingly used as a winger. The performances were of the usual consistency until he broke his right arm in February 2010 and missed important European Cup games and the league cup final against Aston Villa , which was ultimately successful for his club .

In February 2011 Giggs extended his contract again for one year until June 2012 and reached the historic 19th championship with United in the summer of 2011, which made the club the sole record champions (previously shared with Liverpool FC). For Giggs personally it was the twelfth championship. He also played for Manchester United in the 2010/11 Champions League final , which was lost 3-1 to FC Barcelona .

With his 1-1 goal against Benfica Lisbon in September 2011 Giggs set a new record for the oldest goalscorer in the Champions League. He was also the first player to score in 16 different Champions League seasons. On February 10, 2012 Giggs extended his contract with Manchester United for another year. On February 26, 2012, he completed his 900th game for Manchester in the 2-1 win against Norwich City. He himself scored the winning goal in stoppage time. On March 1, 2013, Giggs extended his contract for another year to June 30, 2014.

On March 5, 2013 Giggs played his 1000th competitive game in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid .

On October 2, 2013, he played his 145th game in the UEFA Champions League , making him the sole record holder.

For the 2013/14 season, Giggs was also playing assistant coach to David Moyes . On April 22, 2014, Giggs took over the team as interim coach until the end of the season. On May 6, 2014, Giggs replaced Tom Lawrence himself in his last game at Old Trafford in the 3-1 win over Hull City in the 70th minute and prepared the last goal himself. With 131 assists he is the player with the most assists in the Premier League. It was his 963rd appearance for United. After the season he announced the end of his career.

In the national team

Giggs captained the Welsh national team in a friendly against Brazil (September 2006).

Because Giggs was born in Cardiff and because of the Welsh origins of both parents, he decided to run for the Wales selection . Giggs had played for English school teams, but contrary to popular belief, at no point in his career was he eligible to play for the English senior team . Regardless of this discussion, Giggs repeatedly spoke out in favor of Wales in possibly other constellations.

In the summer of 1991 Giggs played a single U-21 international match for the Welsh youngsters in Poland (2-1) and on October 16, 1991 he made his debut from the 84th minute as the youngest player in the history of the Welsh national team against Germany ( 1: 4). He quickly became a fixture in Terry Yorath's team , which had a number of highly decorated players, including club colleague Mark Hughes, Liverpool striker legend Ian Rush , goalkeeper Neville Southall , Dean Saunders and Gary Speed . Together, the team set out to prepare Wales for their first World Cup participation in 36 years, before a 2-1 defeat in the final qualifying game against Romania shattered their dream and Giggs said they suffered the "most painful defeat of his career".

The Welsh national team did not recover from this setback for a long time, which also led Giggs to clearly direct his priorities towards club football. Supported by Alex Ferguson, who was always a thorn in the side of friendlies in the national team, Giggs mostly focused on the competitive games and in the meantime he missed no fewer than 18 friendlies in a row. As a justification, Giggs gave constant complaints in the right thigh due to excessive strain, the treatment of which he saw in better hands in the physiotherapy facilities of Manchester United. In this context, he criticized the poorer medical department in the Welsh Federation (FAW) and the significantly poorer training conditions. In addition there was the lack of continuity in the sporting management. After the failed World Cup qualification, the FAW surprisingly dismissed the popular Yorath and, after a short-term engagement by John Toshack with only one international match, installed the Englishman Mike Smith and, from 1995, Bobby Gould as his successor. This was followed by a sporty decline, including a 1: 7 bankruptcy against the Netherlands . To make matters worse, Smith and Gould could not refer to their English origins in addition to successful careers as footballers and thus had to fight with authority problems with their own players. The former “conspiratorial bunch” under Yorath had become a community of convenience in which Giggs no longer felt at home.

It was not until Mark Hughes took over as coach in the national team in 1999 that the "dragons" achieved success again. Influenced by the professional environment at Manchester United, Hughes undertook extensive reforms in the Welsh federation and, to Giggs' delight, one of his first acts in office in November 1999 was to sign ex-United youth coach Eric Harrison as the "right hand man". Although qualifying for the 2002 World Cup clearly failed as the group penultimate, shortly afterwards - Hughes had only given up his own playing career in 2002 and has now taken over the coaching position "full-time" - after a total of ten years, a successful final round qualification was once again within reach . Giggs mostly acted either on the left with John Hartson in the center and Craig Bellamy on the right or as the second striker. After four wins in the first games, including a spectacular 2-1 home win against Italy , it even seemed possible to qualify directly before the team saved themselves to second place with just one point from the last four games. The following playoffs against Russia before Euro 2004 , in which Wales lost just 0-0 and 0-1, were the last missed opportunity to compete as a world-class player with his peers in major tournaments. A possible subsequent qualification based on the positive doping result of the Russian Yegor Titov also failed; the European football association UEFA rejected the Welsh objection. He is often seen in a row with players like Alfredo Di Stéfano and George Best , who also failed to do this.

