Gary Neville

Gary Neville


After playing for both Bury and Greater Manchester Schoolboys, Gary Neville joined Manchester United on schoolboy forms in July 1991 and signed as a professional eighteen months later in January 1993.

He was a part of the successful Youth team of 1992 and 1993 which produced several players for the senior squad. Gary made his first appearance for United in the UEFA Cup in September 1992 against Torpedo Moscow.

Alongside him at Old Trafford was his younger brother Phillip and they would remain team-mates at both club and international level all their careers until Phil joined Everton in 2005. Sometimes they would even find themselves as rivals for a place in the United side as both could play at left or right back.

During the 1994-95 season, Neville became a regular in United's first team, replacing the injured Paul Parker at full-back. He then suffered the disappointment of an FA Cup Final defeat in 1995 with United losing 1- 0 to Everton.

However, the following season in 1996, Neville collected both League Championship and FA Cup medals. A member of England's unlucky Euro 96 squad, Gary played in every game apart from the semi-final when he was suspended. Neville added another League Championship medal in 1997, but the 1998 season was to prove a disappointment with the title going to Arsenal. In the summer of 1998 he represented England in the World Cup in France, playing in three of their four matches.

A local lad who supported the team as a boy, Neville represents the die-hard spirit. You can see how much he loves Manchester United by the way he kisses his badge after any successful victory or goal scored. The United fans have been known to sing (to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down) "Gary Neville, he's a Red, he hates Scousers!!!"

He found himself starting the 1998-99 season in central defence instead of his usual right-back position. Mainly because of injuries to Johnsen and Berg, United's defence was decidedly dodgy for a period. When he assumed his favored right-back role, United soon began to tighten up the defence and mount a surge towards the treble.

Gary had a great relationship with best friend David Beckham in which he put in crosses on the overlap while Beckham moves into central midfield on attacks. In recent years he has continued this set up with Cristiano Ronaldo. Let us not forget of course, his long throw-in technique, which is almost as good as a corner.

Neville is a great ball-winner who has become an invaluable member of the United first team. A very reliable, composed player who is rarely injured, he is always one of the players with the highest total appearances every season. In the treble year, he even managed to score against Everton, the second goal of his career.

Like the United defence as a whole, Neville had a mixed season in 1999-2000. His usual solid reliability came into question on numerous occasions, most prominently during the World Club Championship in Brazil when his blunders gifted Vasco Da Gama two goals.

However Neville accepted his errors and worked hard to regain his form and help United to the title. 2000-2001 saw a much improved United defence that conceded less goals than any other Premiership team. In Jaap Stam's absence through injury, Gary played with assurance in central defence and made more appearances than any other player during the season.

The following season with Ronny Johnsen and Wes Brown injured for large parts, Neville was again deployed in central defence with Laurent Blanc on many occasions. Unfortunately in the Champions League semi-final with Bayer Leverkusen, by bizarre coincidence Gary picked up the same metatarsal bone injury that afflicted David Beckham a few weeks earler. This left United's right wing badly weakened at a vital time in the season and the severity of the injury meant Neville missed out on England's 2002 World Cup challenge.

Gary returned for the new season but the opening months did not run smoothly for United and it reached a new low when Manchester City won the local derby 3-1 at Maine Road. Neville made an error that gifted the second goal and was amongst those up for a scolding by fans and media alike. However after that game he knuckled down with the rest of the lads to produce a run of form that would drive United to the title.

He was even appointed captain for some games when Roy Keane was injured. Season 2003-2004 saw him add another two goals to his scoring record and a headbutt incident with Manchester City's Steve McManaman in a derby match only further enhanced his reputation as a true red.

At heart he really is just a typical United fan who has been lucky enough to become a player. There is plenty of football left in Neville and at the same time he is a player of vast experience. It may be a surprise to many that Gary held the record for most the number of appearances in the Champions League for a period in the late 1990's.

He has also has a reputation as the 'Shop Steward' in the side because of his outspoken defence of team-mates against the FA and media. He was allegedly the ringleader of a plot to boycott a Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey in support of Rio Ferdinand who had banned for missing a drugs test and was believed to be behind a player protest in support of Alan Smith, after he was dropped from the England squad because of a unproven allegations.

