It's the 20th anniversary of Ryan Giggs's Manchester United debut so we decided to celebrate his longevity wtih our top 20 interesting facts about the Welshman.
1. Giggs was born in Cardiff on 29th November 1973, and spent his early years in the suburb of Ely.
2. Few fans realise it, but Giggs is of mixed race descent. His mother, Lynne, is Welsh, while his father, professional rugby league player Danny Wilson, is of mixed Welsh and Sierra Leone descent and has spoken in the past of the racism he experienced as a child.
3. After moving to Manchester when he was six he began to shine at football, but was on the wrong side of a hammering in his very first game as Deans FC were hammered 9-0 by Stretford Vics.
4. Deans FC were coached by a Manchester City coach, Dennis Schofield, who recommended Giggs to City's School of Excellence. Giggs captained Salford to victory in the 1987 Granada Schools Cup, with the final being played at Anfield.
4. Giggs was noticed by United scouts, and was signed at the age of 14 by Alex Ferguson while living in Swinton, Manchester. He had been recommended to Fergie by Harold Wood, a newsagent.
5. His schoolboy career - and some would say his international career - peaked when he captained England at Wembley against Germany at schoolboy level.
6. At the time he signed for United, Giggs still used his father's surname, Wilson, but he changed it to Giggs when his mother remarried in 1989.
7. He made his league debut against Everton at Old Trafford on 2nd March 1991.
8. In his first league start, on May 4th 1991, the Welshman lined up against Manchester City. He scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory. Some way to repay the club whose academy had nurtured him a few years previously!
9. Having burst on to the scene, Giggs played in every league match of the 1991-2 season. In his first full first season he helped United win the League Cup as the Red Devils beat Nottingham Forest at Wembley. Giggs set up Brian McClair to score the winner.
10. In 1992-3, Giggs won the first of two PFA Young Player of the Year titles in the space of three seasons. The only other players to win the award twice are Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.
11. Giggs was one of the key figures for United as they won the Premier League in 1992-3, their first top-flight title since 1967. He is the only player in English football history to have won 11 league titles.
12. As of March 2011, Giggs has 21 'proper' winners' medals: 11 for the Premier League, four FA Cup, four League Cup and two Champions League.
13. Giggs made his international debut with Wales in 1991, becoming the youngest player to represent the country at the age of 17 years and 321 days. He made a total of 64 appearances for Wales, though failed to fire them into the finals of a major tournament throughout that time.
14. Alex Ferguson was famously protective of Ryan Giggs in the early days, and refused the press permission to interview him until he turned 20, in November 1993.
15. In 1997 Alessandro Del Piero claimed that Giggs was so good that he made him blub. "This is embarrassing to say but I have cried twice in my life watching a football player; the first one was Roberto Baggio and the second was Ryan Giggs."
16. Giggs is set to become the only player in football history to complete a further year's service for his club following his testimonial. His first testimonial was against Celtic at Old Trafford before the 2001-2 season kicked off. With Giggs having already agreed to stay with the Red Devils next year, a second testimonial is surely a matter of time.
17. The Welshman has scored 110 goals for United, and is the only player to have scored every season since the Premier League started in 1992.
18. Giggs has racked up 863 total appearances for the Red Devils since he first pulled on the famous shirt back in 1991, with 663 of them being in the league. He still has a few years if he's to beat Jimmy Dickinson's record of 770 league appearances for a single club: that's held by John Trollope of Swindon Town.
19. If he does manage to break the remaining longevity appearances in the game, it will be in part thanks to yoga. The 37-year-old has practised the ancient oriental relaxation and exercise form for several years, and released his own yoga DVD in early 2011.
20. And finally, Giggs could have been the other half of Posh Spice instead of David Beckham. The legend goes that when the Spice Girls ran into the Manchester United boys at a nightclub, Victoria Adams was hoping to try and meet Giggs - possibly because she fancied him - and more probably because she hadn't even heard of Beckham at the time. But Becks swept Victoria off her feet, with the pair double dating with Scary Spice back in the early days - and the rest is history.
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