Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season. He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continuing in this position well into the 2000s, though he has been increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his latter years. Giggs is known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him.
Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history. He also holds the club record for competitive appearances. During his time at United, he has won 12 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's medals. He has two runner-up medals from the Champions League, three FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of the team five times when it finished second in the Premier League. In recent years, Giggs has captained the team on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON (Dutch pronunciation: [luˈwi vɑn ˈɣaːɫ]; born 8 August 1951 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich. Before his career as coach van Gaal played as a midfielder for Royal Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ. Van Gaal is also a fully qualified gymnastics teacher, and has worked as such at high-schools during various stages of his career as a semi-professional football-player.
After a brief spell as coach at AZ, Van Gaal served as assistant coach under Leo Beenhakker at Ajax, and eventually took over as head coach in 1991. Under his lead, the club won three league titles, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. Van Gaal moved to Barcelona in 1997 and won two Spanish league titles and one Spanish Cup. After some disagreements at Barcelona, he was appointed coach of the Dutch national team, but then failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Another brief spell at Barcelona followed, before he became manager of AZ. After having won the Dutch championship with AZ in 2008–09, he was hired by Bayern Munich on 1 July 2009. In his first season at Munich, he secured the German league title and won the German Cup, and made it to the final of the Champions League.
Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United and the England national team. He has made more than 300 Premier League appearances and played in 50 UEFA Champions League games as of April 2011. Carrick primarily plays as a centre midfielder and at the time of his move to Manchester United distinctive features of his play included his inventive distribution of the ball along with his passing and crossing abilities.
Carrick began his career at West Ham United, joining the youth team in 1997 and winning the FA Youth Cup two years later. He was sent on loan twice during his debut season, to Swindon Town and Birmingham City, before securing a place in the first team by the 2000–01 season. He experienced relegation in the 2002–03 season and was voted into the PFA First Division Team of the Year in the following campaign. He made more than 150 appearances for the Hammers, however, in 2004, he moved to rival London club Tottenham Hotspur for a fee believed to be £3.5 million. He was ever-present during his Spurs career, scoring twice in 75 appearances, before moving to Manchester United in 2006 for £18 million.
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team as a winger.
Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing at left back, earning acclaim as a free kick specialist. Since transferring to Spurs in 2007, managerial and tactical shifts have seen him transform into a more offensively-oriented player. Recently, Bale has played an integral role in Tottenham's success domestically and in the Champions League.
Bale was born in Cardiff to parents Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie, an operations manager; he attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at age nine, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club. Growing up his football hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a winger/striker for Liverpool and the Welsh national team. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy was the captain of the Welsh national side for four years after taking over from Ryan Giggs in 2007, but stood down in January 2011 due to injuries. Since making his professional debut for Norwich City in 1997, he has played for a number of clubs in England, making his name at Newcastle United when signed by Bobby Robson in 2001 and has also had a loan spell with Scottish Premier League side Celtic in 2005. On 31 August 2011, Bellamy completed a move back to former club Liverpool from Manchester City.
During his career, Bellamy has won the Scottish Cup, the FA Community Shield and the Football League Cup. He has also been criticised for his behaviour both on and off the pitch, but has accumulated millions of pounds for various charities and has also established a football academy in Sierra Leone.
Bellamy began his footballing career as a three-year-old at Bristol Rovers, and spent two years at the club before being brought into the youth system of Norwich City. His first team debut for the Canaries came at Arsenal on 15 March 1997. The 18 year-old Bellamy became a first team regular during the 1997–98 season, making 38 appearances with 13 goals. On 22 August 1998, Bellamy scored Norwich's 5000th league goal in competitive football, scoring the second (a penalty) in the Canaries 4–2 win over Queens Park Rangers Despite this personal high, he missed two months of that season through injury after a clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Kevin Muscat, but still managed to have a successful season, amassing 17 goals in 38 appearances.