Manchester United is known for often producing a number of great players from its academy. This season alone there are Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Axel Tuanzebe and Paul Pogba. The most famous class, however, remains the class of 1992.
Class of 92, as it is popularly known, refers to a group of talented young players who won the FA Youth Cup title with United’s youth team. Alex Ferguson, United’s manager at the time, promoted six of them to the first team: David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phillip Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
Even though they both played for United, it turns out that there are two players who could be called “nobodies” among the players from this famous generation. The two players in question are Nicky Butt and Phillip Neville, who have made the fewest appearances for United. Phil Neville only made 386 appearances, while Butt only made 387 appearances.
One other similarity: Butt and Phillip Neville were born on the same date, January 21. Butt, who was born in 1975, is two years older than Phil Neville.
Not a Class Star
Even though Nicky Butt is not as famous as the other Class of 92 players, Alex Ferguson likes him. Even though he doesn’t have the speed and stamina of Ryan Giggs or a shot as sharp as David Beckham, Butt has an attitude that Ferguson likes.
Butt is a very brave player. He will not hesitate to ask Ferguson directly. Apart from that, he is not afraid to defend his colleagues when facing incidents on the field.
But Fergie’s favorable attitude is no guarantee of a starting spot for Butt. He played for United for 12 years, but during that time he was not Ferguson’s mainstay. At that time there were the names Roy Keane and Paul Ince in United’s midfield so Butt didn’t get enough opportunities.
Ince left United in 1995 and Ferguson really hopes that Butt will be able to play well when partnered with Keane. In the 1997/98 season, Roy Keane suffered a long injury so Ferguson chose Butt to replace Keane’s vacant position. And he proved it with such a good performance that he was named PFA Player of the Year that season. However, after Keane returned, Butt again failed to get the opportunity to play more. Moreover, at that time young Scholes was performing well.
However, Butt is a player who will always be there when Ferguson needs him. For example, in the Champions League semifinals in 1999, against Juventus. Butt was played by Ferguson to replace Scholes, who will be sanctioned if he gets a yellow card. And sure enough, Butt managed to keep United from winning and advancing to the final.
As said at the beginning, Butt is a player who will always be there when United needs him. However, he was in a dilemma because of his love for the club and sadness at not playing much in the first team.
Butt finally left United in 2003, but Ferguson once said that players like Butt would always be needed by him. However, if by keeping him the club will incur losses, of course letting him go is something that must be done. Before Butt left, Ferguson once said that if Man United were suitable to use three midfielders, Butt would certainly be his main choice.
While playing for United, Butt scored 26 goals.
Similar to Butt, Phil Neville is not very popular among the Class of 92 players. In fact, his number of appearances for United is the least compared to his other six colleagues. And like Butt, Phil Neville was liked by Ferguson because of his attitude. Alex Ferguson, in his autobiography, said that Phil Neville was a disciplined player who was willing to do anything for the team.
Phil started his career as a senior Man United player in the 1994/95 season, making only three appearances. He only got the opportunity to play more the following season. Even though he got more playing opportunities, he was only trusted as a back-up left back for Denis Irwin. While playing with United, only two seasons did he get the opportunity to play more than 30 matches.
Because he only got a few opportunities to play, he felt uncomfortable. However, he is not as outspoken as his older brother, Gary Neville. Finally Gary approached Ferguson and expressed what his younger brother was feeling.
Ferguson finally called Phil to his house to discuss this matter. Ferguson said that he had harmed Phil Neville by playing him only as a cover for the first team. Ferguson’s wife asked about her husband’s decision, but Ferguson said that this was indeed a very painful decision but it would be more painful if Phil remained at United and did not get more playing minutes.
Hearing Ferguson’s words, Phil finally agreed to leave the team that had made his name and move to Everton after the 2014 season completed. Among the Class of 92 players, Phil was the player who played the least for United. He played just 386 games — one less than Butt. He only scored eight goals.
Of the six Class of 92 players, only David Beckham did not continue and pursue a career as a coach after retiring as a player.
Nicky Butt made the decision to retire after ending the 2011/12 season with club South China. He could be said to be the class of 92 player who was the earliest to decide to become a coach after retiring compared to his other colleagues.
After retiring, he immediately gained confidence in coaching Manchester United’s youth team. At the start of his coaching career, Butt coached Man United’s reserve team and coached the U-19 players in 2012. In 2014, when David Moyes was dismissed as United’s manager, he was immediately appointed by the club to help United through the remainder of the season with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
Butt’s coaching career continues. In 2016 he was officially appointed by the Deputy Executive Director of Man United, Ed Woodward, to become head of the United academy which was previously led by Brian McClair. His experience when he was a United academy player was also passed on to young players at the academy. He is quite successful and has a good philosophy for producing quality young players.
The results of his hard work in coaching were proven when United promoted Marcus Rashford to Louis Van Gaal’s first team. Even though United is currently being coached by Jose Mourinho, Rashford is still United’s mainstay player. Apart from Rashford, there is also Axel Tuanzebe, who he has promoted to the first team.
Unlike Butt, Phil Neville already had a UEFA B coaching license before ending his career as a football player in 2012 and establishing himself to become a coach. In 2013 he was appointed to the coaching staff of the England U21 national team to face the European Cup.
A year later, he continued his coaching career by managing Salford City, a team whose shares were half owned by the class of 92. Just one match at Salford, Phil Neville was asked by his older brother, Gary Neville, to accompany him to coach the Spanish La Liga team in the 2015/16 season. . In less than a year, he left Valencia with his older brother and was mostly seen as a commentator on football matches.
In 2017, he became a strong candidate to become coach of the England women’s national team and that was a challenge in itself. He said that he had the opportunity to go to the World Cup and be successful with professional players and he said that being the coach of this team was the best job he could have had. The clarity on whether to become coach of the England women’s national team is just waiting for a decision from the FA.
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