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Ryan Joseph Giggs (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973 in Cardiff) is a Welsh football player, renowned worldwide as being arguably one of the finest wingers in world football. 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 for whom 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 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. Giggs's squad number for both Manchester United and Wales is 11. He became known as The Welsh Wizard. Giggs began his football career at Manchester City F.C. and was signed as a young 14 year old by the club after being spotted on the streets of Manchester. His mazy dribbling skills would earn him comparisons to other reputable players such as George Best, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cryuff. 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. Giggs's boyish good looks also earned him a lot of fans, and he became a teen icon who was pursued by the media. He was sought after by modelling agencies and marketers alike. His fame was comparable to the likes of pop stars like Take That. 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 opposition players by using his own exceptional balance, pace and skill to beat players he ran at became the most noticable 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 a hit with ITV and Granada in 1994. 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'. 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 till 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. Ryan Giggs in the later yearsHis 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 Ruud van Nistelrooy, 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 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 soccer, others of notable mention are Jimmy"Jinky " Johnstone", George Best and Johan Cryuff. 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 an 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 is considered the second best player ever to never have played a European Championship or World Championship match for his national side. Soccer legend George Best, whose national side was Northern Ireland, is considered the best player never to have done so. 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.

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