Giggs at the 2012 Olympic Football Tournament

After the unsuccessful European Championship qualification, Hughes was hired as a club coach at Blackburn Rovers and with the new Welsh “helmsman” John Toshack, Giggs felt that the “old school” returned. Although Toshack had to deal with reservations from large parts of the team due to his recently perceived work as a TV expert and critic of the Welsh national team, he appointed Giggs of all people as the new captain. He found this a bit surprising, mainly because on the one hand he himself was often the target of Toshack's criticism and on the other hand he was particularly loyal to Hughes and the reforms he carried out. The allegations were primarily aimed at the fact that Giggs would have been out of place in the center of the storm and thus the Welsh attacking game would have suffered from the missing crosses. Regardless of this, Giggs accepted the task he was offered, especially since Toshack was cooperative with regard to the friendlies and largely spared his new "skipper". The experiment failed, with the frequent absence of the captain and the resignations of top performers such as Gary Speed and Robbie Savage as a hindrance to the formation of a new team spirit. In qualifying for the 2006 World Cup , Wales remained without a win in the first six games and finished next to last.

Sporting highlights in the national team were now rare. This included a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane in Tottenham in September 2006 , which ended in a 2-0 defeat, but also earned Giggs a lot of recognition and compliments. Somewhat surprisingly, shortly before a European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic on June 2, 2007 , Giggs announced his resignation from the Welsh national team and justified this with the increasingly necessary breaks between the competitive games for Manchester United. His appearance against the Czech Republic in the 0-0 draw was the 64th and last - he had scored twelve international goals in 16 years. Giggs denied rumors of an imminent comeback after the serious injury of Aaron Ramsey in March 2010 with the statement that he only wanted to return "in an emergency".

Team GB

On July 2, 2012, he was appointed by Stuart Pearce as captain of the team that represented Great Britain under the name Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games in London at the football tournament . With his goal to 1-0 in the game against the United Arab Emirates (final score 3-1) at the age of 38 years and 243 days, he became the oldest goalscorer in tournament history. With the British Olympic team, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against South Korea.

Achievements / titles

Giggs with the Premier League trophy (2008)

With the club

• World Cup (1): 1999
• Club World Championship (1): 2008
• UEFA Champions League (2): 1998/99 , 2007/08
• European Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990/91 (not used)
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991
• English Championship (13): 1992/93 , 1993/94 , 1995/96 , 1996/97 , 1998/99 , 1999/2000 , 2000/01 , 2002/03 , 2006/07 , 2007/08 , 2008/09 , 2010/11 , 2012/13
• English Cup (4): 1993/94 , 1995/96 , 1998/99 , 2003/04
• English League Cup (4): 1991/92 , 2005/06 , 2008/09 , 2009/10
• English Supercup (9): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013
• English Youth Cup (1): 1991/92

Personal honors

• England's Footballer of the Year : 2009
• England's Footballer of the Year (Young Professional): 1992, 1993
• Sportsman of the Year (Great Britain) : 2009
• Gentlemen's Quarterly Sportsman of the Year : 2010
• Best young player in Europe : 1993
• Best Player in Manchester United History : 2011
• Golden Foot : 2011

Season statistics

All listed games were played for Manchester United.

