#2 Norman Whiteside
It seems somewhat churlish to call a player a legend when he retired at 26, but in terms of pure talent, Northern Ireland hadn’t seen anything like Norman Whiteside since George Best. Whiteside became the youngest Manchester United player to take to the field since Duncan Edwards in 1953 when he came on as a substitute against Brighton in 1982, and his subsequent rise was nothing short of meteoric.
He played in two World Cups before the age of 21, was the subject of an accepted bid from AC MIlan, which Whiteside himself turned down, but it was his efforts in cup finals that stood him apart. Aged 17 years and 323 days, he beat Liverpool centre-half Alan Hansen to score in the League Cup final defeat at Wembley in 1983, making him the youngest player to score in a League Cup final; before then scoring in the FA Cup final replay win over Brighton in the same year.
Then came his crowning moment. In the 1985 FA Cup final against Everton, Kevin Moran had seen red, leaving United up against it with 10 men, but the Toffees hadn’t accounted for Whiteside’s brilliance.
With just ten minutes of extra time left, Whiteside curled in one of the best goals Wembley has seen to win the cup for United. His decline was as rapid as his rise, as a mixture of booze culture and horrendous knee injuries saw him retire very young. Few have achieved so much in such a short space of time.
