Paul Scholes

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Paul Scholes
Personal information
Full name	Paul Aaron Scholes
Date of birth	November 16, 1974 (age 32)
Place of birth	Salford, England
Height	5 ft 7 in / 1.70 m
Nickname	The Ginger Prince, Ginger Ninja, Scholesy
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	18
Youth clubs
1991–1993	Manchester United
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-	Manchester United	364 (94)
National team2
1997–2004	England	066 (14)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 march, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 20 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Scholes (born November 16, 1974) is an English football player who has spent his whole career at Manchester United. One of the most decorated players of his generation^[1], Scholes has been praised many times for his modesty and attitude towards the game^[2], his pin-point one touch passing and his goalscoring, both from range and in and around the area.

Contents 1 Club Career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Established player 1.3 Later career 2 International career 3 Honours 3.1 With Manchester United (1994 - 2006) 3.2 Individual honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club Career

[edit] Early career

Born in Salford, England, Scholes has trained with Manchester United since the age of 14. He then later joined as a trainee upon leaving school in the summer of 1991, and in his first season guided the club to victory in the FA Youth Cup. His full League debut was against Ipswich Town on 24th September 1994, where he scored twice in a 3-2 defeat. He turned professional on 23 July 1993, but did not make his breakthrough into the Old Trafford team until the 1994–95 season, when he made 17 league appearances and scored five goals. The 20-year-old Scholes proved himself to be a promising understudy for the likes of Éric Cantona and Andy Cole. In the FA Cup final he twice came close to scoring goals which would have seen United and not Everton win the FA Cup.

Scholes was unable to secure a regular first team place until the 1997–98 season, when he played in midfield after the ninth game when Roy Keane was ruled out by injury.

In 1998–99, Scholes was a key player in Manchester United's Premiership title, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League "Treble" success. He scored one of United's two goals against Newcastle in the FA Cup final but was ruled out of the Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich through suspension, brought about by a yellow card received in the semi-final away tie against Juventus.

[edit] Established player

Since then, Paul Scholes has established himself as a world class midfielder at the club level. He became a key player in the Manchester United squad.

In ten years as a first team player at Manchester United, Paul Scholes has won six Premiership titles, three FA Cups, the European Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup, amongst many other personal accolades.

Unlike other modern footballers, Scholes does not have an agent and negotiates deals on his own behalf. He rarely gives interviews or accepts advertising contracts.

[edit] Later career

Scholes' retirement from England helped revive his club form in 2005. Scholes had a crucial penalty saved by Jens Lehmann in the penalty shootout during the 2004–05 FA Cup final against Arsenal, thus allowing Arsenal to win the trophy. However, he was ruled out for the second half of the 2005–06 season with blurred vision. The cause of this was initially uncertain, at first leaving Scholes' career in the balance ^[3]. He overcame this problem through the beginning of the year and he appeared in United's final game of the 2005–06 season, against Charlton Athletic. Reportedly, Scholes' vision has not been completely recovered ^[4].

Scholes scored his first goal since Boxing Day 2005 against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League match, ending people's doubt about his comeback to form after the eye incident that almost ruled him out of football forever last December.

On the 22 October 2006, in the 2-0 Premiership victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford, twelve years after marking his Red Devils debut with a League Cup brace against Port Vale, Scholes became the ninth United player to reach the 500th appearance landmark, following the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Denis Irwin and current team-mates Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. Scholes opened the scoring in the 39th minute, prodding the ball home following a Ryan Giggs cross. Rio Ferdinand scored the second goal, in the 66th minute. He was voted Man of the Match and gave a rare interview after the game.

In addition to his strike against Liverpool, he also scored twice more before Christmas; one rifling drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the 18-yard box in the Champions League match against FC Copenhagen on 17 October, and an incredible 30-yard volley which struck the underside of the crossbar against Aston Villa on 23 December, which was voted Goal of the Month, in what the BBC described as "arguably the best 'Goal of the Month' competition ever". Scholes now regards the latter as the best goal of his career thus far^{[citation needed]}. He soon followed these strikes scoring both goals against Newcastle United in a 2-2 draw at St. James's Park.

