The Class of 92 Page #5

To try and recreate the history

which was started by Matt Busby,

and I thought that it was

the perfect football club for me.

I was born in Cardiff.

My dad played rugby,

so he signed professionally

for Swinton,

so I moved to Manchester when I was seven.

Everyone on my street was United fans,

and I used to go watch them, Stretford End,

United Road.

Go with my mates,

catch the match bus, the 26.

Try and climb over the fence

and get in for nothing.

You know, all that sort of stuff,

as a United fan, I used to do.

GARY:
First time I seen him play,

I was like, "Oh, my God,

"What have I just seen?"

If that's the standard

that we have to get to, I'm done.

I'm finished. What's the point?

You know what I mean? Go back to Bury.

Kick your little ball against a wall.

Just get off this pitch away from him,

because honestly he was unbelievable.

COMMENTATOR:
Ryan Wilson again.

He is Salford's star man.

That's a terrific pass for Winwood.

Oh, that's a marvellous goal.

We were nowhere near him,

do you know what I mean?

We weren't even in the same bracket as him.

I always remember when he signed,

his 14th...

on his 14th birthday,

we were playing Arsenal.

And we signed in my office upstairs.

And George Graham had come in

for a cup of tea,

and after Ryan and his mum left,

I says, "He'll be a great player

for United's first team in three years".

So George says, "What's his name?"

I says, "Ryan Wilson".

So a few years later,

we're playing Arsenal again,

and George was having

a little bit of a go, actually,

and he says, "What happened

to that boy Ryan Wilson?"

As much as to say

he's never seen him again.

I said, "He's playing today."

He goes, "Well, this is a programme.

Where?" I said, "it's Ryan Giggs.

"He's changed his name."

He says, "Bloody hell."

Of course by that time he was a star.

Yes, when I arrived, Giggs was playing.

Yeah.

Yeah, and now I retired, what,

15 years ago and he still plays.

It's crazy.

I'll never forget the manager, sort of,

naming the team

in the old dressing rooms at Old Trafford.

And I'm just sat there

and I'm not not listening to him,

but sort of half not interested,

because I didn't think I was playing.

So left wing is last.

And he...

And I'll never forget it.

It was like, "And Ryan,

you'll play on the left today."

I was like, "Did you say my name there?"

And like...

started... I don't like flying.

So when we're taking off,

I've got, like, sweaty palms

like you wouldn't believe.

And it was like...

It was exactly the same feeling.

COMMENTATOR:

Number 14 is 17-year-old Ryan Giggs.

We looked at him and thought,

"That's our motivation."

"You know, if the manager's

giving him a chance,

"then surely he's going to give us

a chance at some point."

COMMENTATOR:
And this is Giggs!

Oh, he's just getting better and better!

GIGGS:
The manager used to always say,

if I'd ever I had a shave,

then the next day in training

he'd just look at me,

"You was out last night, weren't you?"

And I'd go, "No."

He'd go, "Yes, you was.

You always have a shave.

"When you've gone out,

you always have a shave,

"you're always clean-shaven."

So from then on, I just learned,

if I went out, I just wouldn't shave.

(LAUGHS)

I think growing up in Manchester,

in the '90s,

obviously it was brilliant,

it was massive.

GIGGS:
It was the time of The Stone Roses,

Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets,

all the house music,

and it was the place to be.

- I mean, it was a ridiculous place.

- BUTT:
The Hacienda. The Boardwalk.

We were going to concerts, Spike Island,

and it was a real special time really.

I remember once the whole

Man United team went to the Hacienda.

Wouldn't happen nowadays

with the press everywhere, but...

You'd have what's called a player's pass,

a Man United player's pass.

So every, like...

professional had one.

And certain clubs, you'd

get in free with it.

So you'd go out with your player's pass,

show it the bouncer, you know, "Let me in."

BUTT:
That was a good thing that I liked

about my upbringing in Manchester,

was everyone looked after each other.

If you was a good-enough guy,

you didn't show off too much

and you weren't big-headed,

the bouncer looked after you.

It just seemed like the magic dust literally

had been sprayed all over the city.

So it was good to see the football

and the music thing.

You know, what else is there?

What else is there?

BOYLE:
Manchester reinvented itself.

It didn't wait for a leader to do that

for it. In fact, it took the disinterest

that was clearly shown to it

by Margaret Thatcher's premiership,

and it took that as actually

a signal to do it itself.

WOMAN:
We can't even get out,

we're walking on cockroaches, beetles.

In flats in this block?

In these flats over here.

We've got people coming up using the place as

brothels and everything all over the place.

It's disgusting.

We all grew up as

Thatcher's children and...

You know, hand on my heart,

that b*tch gave me my start in music, man,

because she put me on the dole

straight out of school.

And where else would I have got the chance

to learn an instrument?

BOYLE:
There are some great northern cities

that actually aren't beholden to anyone,

you know, and no matter how bad it gets,

they will regenerate themselves.

Now, the football teams, of course,

especially United, is a symbol of that.

GIGGS:
Sharpey loved to go out,

loved to party and have a good time.

For me, he was the one who I had, probably,

the most in common with because of the age.

I've seen Giggsy and Lee Sharpe

and a few of the guys out and about in town

and in the clubs at the time

and what have you.

I suppose we should have took it

on ourselves to tell them to naff off home

and get an early night, before there's

a Liverpool game coming up or summat.

But it's not our place to do that, is it?

Fergie had his little network

of guys out there doing just that,

didn't he, I suppose, so...

The gaffer had been tipped off

that me and Sharpey were going out.

So he's just totally surprised us,

and we're at Sharpey's house...

I head down that road,

I phone Norman Davies and say,

"Where does Sharpe live?"

And he gave me his address,

and I get there...

I didn't know there was a party going on.

A party! I couldn't believe it.

So I knocked on the door

and there's guys inside said, "Who is it?"

And I battered the door and I says,

"Get that bloody door open."

I threw everybody out the place.

And I'm literally in his eyeline.

I mean, anywhere else I could've hid.

But I'm stood...

I'm leaning against the fridge

with a beer in my hand.

He threw my mate out.

He threw the girls out.

He's going, "Where's that...

Where's Sharpey?"

So one of my other mates has ran upstairs,

said, "Sharpey!"

Sharpey's in the mirror, just...

He's getting dressed.

He's in his bedroom just, you know,

putting his jacket on.

"Your gaffer's here, your gaffer's here."

Sharpey's gone, "Yeah, all right, yeah.

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