Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City.

United finished the season without a major trophy, only the second time in the 1990s that this happened.

He later joined as a trainee upon leaving the Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton during the summer of 1991.

In his final term at school, he was selected to represent Great Britain National Schools in football.

Scholes was a member of the Manchester United youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in the 1992–93 season, alongside Phil Neville.

He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 appearances between 1993 and 2013.

He won 25 trophies, including 11 Premier League titles (more than any other English player), two FA Cups and two UEFA Champions League titles.

He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and one of the greatest Manchester United players of all-time, renowned for his technical skills, accurate passing, intelligent movement, powerful shooting from long range and goal-scoring ability.

Scholes came through the Manchester United academy as one of Fergie's Fledglings, a group of players recruited by the club under the management of Alex Ferguson.

Scholes turned professional on 23 July 1993 but did not make his breakthrough into the senior squad until the 1994–95 season, when he made seventeen league appearances and scored five goals.

He made his full debut in the 1994–95 season.

He went on to make 718 appearances for the club, the third-highest number of appearances by any player.

His debut came on 21 September 1994, where he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over Port Vale in the League Cup.

His league debut came three days later against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, a game which United lost 3–2 and Scholes scored a consolation goal.

He scored two league goals when he came on 10 December when United beat Queens Park Rangers 3–2 at Loftus Road.

On 3 January 1995, he got onto the scoresheet at Old Trafford for the first time with the opener in a 2–0 league win over Coventry City.

He scored once more that season, in a 3–2 away win over Coventry City on 1 May.

Scholes came on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup final against Everton, which United lost 1–0.

In the 1995–96 season, after Mark Hughes moved to Chelsea, Scholes had more first-team opportunities, standing in for the suspended Eric Cantona as Andy Cole's strike partner for the first two months of the season.

Scholes scored 14 goals in all competitions as United became the first English team to win the double twice.

He picked up another Premier League medal in the 1996–97 season.

Scholes represented the England national team from 1997 to 2004, gaining 66 caps and participating in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships.

After Roy Keane suffered a knee injury in late September 1997 and was ruled out for the rest of the season, Scholes was made a central midfielder in the 1997–98 season.

In the 1998–99 season, Scholes was a key player in Manchester United's Premier League title, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League treble success.

He scored one of Manchester United's two goals against Newcastle in the FA Cup final.

He also scored an away goal against Inter Milan in the Champions League quarter-final.

He came on as a substitute in the second leg of the semi-final against Juventus as Alex Ferguson opted for Nicky Butt in the starting line-up.

He announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and his club career with Manchester United as being more important.

He announced his retirement from playing in May 2011 and was appointed as a coach at Manchester United.

He returned to playing in January 2012, and played one more season for the club before retiring again in May 2013.

Scholes' first managerial position was at Oldham Athletic, for 31 days in February and March 2019.

In 2020, he had a short spell as interim manager of Salford City.

Scholes was born in Salford, Greater Manchester.

He is of Irish and Northern Irish descent.

On his mother's side, his grandmother came from Ireland, while his grandfather was from Northern Ireland.

The family moved to Langley, Greater Manchester, when he was 18 months old, where he lived on Bowness Road and Talkin Drive.

He attended the St Mary's RC Primary School in Langley.

The first team he played for was Langley Furrow.

Scholes also excelled at cricket.

At age 14, he began training with Manchester United.