And whilst Sir Alex has invested heavily in new defensive signings in recent seasons, Neville remains one of the first names on his team sheet every week. He was awarded a 5 year contract in July 2004 setting up his career at Old Trafford for the rest of the decade.

2005-2006 season was notable for three major events in Neville's career. In December 2005 Gary was appointed United club captain. A groin injury had ruled him out for most of the first half of the season but having tried numerous candidates, Sir Alex saw him the natural choice to lead the team.

In January 2006 Neville found himself in the laughable situation of an FA punishment for "over-celebrating" after he ran to celebrate Rio Ferdinand's last-minute winner against Liverpool at Old Trafford in front of the Scouse fans. He was given a £5000 fine for the incident. On a positive note he also picked up his first trophy as United captain, the League Cup in February 2006 in the 4-0 win over Wigan in Cardiff.

In season 2006-2007 Neville was once again the regular right back featuring in 33 matchs up until March 2007. An ankle injury suffered on March 17 agianst Bolton at Old Trafford spelt the end of his season and though it was hoped he would return for the FA Cup final he underwent an exploratory operation instead. Neville did however lift the Premiership trophy along with Ryan Giggs on the last day of the season.

SQUAD PROFILE-John O'Shea

John O'Shea



Waterford born John O'Shea joined Manchester United after spending summers travelling to England to train with the Academy. He signed professional terms with United in August 1998 and made his first team debut just over a year later, away to Aston Villa in a Worthington Cup defeat. After making twenty appearances and scoring two goals for the Reserves over the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons, John joined Second Division Bournemouth on loan in January 2000, making his League debut for the Cherries against Colchester United.

Some assured displays earned John rave reviews on the south coast, with Bournemouth. He could play on both sides of the defence, displayed composure under pressure and played with assurance and confidence on the ball.

After ten starts and one goal, against Millwall, O'Shea returned to Old Trafford in March 2000, determined to break into the first team. Despite two more appearances in the Worthington Cup, away at Watford and Sunderland, it didn't quite happen for him, so he embarked on another loan spell in season 2000/01.

This time he followed in the footsteps of Luke Chadwick, Danny Higginbotham and Ronnie Wallwork by joining United's Belgium associates, Royal Antwerp. Although he was first choice central defender for the Belgians, he still found time to play international football for the Republic at Under-21 level.

John stepped up to earn his first senior cap on 15 August 2001, when he came on as an 84th minute substitute at home to Croatia. Unfortunately, the debut ended in disappointment when John gave away a penalty in injury time, enabling the visitors to make the score 2-2. He returned to the United reserves and made a handful of impressive appearances for the first team in late 2001, most notably against Lille and Boavista.

2002-2003 was a season which began with Rio Ferdinand grabbing the headlines, but John O'Shea ended up stealing the critical acclaim. It was the break-through season in the Irishman's career as he establish himself into the first team. With the squad hit by numerous injuries to defensive players early in the campaign, John was forced into the limelight earlier than Sir Alex planned. However, all at Old Trafford were highly impressed by his excellent performances and adaptability.
The versatile O'Shea was able to play at left, right back or in the centre of defence. United fans enjoyed his talent for pulling off swerves and step-overs and he was particularly effective down the wing in an attacking role. This was especially true in the 6-2 win at Newcastle but fans will also remember his audacious nut-meg of Luis Figo at Old Trafford.

By the end of the season he had played in 52 games and become a solid fixture in the Reds defensive line-up. Many even went as far to suggest he was United's player of the season and he was indeed nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year.

Season 2003-2004 was a difficult second season for John with expectation's now a lot higher than previous. And with Rio Ferdiand's suspension causing havoc amongst United's defenders his form took a dip. Yet the Irishman remained a regular in the first team starting 32 league games and scoring twice which included the winner at home to Wolves.

The following year O'Shea found his left back position under pressure from the new arrival Gabriel Heinze. He had to make do with more appearances as sub, although coming off the bench he scored with a clever 20 yard lob in the 4-2 win at Highbury over Arsenal. The Irishman also found himself playing in central midfield as a defensive holding player.

