Stories of the faithful: Ryan Giggs has made Manchester United history

There are few heartthrobs in the football world like midfielder Ryan Giggs in Sir Alex Ferguson’s day. This skilful midfielder has linked his entire career with Manchester United, not only as a player but also as a coach.

Although Giggs is a Welsh native, he grew up in England and has even started for the England U16 national team, but since the U18 category he has only played in the national jersey of his native Wales.

This move to Wales was probably due to the English national team’s strict rules, which state that only a player who was born in England or has English ancestry can play in the national team. Therefore, Giggs was forced for this transfer within the national team.

As for his club career, it may come as a surprise to many that Giggs also started out at Manchester City. He joined this team at the age of 11, but two years later he had already left for Manchester United. And it was here that he ended his professional career many years later.

Giggs made his first start for Manchester United in 1990. In total, he spent an impressive 24 seasons there, in which he appeared in 672 matches and scored 114 goals, which is a nice number for a midfielder.

He also won countless titles with the team. He has won the league title thirteen times and the English Super Cup nine times. Manchester was equally successful on the European stage, winning the Champions League twice and the Super Cup once.

As for his national team career, Giggs appeared in 64 competitive matches, in which he scored 12 goals. Interestingly, he ended his national team career in 2007 after a goalless draw with the Czech Republic. After that, he still hit the Olympic Games in 2012, where he defended the colors of Great Britain.

Immediately after the end of his career, the skilful left-hander moved into a coaching position. He served as an assistant coach on the Manchester United bench for three years, of which he also briefly took up the position of interim head coach in 2014.

Giggs also took up the position of head coach for the Wales national team as well, where he lasted for four years, after which he was removed from the position in 2022.

Sources: UEFA, YouTube