Gary Neville's decision to retire from football on Wednesday
marked the beginning of the end of an era for English football, as
the Manchester United defender became the first of the famed Fergie
Fledglings to finish his professional career. This is the story of
their emergence from the youth ranks at Old Trafford.
"You'll never win anything with kids." Alan Hansen,
August 1995.
In punditry's hall of shame, Hansen's decision to write off an
ultra-talented collective of young prospects at Manchester United
following an open-day defeat to Aston Villa is perhaps the most
infamous case of myopia. Not only would United win the title that
very same season, but the club's 'class of '92' - the players who
delivered the FA Youth Cup in that year, augmented by two leading
figures from the following year - would come to dominate the
landscape of English football, and beyond.
In David Beckham, Sir Alex Ferguson possessed a kid from London
who would go on to become the most famous man on the planet, the
poster boy of football's consummation with the world of celebrity.
In Paul Scholes, the shy ginger forward from Oldham, United had
unearthed a pure football genius, a player who would be described
as "almost untouchable" by the great Zinedine Zidane. In defence,
though initially a centre-back, there was Gary Neville,
indisputably the greatest English right-back of his generation.
Beating them all to first-team stardom was Ryan Giggs, now United's
all-time appearance record holder and a winner of 11 league titles,
with Nicky Butt and Phil Neville also leading proponents of the
vanguard of young talent.
But such is the benefit of hindsight, in Hansen's defence,
potential is no guarantee of success, as the subsequent careers of
Ben Thornley and Keith Gillespie demonstrate. Ferguson himself had
no problem with the logic that underpinned the pundit's comment,
though he knew that the flowering of talent concentrated in his
young collective was unusual, illogical even.
Writing in his autobiography, Ferguson later said: "Actually
there was not a lot wrong with his statement. Teams mainly composed
of young and inexperienced players rarely succeed in the toughest
competitions. But at Old Trafford the Busby Babes had already
proved that there can be exceptions to the rule and we were about
to see another group of remarkable young footballers step beyond
the norms of the game."
It did not take long for the press to notice the fascinating
potential in the side that won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 under
United coach Eric Harrison. While Giggs, 18 months older than most
of his contemporaries, graduated quickly to first-team honours,
Scholes and Phil Neville were added to the pool of talent the
following year.
In January 1993, their exploits came to the attention of the
Daily Express. Under a headline of 'Fergie Fledglings' and
adjacent to a group shot of Matt Busby's great side, who won the
title in 1956 with an average age of 22 and seemed destined for
world domination before the Munich Air Disaster of 1958 that
claimed the lives of eight members of the team, the youth team was
described as the "best crop of youngsters since the Busby
Babes".
It was a daunting comparison, but one that reflected the
tradition of a club that was unafraid to place its faith in youth.
Busby had done so, and Ferguson would do so again, ushering in
another golden era in United's history.
Anticipation was rife. Speaking in February 1993, captain Bryan
Robson waxed lyrical over a group of kids who were "nailed-on
certainties to go all the way". Not only were they talented, but
they were dedicated too. Robson revealed as much when relating how
the team hired a minibus by themselves in order to travel and watch
potential opponents in action - going the extra mile indeed.
In an era before YouTube and official club television
channels, glimpses of the 'class of '92', Giggs aside of course,
had been rare. The Guardian's Hugh McIlvanney captured the
interest outsiders had in the exciting, mysterious developments
behind closed doors at United, writing: "Until now, anything
filtering through to the national audience about these young
footballers has amounted to little more than slightly awed
generalisations about their promise, batches of names without
specific indications of what the names represent in terms of
effectiveness and style on the field."
We had learned that Gary Neville and Chris Casper enjoyed a
formidable partnership in defence, while John O'Kane and,
particularly, Phil Neville were accomplished full backs. Robson
even said of the younger Neville that: "[He] could easily turn out
to be the best of all these lads." In midfield, Butt was already
being compared to Robson himself, Beckham and Ben Thornley were
being lauded for their style and Keith Gillespie was a talented, if
possibly flawed winger with a suspect mentality. Towering above
them all in terms of technique, even at that age, was Scholes, of
whom Ferguson said: "Paul has everything". There was even a
talented striker by the name of Robert Savage, who would achieve
notoriety of his own away from Old Trafford.
Ferguson was convinced of their ability, having had the benefit
of watching them at close quarters during their Youth Cup win and
victory in the Pontins reserve league championship - a path that
was also trod by Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards in the 1950s,
and George Best in the 1960s. Ferguson said: "I'm convinced six or
seven more will reach the very top, that's how highly I regard
them. These boys are the best crop I have had in my management
career. A lot of people tell me they are the best the club has ever
had. To have them all come through like this is very rare. Now it's
just a matter of fitting them into the first team when the
opportunity arises."
In September 1994, that opportunity presented itself in a League
Cup tie against Port Vale. Ferguson risked the wrath of the
Football League when fielding a weakened team, with Butt's two
first-team appearances marking him out as the most experienced
youngster in a team that also included Beckham, Scholes and Gary
Neville, as well as a handful of senior players. The League was
unimpressed, but as Scholes scored both goals in a 2-1 victory,
The Guardian's Cynthia Bateman recognised the significance
of the occasion, writing: "What the more astute supporters
recognised was that they were privileged to be watching a possibly
great United side of the future."
Neville, Butt and Scholes all enjoyed further exposure that
season, while Beckham was sent on loan to Preston to foster his
development, and the realisation began to set in that far from
being prospects for the future, these were players ready to assume
first-team responsibilities. The great Denis Law saw the tide
turning, saying of Scholes in January 1995: "If he does the job he
can save United millions - and the same goes for the rest. There's
been a lot of talent at Old Trafford, but Alex will be able to
build a team around these kids."
Ferguson had reached a similar conclusion and demonstrated as
much in the summer of 1995 as he gutted a team that had failed to
win either the Premiership or the FA Cup, with Mark Hughes sold to
Chelsea, "big-time Charlie" Paul Ince dispatched to Inter and
Andrei Kanchelskis heading down the M62 to Everton.
Hansen, of course, was the man who most famously verbalised the
scepticism towards Ferguson's transfer activity, but it was
certainly not limited to him. The cull of high-profile names caused
consternation. Andy Walsh, secretary of the Manchester United
Independent Supporters Association, lamented: "Sadly, the
supporters of Manchester United have grown accustomed to seemingly
unfathomable decisions being made by the club's hierarchy."
But he should have shown more faith. After an inauspicious
start, when that 3-1 defeat to Villa on the opening day of the
season was followed by elimination from the League Cup at the hands
of York City and a UEFA Cup exit to Rotor Volgograd by the start of
October, United began to claw back the sizeable gap opened by
Newcastle United at the top of the table, defeating the Magpies on
December 27 to kick start their title challenge.
Spurred on by their young pretenders, United were crowned Double
winners when usurping Newcastle at the top of the table and
defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final thanks to a goal from Eric
Cantona, who had returned from his suspension for attacking a
Crystal Palace fan in October.
King Eric had retired within 12 months, his departure marking
the end of an era at Old Trafford. But the new class had already
begun to stake its own claim to greatness. In the words of Gary
Pallister, the group that dubbed themselves the 'Alan Hansen
Generation' had proved to all concerned that "they are the team
that will take United into the next century".
What happened next? Trophies, trophies and more
trophies. England's first Treble in 1999 was the pinnacle of their
achievement, and it was not until 2003 that Beckham joined Real
Madrid, with Nicky Butt leaving for Newcastle in 2004 and Phil
Neville joining Everton the following year. Gary Neville, Giggs and
Scholes would remain one-club men under Ferguson.