John reverted to defensive duties for season 2005-2006 due to the injuries that ruled out both Gabriel Heinze out and Wes Brown. By the end of the campaign with the arrival of Vidic and return of Brown, the Irishman was back in the midfield holding role, forming an unlikely but surprisingly successful central partnership with Ryan Giggs. Only Rio Ferdinand played in more games that O'Shea that season.

In 2006-2007 he was injury free and featured in 48 games (27 starts and 22 as substitute). The Irishman featured more at the right back position than in central midfield but he also served as an emergency goalkeeper after Van der Sar went off injured at Tottenham in February 2007. United had used all three subs but O'Shea kept a clean sheet and saved when Robbie Keane was through on goal.

Even better was in March when he came off the bench to score the injury time winner at Anfield in front of the Kop. The win was a big step in taking the Red's to their 16th League title.
Date of Birth: 30/04/1981
Place of Birth: Waterford
Nationality: Ireland
Height: 191 cm.
Weight: 75 Kg.
Role: Defender
Jersey: 22

SQUAD PROFILE -Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs




There has been nothing less than greatness expected of the prodigy Ryan Giggs since Manchester City, where he played until he was fourteen years old, gave up the chance to sign him. Alex Ferguson quickly intervened taking him across town to United and City have been cursing themselves ever since.

His League debut for Manchester United came on 2nd March 1991, against Everton at Old Trafford, as a substitute for Denis Irwin. The winger's first League start was in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford at the end of the same season, when he scored the only goal of the match. Giggs soon made the left-wing position his own despite fierce competiton from Lee Sharpe. Ryan's early career was memorable for stunning goals against Spurs in 1993 and QPR in 1994.

After winning the title in 1993, Giggs stepped up a level and helped United to the Double in 1994. By the time of the 'Double double' of 1996 and Premiership title in 1997, Giggs was a household name and one of finest players on the planet. He played superbly in Champions League games against Porto and Juventus in 1997 as United started to make an impression on the foreign stage. Ryan was the first player to win the PFA Young Player of the Year twice and is still the youngest ever player to play for Wales at the age of 17 years and 321 days, when he came on as a substitute against West Germany.

At his peak Giggs was one of the most exhilarating sites in world football and a rare talent indeed. His devastating speed on the wing with unrivalled skill made him one of the crown jewels of Old Trafford. Giggsy's lightning runs with the ball tied to his feet scared the hell out of opponents and contributed to making Manchester United one of the world's most exciting teams to watch. As well as dribbling skills his crossing from the wings improved with each passing year making him even more deadly.

No more so was Giggsy's skill highlighted than with his "Wonder-goal" against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final replay. A truly breathtaking moment in an epic match that is up there with the greatest goals of all time. As well as his great attacking talents what is often less mentioned, is Giggs' high work rate, tireless off-the ball runs and backtracking. Despite being rich, successful and hugely talented, Giggs rarely gets abuse from rival fans, even they can respect genius when they see it.

Even though he won a treble of medals the 1998-99 season was perhaps not one of his best, as injury forced him to miss some vital games. Still, there were highlights such as the above mentioned "Wonder goal", a lovely goal against Notts Forest, two goals against Brondby and his last minute equaliser against Juventus. Not to mention getting his hands on the Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup with United's amazing end to the season.

Not that he was bad in the first part, but Ryan Giggs was absolutely superb in the second part of the 1999-2000 season. He was back to his very best, torturing opposition defenders with dazzling mazy runs and bursts of pace. It was almost a return to the early and mid 90's when Giggs' game was all about running at players with skill and pace.

He had focused on becoming a much better all-round player in past years but that season he found a greater willingness to take players on again playing more as a classic winger. This is his greatest ability of all and the one which frightens the life out of defences the world over. There was no wonder goal this time but he did score important goals and the highlights were performances away to West Ham, Middlesbrough, Wimbledon (where he did an amazing 70 yard run) and home to Fiorentina, Valencia.