Inspired form during late 2006 and early 2007 saw players from rivalling teams of Manchester United, tip Scholes to be named Footballer of the Year. Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal F.C., and Luis Garcia of Liverpool F.C., all said he was the player that they most admired^{[citation needed]}. Many commentators and pundits have said that Scholes was their personal player of the year, over the high scoring Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba^{[citation needed]}.

Despite rave reviews about his play in the 2006/2007 season, Scholes was dismissed by referee Martin Atkinson, during Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Liverpool F.C. at Anfield on 3 March 2007, for swinging an arm at Xabi Alonso. It marked the first time he has been sent off in the league since Manchester United lost 1-0 against Liverpool's city rivals, Everton FC in April 2005. He missed the next three domestic games. The loss of Scholes was described by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as "a disappointment."^[5] Scholes has since featured in Manchester United's match against Lippi's European team, performing calmly and effectively in centre-midfield, which Manchester United won 4-3 with the help of Wayne Rooney's brace and srtikes from Ronaldo and surprisingly Wes Brown.

[edit] International career

Scholes made his international debut against South Africa in 1997 in a 2-1 friendly win at Old Trafford, and was included in the England squad for the 1998 World Cup. He also managed a hat-trick for England in a game against Poland. In addition, Scholes scored both goals in England's 2-0 win at Hampden over Scotland in the Euro 2000 Play-off first leg, sealing a 2-1 aggregate win and qualification for Euro 2000. When he was sent off against Sweden at Wembley Stadium in 1999, he became the first English player to ever be dismissed on home soil. Given that the stadium has now been demolished he will therefore forever be the only England played to have received a red card in England's 223 matches at the old stadium. ^[6]

With the turn of the century, Scholes became an prominent player in England's midfield. He started for England in the 2002 World Cup, wearing the number 8. However, after the World Cup, Scholes saw his opportunities on the national team decline. The rise of Frank Lampard caused him to play on the left wing at Euro 2004, a position which he disliked. Scholes announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and club career with Manchester United are more important. He has twice turned down the opportunity to come out of retirement and retain his position in the England squad under the new manager, Steve McClaren.

[edit] Honours

[edit] With Manchester United (1994 - 2006)

• FA Premier League - Champions (6):1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03
• FA Premier League - Runners Up: 1994/95, 1997/98, 2005/06
• FA Cup Winner (4): 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004
• FA Cup Runners Up: 1995, 2005
• League Cup Winner (1): 2006
• UEFA Champions League Winner: 1998/99
• Intercontinental Cup: 1999
• UEFA Super Cup Runner Up: 1999
• Community Shield Winner (4): 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003
• Community Shield Runner Up: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004

[edit] Individual honours

• Barclays Premiership Player of the Month for October, 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Paul Scholes career stats at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase provides Paul Scholes's profile and stats

Manchester United F.C. - Current Squad
1 van der Sar | 2 Neville | 3 Evra | 4 Heinze | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Brown | 7 Ronaldo | 8 Rooney | 9 Saha | 11 Giggs | 13 Park | 14 Smith | 15 Vidić | 16 Carrick | 18 Scholes | 20 Solskjær | 21 Dong | 22 O'Shea | 23 Richardson | 24 Fletcher | 27 Silvestre | 29 Kuszczak | 32 Cathcart | 33 Eagles | 38 Heaton | Manager: Ferguson

	England squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Seaman | 2 Mills | 3 A. Cole | 4 Sinclair | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Campbell | 7 Beckham | 8 Scholes | 9 Fowler | 10 Owen | 11 Heskey | 12 Brown | 13 Martyn | 14 Bridge | 15 Keown | 16 Southgate | 17 Sheringham | 18 Hargreaves | 19 J. Cole | 20 Vassell | 21 Butt | 22 James | 23 Dyer | Coach: Eriksson

	England squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Seaman | 2 Campbell | 3 Le Saux | 4 Ince | 5 Adams | 6 Southgate | 7 Beckham | 8 Batty | 9 Shearer | 10 Sheringham | 11 McManaman | 12 Neville | 13 Martyn | 14 Anderton | 15 Merson | 16 Scholes | 17 Lee | 18 Keown | 19 L. Ferdinand | 20 Owen | 21 R. Ferdinand | 22 Flowers | Coach: Hoddle