league	season	league		FA Cup		League Cup		European Cup		Other		total
		Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates
First Division	1990/91	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1
	1991/92	38	4th	7th	0	8th	3	1	0	1	0	51	7th
Premier League	1992/93	41	9	2	2	2	0	1	0	-	-	46	11
	1993/94	38	13	7th	1	8th	3	4th	0	1	0	58	17th
	1994/95	29	1	7th	1	-	-	3	2	1	0	40	4th
	1995/96	33	11	7th	1	2	0	2	0	-	-	44	12
	1996/97	26th	3	3	0	-	-	7th	2	1	0	37	5
	1997/98	29	8th	2	0	-	-	5	1	1	0	37	9
	1998/99	24	3	6th	2	1	0	9	5	1	0	41	10
	1999/00	30th	6th	-	-	-	-	11	1	3	0	44	7th
	2000/01	31	5	2	0	-	-	11	2	1	0	45	7th
	2001/02	25th	7th	1	0	-	-	13	2	1	0	40	9
	2002/03	36	8th	3	2	5	0	15th	4th	-	-	59	14th
	2003/04	33	7th	5	0	-	-	8th	1	1	0	47	8th
	2004/05	32	5	4th	0	1	1	6th	2	1	0	44	8th
	2005/06	27	3	2	1	3	0	5	1	-	-	37	5
	2006/07	30th	4th	6th	0	-	-	8th	2	-	-	44	6th
	2007/08	31	3	2	0	-	-	9	0	1	1	43	4th
	2008/09	28	2	2	0	4th	1	11	1	2	0	47	4th
	2009/10	25th	5	1	0	2	1	3	1	1	0	32	7th
	2010/11	25th	2	3	1	1	0	8th	1	1	0	38	4th
	2011/12	25th	2	2	0	1	1	5	1	-	-	33	4th
	2012/13	22nd	2	4th	1	1	2	5	0	-	-	32	5
	2013/14	12	0	-	-	2	0	7th	0	1	0	22nd	0
Career total		672	114	74	12	41	12	157	29	19th	1	963	168

Coaching career

For the 2013/14 season Giggs was in addition to his work as a player assistant coach to the new head coach David Moyes . When he was released on April 22, 2014, Giggs took over the team as interim coach until the end of the season. For the 2014/15 season, Giggs moved back to the post of assistant coach to the new head coach Louis van Gaal - from now on only in the coaching team . In the summer of 2016 after signing José Mourinho , he left Manchester United on July 2, 2016 after 29 years .

On January 15, 2018, Giggs was introduced as the head coach of the Welsh national team.

Media activities and perception

Early in his career, Giggs was considered a budding superstar in British football. As a young winger, comparisons with Northern Irishman George Best made sense, which was partly due to the fact that Ryan Giggs's birthday coincided with Best's last days of his career at "United" - according to legend, Best left the club's premises on Giggs' birthday, effectively but only played his last game on New Year 1974.

After a sporting breakthrough in the 1991/92 season, Giggs became one of the new faces of the new Premier League , which began playing in the summer of 1992. Above all, the TV media found him to be an interesting partner who helped to slowly release English football from its bad hooligan image from the 1980s. In 1993 in particular, Giggs began to market himself profitably through sponsorship agreements with the help of the experienced consultant (and already over 70 years old) Harry Swales , who had previously had long-term partnerships with Bryan Robson and Kevin Keegan . After his two-year contract with Puma expired, he signed a three-year contract worth £ 300,000 with equipment manufacturer Reebok . There were also advertising contracts with a well-known soft drink manufacturer and the meat substitute manufacturer Quorn . After his 20th birthday, he also took advantage of the interview requests he didn’t like - before that, the management had pedantically protected him from interview requests. Starting in 1994, the soccer show Ryan Giggs' Soccer Skills started , which was followed by numerous book publications. The public response was that of a teenage idol and pop star; Public advertising appearances often led to mass crowds and roadblocks. In addition, 3,000 Valentines found their way into his mailbox. This media game was also a not insignificant factor in the popularity of Manchester United itself, and so Giggs was described as the boy who "turned a million innocent teenage hearts into United fans". This media hype quickly subsided, however, which also had to do with Giggs' actual aversion to public appearances. The main reason, however, was that, in the mid-1990s, the public began to focus more on the more effective David Beckham and on other constantly changing upstarts in English football.

On December 11, 2007, Giggs, who as a UNICEF ambassador is particularly active against landmines , was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II .

Reporting affair

In May 2011, Giggs obtained an injunction against parts of the British press. The press was not allowed to report a possible sexual liaison between Giggs and an ex- Big Brother starlet or the fact of the prohibition order. Only after the topic was mentioned in the British House of Commons during a parliamentary session (as in the case of the Trafigura scandal) was the press allowed to report. The MP relied on his parliamentary immunity and therefore had no reprisals to fear.

social commitment

Giggs is an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card .

literature

• Ryan Giggs: Giggs - The Autobiography . Penguin Books, 2006, ISBN 978-0-14-102401-1 .

