5 Famous Manchester United academy graduates

Manchester United boasts of the best youth academy in the Premier League. It has produced legends such as Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, Mark Hughes & Johnny Giles, all of whom are part of the English Football Hall of Fame. United have won the FA Youth Cup 10 times out of the 14 finals that they have competed in.

The youth academy was established in 1998 but its foundation was already laid in the 1930s when the Manchester United Juinor Athletic Club (MUJAC) was formed. Under the managerial reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, the youth academy blossomed to give a new era of homegrown talents.

Let's take a look at five of the most famous Manchester United academy graduates of the recent era.

Before we start, I want to include a few honorable mentions such as Paul Pogba, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Marcus Rashford & John O'Shea.

#5 Wes Brown

Brown joined the United academy in 1992 when he was just 12 years old. In 1998 he made his first senior club appearance for United at the age of 18 while being an occasional member of the 1998-99 treble-winning side.

However, soon after his debut season Brown suffered a string of injuries that kept him out of the game for an entire year. Brown was shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year. But lost out to a young Steven Gerrard.

After returning from his year-long injury in 2000, Brown became a prominent feature in the United squad. In the next eight years, he won four more Premier League titles, a League Cup, FA Cup and another Champions League.

Had injuries not plagued his career, Brown would have been the defender that Sir Alex Ferguson once tipped him to be. After serving the club for 15 long years, Brown was finally allowed to leave for Sunderland.

From there he ventured on to Blackburn Rovers. To keep his footballing affairs alive, in 2017 Brown signed with the Kerala Blasters. He last played as a defender for them in the Indian Super League and is yet to announce his retirement.

#4 Gary Neville

Manchester City v Manchester United - Premier League

Gary Neville was more than just a mere player for United, he was a true fan. From his early age, he abandoned his social life to concentrate on playing football. He was so keen on footballing that he left his school in 1991 to join the youth academy. He captained his youth side to glory in his first season and won the FA Youth Cup.

Neville's heart was set on playing in the midfield, however, he couldn't compete with the likes of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt. In 1994, United's then first choice right back Paul Parker was ruled out by an injury and an opportunity for Neville opened up.

During his first season, he didn't get much playing time as Denis Irwin would be deployed as the right back. However, in the subsequent season, he made his mark as a right back and stayed there till his retirement.

He spent his entire career with Manchester United and there are only four players in the history who played more games for United than Neville.

#3 David Beckham

Before we mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick, we used to mimic David Beckham's. Beckham was a superstar cloaked beneath the footballing persona. He was the face on every 13-year old's wall poster. There was a certain panache to his play that made him an icon.

The Manchester United academy prodigy broke onto to the scenes when he was just 17 years old making his first senior club appearance. However, to find regular playing minutes he was loaned out to Preston North End.

Beckham became an integral part of the United squad after Sir Alex Ferguson decided to rely upon Fergie's Fledgling's (A group of homegrown talents that were recruited by Sir Alex Ferguson and trained by assistant coaches before promoting them to the senior squad).

During his stay at Manchester, Beckham won numerous silverwares and was a fundamental part of the 1998-99 treble winning United side. In 2003, he left the Red Devils to ply his trade with Real Madrid.

#2 Paul Scholes

In terms of sheer talent and footballing ability, it doesn't get any bigger than this. Scholes was the complete midfield player, inch-perfect passes, intelligent movement and thunderous striking ability, he had them all. He was adept at playing in any midfield position and kept alternating between defensive, offensive, wide and playmaking roles.

After graduating from the academy, Scholes had to wait till the 1994-95 season to make his first senior club appearance. On his debut, he scored a brace against Port Vale to hand United the league cup victory. Scholes went on to achieve success of variable degrees with United before he announced his retirement in 2011.

In 2012 he reversed his retirement decision to aid an injury-stricken United side. Finally, on 11th May 2013, he announced his second and final retirement from football. During his 18 year long illustrious career with Manchester United, Scholes made 718 appearances, only two other players have made more appearances for United than Scholes.

#1 Ryan Giggs

13 Premier League titles, nine community shields, four FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles, two Premier League Player of the Year awards and a Club World Cup title, need I say more?

Giggs broke into the first team at the age of just seventeen. He soon cemented his spot in the senior squad and hung on to his position for many years. One thing that the Welshman excelled at was running with the ball at his feet. He moved like a gazelle past the defenders with none able to catch him. The unpredictive nature of his game used to leave even the most veteran defenders bewildered.

An outstanding career that spanned over 23 years during which he made 963 appearances. That's more than 200 than his nearest contender, Sir Bobby Charlton. This obviously makes him the highest appearance maker as well as the best Manchester United academy graduate of all time.

Edited by Abhinav Munshi