One of the highlights of season 2000-2001 was an audacious 55-yard volley from Giggs at Charlton in which he ball crashed onto the bar for Solskjaer to score. It was around the Winter stage of the season that Giggs was at his spectacular best as he terrorised defences and helped create goals for others. Giggs scored a superb goal at Bradford, a great strike late at Sturm Graz and was on the top of his game.

However, reoccurrence of that cursed hamstring injury in February meant he was not at full fitness for the cruical first Quarter-final clash with Bayern Munich, although he did score with an excellent chip in the second leg. As he collected his seventh championship medal he also signed a new 5 year contract ensuring his awesome talents would be at Old Trafford until at least 2006.


Giggs was relatively free of injury the in 2001-2002 season but it can not be considered one of his best. United failed to unlock opposition defences at Old Trafford and came unstuck against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

The flying Welshman admitted his form was inconsistent - brilliant one moment, frustrated the next. He still scored nine goals though, including an excellent double at Fulham, a quality strike at Newcastle and a mazy dribble at home to Deportivo. Giggs also took over the role of team Captain in Roy Keane's absence.

The following season Ryan Giggs faced his biggest challenge yet at United. After a reasonable start his form took a severe dip and some sections of United fans started to question the Welsh winger's future at Old Trafford. It culminated in the player getting booed when he was substituted at home to Blackburn. Giggs' confidence was at an all time low, he seemed to have lost the knack of getting past players. Rumours also abounded of a dressing room bust-up between him and some of his closest friends in the United squad.

Talk began to surface of a transfer to long time admirers Inter Milan, however, into the new year Giggs was slowly but surely returning to his former glory. Not that it was a straight upward path, there was huge embarrassment for the Welshman when he somehow missed an open goal at home to Arsenal in the FA Cup. Sir Alex helped the comeback by shaking things up a bit, playing the winger as a support striker on many occasions, instead of his usual left sided position.

When he scored two goals against Juventus in the Stadio Deli Alpi in the Reds 3-0 win, things were definitely on the up. The second goal was a typically dazzling Giggsy run that cut open the Juve defence but more importantly it announced: Ryan Giggs was back.

He also got some atonement for that FA Cup howler by heading the crucial equalising goal at Highbury in United's 2-2 draw - the game that swung the championship towards Old Trafford. Giggs completed his best season for United in terms of appearances, missing just four games, and for the first time in several years his nagging hamstring problem was eradicated.

In 2003-2004 he again stayed injury free missing only 5 games and taking over free-kick duties after the departure of Beckham. A highlight was scoring both goals in United's 2-1 win at Anfield. He collected his 4th FA Cup winners medal as United beat Millwall 3-0. The following season Giggsy again missed very few matches and scored 9 goals, the new 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 formation prefered by Sir Alex allowed the Welshman freedom to both play up front and on the wing.

In May 2005 he signed a new 2 year contract that keeps him at Old Trafford until 2007. This has since been extended through to July 2008. In 2005-2006 Giggs suffered an injury to his cheekbone against Lille but went on to featured in a total of 37 matches. Towards the second half of the campaign he played a lot of matches in central midfield forming an unlikely but successful partnership with John O'Shea.

In 2006-2007 Giggs was once again a key player in a United title winning side. He featured in his traditonal wing position but found his best form as a central midfield support striker to Wayne Rooney, notably in the European games against Benfica and Roma. He had a fine season with 6 goals and nine Premiership assists. His 700th appearance came on 3rd March 2007 against Liverpool. Ryan is now less than 60 games away from breaking Bobby Charlton's appearance all time record.

He also scored a highly disputed quick free kick at Lille which led to the French team (unsuccessfully) demanding a replay. Giggsy now has that illusive ninth championship medal which puts him alone in English football history. On May 30th 2007 he announced his retirement from international football to allow him to focus his energy on club fooball in his final years.

Whilst he may have lost a bit of pace, now aged 33, Ryan is a more rounded player than ever. Still a fantastic dribbler and passer, he can score goals, has over 15 years of top flight experience, knows his team mates inside out and knows what is expected better than anyone other than only Ferguson himself. Already Manchester United's most successful ever player and rejuvanated after the title sucess, he is going for a tenth championship medal and is not finished at Old Trafford just yet!!!