Web links

Commons : Ryan Giggs  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Ryan Giggs in the database of weltfussball.de
• Manchester United statistics page
• Ryan Giggs in the soccerbase.com database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ see entry Wilson, Ryan in Gavin Willacy / English Schools Football Association: England Schoolboys, International Players records 1907-1999 . Redwood Books Ltd., Trowbridge 1999, p. 61 .
2. ↑ Footballers who have won most trophies in club-football sportskeeda.com, accessed March 22, 2016 (English)
3. ^ Gareth Barry: Premier League history-maker. In: BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation , September 16, 2017, accessed September 19, 2017 . 
4. ^ "Ferguson and Giggs, side by side at ManU" (New York Times)
5. ^ "Ryan Giggs to play key role in his 30th Manchester derby" (Telegraph.co.uk)
6. ↑ "GIGGS: TRUTH BEHIND THE MYTH; Forget about those schoolboy caps, he would never have qualified to play for England. " (Www.thefreelibrary.com)
7. ↑ Giggs writes about his father in his autobiography: He had that strutting chest-forward attitude like Cantona and was of course self-confident, both on and off the rugby field, and so I respected him (...)
8. ↑ "Mission statistics Manchester United season 1990/91"
9. ↑ "Mission statistics Manchester United 1991/92 season" (The Website of Dreams)
10. ↑ "Ryan Giggs in a league of his own" (BBC Sport)
11. ↑ Arsène Wenger still haunted by that Ryan Giggs FA Cup goal in 1999 , Guardian article of March 7, 2015
12. ↑ "Toyota Cup - Most Valuable Player of the Match Award" (RSSSF)
13. ↑ "Giggs is underrated - Ferdinand" (BBC Sport)
14. ↑ "Ryan Giggs reaches Bobby Charlton mark" (telegraph.co.uk)
15. ↑ No. 800 for the long-running hit on Kicker Online, April 29, 2009
16. ↑ "Ryan Giggs sidelined for four weeks with fractured arm" (BBC Sport)
17. ↑ Ryan Giggs signs new Manchester United contract , BBC article , February 18, 2011
18. ↑ All Giggs' UEFA Champions League goals , article on UEFA .com, September 16, 2011
19. ↑ "Record man Ryan Giggs extends at Manchester United" (Goal.com)
20. ↑ Giggs shoots Manchester to victory Article on sportbild online from February 26, 2012
21. ↑ Ryan Giggs agrees new deal , press release on Manchester United website dated March 1, 2013
22. ↑ Manchester United v Real Madrid , The Guardian, March 5, 2013
23. ↑ fussballeuropa.com: "After a record performance: Ryan Giggs praises" chess player "Xavi"
24. ↑ http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2014/Apr/ryan-giggs-to-assume-first-team-responsibilities.aspx , accessed on April 22, 2014
25. ↑ See the match report at kicker online.
26. ^ Giggs announces retirement
27. ^ "Football: PROUD TO BE WELSH; After missing his country's last 18 friendlies, Giggs says he is :. " (www.thefreelibrary.com)
28. ↑ "Brazil's Dunga dazzled by Giggs" (BBC Sport)
29. ↑ "Giggs ends international career" (BBC Sport)
30. ^ "Wales - Record International Players" (RSSSF)
31. ^ "Ryan Giggs considers Wales return" (WalesOnline)
32. ↑ "Ryan Giggs plays down talk of a Wales return" (BBC Sport)
33. ↑ Article on fifa.com
34. ↑ Ryan Giggs in the database of FIFA (English)
35. ↑ THE WEBSITE OF DREAM - GIGGS 11 (Flash)
36. ↑ Giggs named player-coach , accessed April 22, 2014
37. ↑ Giggs in temporary charge , accessed April 22, 2014
38. ^ Van Gaal named United manager
39. ↑ Giggs leaves Manchester United . In: ManUtd.com , Manchester United, July 2, 2016. 
40. ↑ bbc.com: Ryan Giggs: Manchester United legend named Wales manager (Jan. 15, 2018) , accessed January 15, 2018
41. ^ "Ryan Giggs' soccer skills" (Open Library)
42. ↑ "Ryan Giggs" ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Welsh Icons) 
43. ↑ "How football became the new rock'n'roll" ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (FourFourTwo) 
44. ↑ "Ryan Giggs in a league of his own" (BBC Sport)
45. ↑ "Milestone looming for Giggs" (Telegraph.co.uk)
46. ↑ Kicker-Sportmagazin , No. 26, March 29, 2010, p. 11
47. ↑ Affair surrounding the mysterious Twitter plaintiff: MP outed soccer star , Spiegel Online , May 23, 2011, accessed on May 24, 2011
48. ↑ Carsten Volkery: Twitter gossip about celebrity affair: the ball, sex and the network. In: Spiegel Online . May 25, 2011, accessed June 9, 2018 . 
49. ↑ Show Racism the Red Card-SRtRC Hall of Fame member Ryan Giggs reaches career milestone