PAUL SCHOLES

18. PAUL SCHOLES

Paul Scholes was born on November 16, 1974, in Salford, Manchester.

Paul Scholes signed for United on trainee terms on 8 July 1991 and turned professional 18 months later on 23 January 1993. The young midfielder showed much promise in the youth and reserve teams, winning an FA Youth Cup winners' medal in 1992 and a runners-up medal in the same competition a year later. He was also a member of the England Under-18 team which won the European Championships in 1993.

His step up into the big time came on 24 September 1994, when he made his league debut against Ipswich Town, where he scored twice in a 2-3 defeat.

In the 1994/95 season Paul became a regular in the senior side in the absence of Eric Cantona (through suspension) and Mark Hughes (through injury), earning himself a place in the FA Cup Final as a substitute for Lee Sharpe.

However Scholes and United ended that campaign with no silverware for the first time in five years. The following season had a much happier ending, as United pipped Newcastle United to win their third Premier League title in four years, with Paul picking up his first major honour. To cap the season off he was in the starting line-up for the FA Cup final victory against Liverpool to complete a historic 'Double Double'.

A full international, Scholes scored on his full international debut and his first international at Wembley. Paul played his part in the 1998 World Cup Finals, scoring in England's opening match against Tunisia, and starting all four of their games in the competition.

In March 1999, Paul became the first player since Norman Whiteside in 1984 to score a competitive goal for Manchester United on Italian soil. He scored the Reds' equaliser in a 1-1 Champions League draw with Inter Milan at the San Siro Stadium. Later the same month, he went on to net all of England's goals at Wembley in a 3-1 win over Poland in a qualifying match for Euro 2000.

Though generally shy of the media, he did admit on television to being very proud of this feat, saying: "That was the best feeling I've had in football. I have scored some important goals for United in the Champions League, but that was something else. To come off with that matchball under my arm and have all the fans cheering for me felt great."

Days later, Paul announced that he and his new wife Claire were expecting their first baby, but still the fairytale didn't end there. He played a big part in winning the 'treble', scoring the Reds' second goal in the FA Cup Final against Newcastle United.

The only sour notes of Scholes' 1998/99 season were the suspension which forced him to miss the Champions League final in Barcelona, and the ignominy of being the first England player ever to be sent off at Wembley. That occurred in the Euro 2000 qualifier against Sweden which ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw.

Paul started the 1999/2000 season as a proud father as his wife Claire gave birth to Arron Jake in late July. He again treated the United faithful to his pin-point passing, tenacious tackling and incisive runs into the box all season, and combined the three to overcome Scotland at Hampden Park, scoring both goals in the Euro 2000 play-off first leg win.

That performance was rewarded by the England Supporters Club voting him their Player of the Year.

Paul sat out the World Club Championships trip to Brazil in January 2000 to undergo a long-overdue hernia operation, a decision that was vindicated by the fact that he only missed one Premiership match. He bounced back to score seven goals in the second half of the season as the Reds marched to their sixth League title in eight years.

2000/2001 was business as usual for Paul, as he continued to be an England regular and picked up his fifth Premiership winners medal after making 44 appearances and scoring eleven goals. The best of those was the culmination of a 32-pass move against Champions League opponents Panathinaikos. He finished the season with 15 European Cup goals - one more than the long-time holder of the club record - Denis Law.

As the season drew to a close, Paul was said to have agreed terms on a new extended contract at Old Trafford, and on 9 May 2001 Paul and Claire announced the birth of their second child, a daughter named Alicia.

Scholesy put pen to paper on that contract on 6 July 2001, meaning he will be at Old Trafford until June 2006.

Despite a disappointing season at club level, Paul joined David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Wes Brown in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. Scholesy had a quiet tournament by his high standards, but was still vital to the team in the centre of the park and England reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Brazil.