SQUAD PROFILE - Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra

Born in Dakar, Senegal, Patrice Evra was the youngest of eight children and the son of a Senegalese Ambassador. He was only three years of age when his family moved from Senegal to France. There he grew up in high-rise concrete blocks of Les Ulis in Paris, the same suburb in the south of the city where Thierry Henry lived.

As a teenager he joined Paris Saint Germain's youth system were he started off as a pacy striker. Evra failed to get a professional contract but was spotted by a scout who offered a chance in Italy at lowly Sicilian Serie C side, Marsala. Playing up front, he scored six times in 27 games and was popular with locals who called him the Black Gazelle. After a season, proposed moves to Lazio and Roma collapsed due to squabbling agents. In 1999 he ended up at AC Monza in Serie B side, but the coach was not interested in the teenager and he rarely featured.

A year later Evra returned to France to play for OGC Nice as a centre forward for the first few matches. An injury crisis meant he was forced to fill in at left-back for the last 15 minutes of a game against Laval. He did so well that coach, Sandro Salvioni, decided to prolong the experiment, though Evra was far from happy at switching. Despite a running row between the two that lasted the remainder of the season, Patrice shone in his new position, was named the division's best left-back and became a first team regular in their defence.

After two season's at Nice in 2002 Monaco were impressed enough to bring Evra to the Stade Louis II where he became part of a young defensive back line along with Lucas Bernardi, Gael Givet and Julien Rodriguez. Under the guidance of Didier Deschamps, Monaco had an amazing run to the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2004. Though ultimately it ended in defeat to FC Porto, Evra was an outstanding performer in the club's unexpected success and earned a call-up for the French national side the following season.

By 2005 he had the honour of becoming club captain aged just 23, however, Monaco's form that season was awful - crashing out of the Champion's League in the qualifying round and lying in the bottom half of Le Championat. Consequently his standing in the French team was affected with no further international appearances that season. No doubt Evra was concerned his World Cup place was under threat and quickly made it clear to the club he wished to leave in the January transfer window of 2006.

After facing fierce competition United secured the move for Patrice Evra on 10th January 2006. Signing at the club just days after the capture of Nemanja Vidic, Evra's arrival signalled Ferguson's intention to shore up a United defence that had been weakened since the long term injury to Gabriel Heinze.

Fergie was attracted to Evra's reputation as a committed, attack-minded player known for his veracity and pace. A quick and versatile defender, able to play at full-back or on the left wing, his lightning runs on the left wing and ball delivery became a major factor in Monaco's Champion's League run of 2004.

Inter Milan also wanted to sign the defender, but had a £3.5m offer rejected by Monaco. Upon signing for United, Evra revealed that he had rejected both Arsenal and Liverpool for the chance to walk out at the Theatre of Dreams. "Liverpool and Arsenal are great clubs but United is a completely different story. Inter were also trying to get me in the transfer window but there was only one club for me".

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We have been looking at Evra for some time. He has improved every season, he's quick, a good football player, and the captain of Monaco. I have been looking at Patrice for quite a while. He has improved each year since he has been with Monaco. He is very quick, naturally left-footed and a good footballer. We cut the squad numbers quite dramatically at the start of the season and then with Gabriel Heinze being out for a year and Quinton Fortune missing as well, we needed to bring in a left-sided player".

Evra made his debut against Manchester City and went on to feature in 14 games for the Reds in his debut season. In 2006-2007 fans inital fears that the young Frenchman was a poor signing were quickly quashed as he put in some fine performances and made the left back berth his own.

His pace and crossing, as well as good positional sense and strong tackling gave the Reds an extra edge and the Frenchman also got goals against Everton and Roma. Evra did miss a few games with injury but otherwise with 36 appearances this was a great season for him and he even earned a place in the PFA

Position: Defender

Height: 1.75m.

Weight: 76.00kg.

