10 famous 'One-club men' in football
A one-club man, as the name suggests refers to a player who joined a club as a young prospect and subsequently developed and went on to serve the club for long periods. In modern day football, one-club men have become scarce owing to large pay offers and hunger for glory at the highest level.
2015 saw players like Iker Casillas and Bastian Schweinsteiger bid goodbye to clubs where they had started their professional careers and went on to become footballing greats. Bastian Schweinsteiger bid farewell to the Bavarians and went to Manchester United stating that he wanted to prove himself outside of Germany as well.
The increasing competitiveness at the club level has diminished gestures of goodwill from the management, evident from Casillas’s reluctant departure from Real Madrid. With players being lured by lucrative offers these days, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Daniele De Rossi etc., who have considerable playing years left in them.
Let us take a look at 10 famous one club men and their achievements with the respective clubs.
#1 Ryan Giggs – Manchester United (1990-2014)
After making his debut as a left winger in 1991, Ryan Giggs broke into the first team in the very next season at an early age of 17. His impressive performances earned him the PFA Young Player of the year in 1992 and became the first of many Manchester United youth players to rise into the first team under Sir Alex Ferguson.
He was also awarded with the PFA Young Player of the year in 1993 and became the first player in the history of the Premier League to achieve this honour in consecutive seasons.
He played in every single Premier League season during his career and managed to score in every season apart from the one he announced his retirement. He holds the club record for the most competitive appearances.
During his stint at United, he won 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two Champions League titles. He also has two runner-up medals from the Champions League, three FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of the team five times when it finished second in the Premier League.
He is one of the most celebrated players in Premier League’s history, having been elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, Premier League Team of the Decade in 2003 and the FA Cup Team of the Century.