Nationality: France

Born: 15/05/1981 in Dakar ( Senegal )

SQUAD PROFILE -Darren Fletcher

Darren Fletcher



Darren Fletcher is regarded as one of the best of the current crop of Manchester United youngsters. Living in Dalkeith, outside Edinburgh, he was discovered playing with Edinburgh side Hutchison Vale, aged 11 by Reds scout Andy Perry. The scout immediately made plans to take him to Old Trafford to meet boss Sir Alex. Darren impressed Fergie and was asked to come down to trials four times a year.

Despite having had been on the books of both Rangers and Celtic, it was an easy decision to move south as the United manager told him if he was good enough he would get a chance no matter what superstars were in the side. Fletcher joined Manchester United as a trainee in July 2000, turning professional in February of the following year.

He was so good a prospect that Roy Keane tried to use his Irish mother as a means to make him play for the Republic of Ireland. That is until Fergie stepped in to save the day for Scotland and Fletcher committed himself to the Tartan Army, much to the Scottish manager, Berti Vogts' relief.

Sir Alex Ferguson rated the midfielder very highly given the fact he had a squad number while only 16 years of age. Fergie stated many times that he believed Fletcher had the talent to become one of the best in the country. Darren made his debut in March 2003 in a 1-1 Champions League draw at home to FC Basle at the age of 19 and has featured in several of the opening games of the 2003-2004 season.

The midfielder represented Scotland at Youth and Under-21 level, before finally earning his first full Scottish cap against Norway in Oslo on 20th August 2003 coming off the bench in the second half. Better was to come as he scored the crucial winner against Latvia to take the Scots into the European Championship play-offs in October 2003.

In his younger days Fletcher was mainly a creative central midfield player, but he was deployed largely operate on the right wing. The young Scot had a four-year contract signed in October 2003 to keep him at Old Trafford until June 2007, which was later extended to 2009.



In the 2003-2004 season he was given his opportunity to make an impression on the first team by the boss. Darren started 25 games and was sub nine times. Playing mainly on the wing, opinion was divided on the young star's contribution but towards the end of the season he had impressed many of the Old Trafford faithful with solid composed performances.

Enough that he edged out long standing stalwarts Nicky Butt and Phil Neville for a starting place in the FA Cup Final. At the end of the season he was named the new captain of Scotland despite being aged only 20 and is one of the Scots most influential players.

In 2005 Fletcher further established his place in the United first team, despite a spell on the sidelines after damaging knee ligaments in February. He returned at the end to score two goals, against Charlton and Southampton as well as playing in the FA Cup final. In the following season he scored the winner at home to Chelsea which was especially poignant having suffered the brunt of Roy Keane's stinging verbal attack in the now infamous MUTV interview. "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher" Keane had said.

Fletcher was a regular in the starting eleven for the vast majority of the 2005-2006 campaign. His role was now becoming less creative and more as a defensive midfield lynchpin. In the last few months, despite no serious injury he was consigned to substitute appearances and did not even make the bench. Some suggested this was an indication his days at Old Trafford were numbered.

However, this was far from the case and last season the Scot started 26 matches, (including the FA Cup final) was sub 14 times and bagged 3 goals including the winner in a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough. Though Michael Carrick was the favoured partner for Scholes, Fletcher's high energy style showed continued improvement.

This was especially true in the 7-1 win over Roma in which he made sure the Reds did not miss the suspended Scholes. The Scot has gone a long way to convince fans he is now more than a utility player and will be at Old Trafford for a good while yet.


Squad Number: 24
Position: Midfield
Place of Birth: Edinburgh, Scotland
Date Of Birth: 01/ 02/ 1984
Height: 6'0
Weight: 13st 1lbs

SQUAD PROFILE - Ben Foster

Ben Foster


Foster began his career with Midland Football Alliance amateur team, Racing Club Warwick. In 2002 he moved to Stoke City but never made a first team appearance for the Potters. In his three years as a Stoke player he was loaned out to Bristol City, Tiverton Town, Stafford Rangers, Kidderminster Harriers and Wrexham. Foster sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury in June 2003 while playing tennis that cost him six months out of football.

By 2005 he had greatly impressed the Manchester United scouts and Sir Alex Ferguson. In July of that year Foster was signed in a deal that could eventually be worth as much as £3 million. Stoke received an initial down-payment of £1 million but that fee could treble depending on first-team and international appearances during his time at Old Trafford. Sir Alex described Foster's capture as "a great bit of business" and tantamount to "guarding the future of the club".

In August 2005, Foster joined Watford on loan for the season and the goalkeeper helped the Hornets win promotion to the Premiership by beating Leeds United 3-0 in the Championship play-off final. Foster re-signed on loan again the following season after United secured the services of Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
Foster remained at Vicarage Road for the entire 2006-07 season and despite Watford's struggle to survive in the top flight he was called up to Steve McClaren's first England squad for a friendly against Greece.

He has been selected for every squad since and made his England debut in the 1-0 defeat against Spain on 7th February 2007. Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd claimed Foster to be "better than current Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar" and believes that "he is going to be the best goalkeeper in the world". His confidence at set-pieces and shot-stopping skills have made him one of the best young goalkeepers in Britain and he is widely considered to be the likely successor to Edwin Van Der Sar.

Unfortunately in June 2007 with Foster set to fight for a first team place at Old Trafford the player required surgery for another cruciate ligament problem in his right knee. "It could have been worse," Foster told The Mirror after doctors discovered bone impacting on the ligaments. "If they hadn't found that fragment of bone the surgeons told me I wouldn't have had much of a career left." This will keep him out for at least the first half of the 2007-2008 season.
] He returned to light training towards the end of 2007, before moving on to a more rigorous regime in mid-January 2008 and made a comeback in a reserves game against Middlesbrough on the 6th March 2008, Foster made his debut for Manchester United on 15 March 2008 against Derby County, as Van der Sar was injured and Kuszczak was suspended, having been sent off against Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter final the previous Saturday. United won the game 1-0, with Foster making two crucial saves en route to keeping a clean sheet.
Squad Number: 12
Position: Goal Keeper
Place of Birth: Leamington Spa, England
Date Of Birth: 03/ 04/ 1983
Height: 6'2
Weight: 12st 8lbs

SQUAD PROFILE -TOMASZ KUSZCZAK

TOMASZ KUSZCZAK



Tomasz Kuszczak began his football career with Polish 2nd Division side Slask Wroclaw and moved from there to KFC Uerdingen 05 - a German side playing in the Third Division. He impressed enough to earn a move to top flight club Hertha Berlin in 2001. After four years he was out of contract with the Bundesliga outfit and was snapped up by the then West Brom manager Gary Megson in July 2004.

The Polish keeper was called upon against United in May 2005 when Russell Hoult went off injured after just 22 minutes at Old Trafford. The Baggies were 1-0 down but Kuszczak played an outstanding game to keep United at bay for the rest of the match. An eventual 1-1 draw saw WBA grab a vital Premiership point which would help Bryan Robson’s side avoid the drop.

In 2005-2006 Kuszczak was 2nd choice keeper behind Chris Kirkland but with the accident prone Kirkland injured again in October 2005, Kuszczak was allowed a chance to become No.1 which he duly took. His performances, despite West Brom’s relegation, won much praise and obviously caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson who made a move to sign the player on loan. West Brom, having already turned down three offers from United during the summer, finally relented on 10 August.
After protracted discussions, United agreed to let Paul McShane and Luke Steele join the Baggies as part of the deal that brings Tomaz to Old Trafford. Kuszczak joined United initially on a season-long loan, leading to a permanent three-year deal in July 2007.

He made his debut in against Arsenal on 17th September 2006 and made an immediate impression on the Stretford End by saving a Gilberto Silva penalty. He made his first start, against Crewe in the Carling Cup but the name on the back of his goalkeeper shirt was spelled "Zuszczak". instead of Kuszczak.

Tomas went on to feature in 13 games and recieved a Premiership medal as even though he only played 5 League games the rules allow for extra medals to be struck at the request of the champions.
Squad Number: 29
Position: Goal
Place of Birth: Krosno Odrzanskie, Poland
Date Of Birth: 20/ 03/ 1982
Height: 6'3
Weight: 13st 3lbs