Paul Aron Scholes is an outstanding English athlete, a world football legend, a charismatic Irishman, “The Red Prince”, who became great despite everything - vision problems, asthma, sore knees and anxiety of loved ones. He was brought up at the Manchester United Football Academy, where he spent his entire professional career.
Biography
Paul Scholes was born in 1974 on November 16 in the small town of Salford in the north-west of England. From childhood, the boy had a love of football. Scholes is a vivid example of the fact that nothing is impossible, he discovered asthma as a child, but this did not prevent him from achieving great success in professional football. It is believed that Paul has played for one club all his life, but this is not entirely true.
He began to try his hand at the academy of the small local club Langley Farrow. In the legendary “Manchester United, ” Scholes was only 14 years old. The talented little boy was noticed by Brian Kidd, one of the assistants of the Great Alex Ferguson, and invited him to the Red Devils Academy. Scholes impressed the club's management and was able to stay at the school of the famous team. Paul signed his first contract with the club in 1991 and played in the youth squad for 2 seasons.
Career
Paul Scholes belongs to the famous Class 92. It is undeniable that the legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson had an extraordinary flair for talented players. But "Class-92" is a unique phenomenon. Literally all the graduates of that year became real football stars and irreplaceable players of the Manchester United foundation for many years. It was a real “Klondike” talent: Paul Scholes, Nikki Butt, David Beckham and Gary Neville - and this is only part of the players who forever made their names in the history of the club.
The professional contract with the club "Red Prince" was signed in 1993, but the debut took place only a year later. Thanks to the disqualification of the shocking Eric Kontona, Scholes got a chance to show what he is capable of in the League Cup in the match against the team from the lower divisions of Port Vale.
I must say, the debut was a success, “Manchester United” played away, and by the break the score of the match was 1-1. It was Paul Scholes who scored. In the second half, at 53 minutes of the match, “The Red Prince” scored a double. This goal was victorious for “MJ”, and the meeting ended with the score 2-1. The first match in the national championship, despite a disappointing defeat from Ipswich Town (2-3), was successful for Paul Scholes, he scored both goals against the goal. In total, in the framework of tournaments, Scholes that season appeared on the field 25 times and scored seven goals.
In the season that started in 1995, Sir Alex gave Scholes a better chance to prove himself, and he spent almost the entire season on the field. For 26 matches, he 14 times upset opponents by a goal. In the same season, Paul won his first career trophies. Manchester United took the FA Cup and won the country's Premier League.
From this season, the talented midfielder finally entrenched in the starting lineup and played every match for all 200 percent. It's hard to imagine the “Red Devils” of the 90s and zero years without this terrific player. His presence on the field meant that stability would be in the center, there would be support for attacking players and assistance in defense.
Treble Manchester United in 1999
The end of the 20th century is by far the brightest moment for all the fans and players of the club. That year, the team was able to make a “golden hat-trick” - to win in three competitions in one season. On May 16, the Red Devils defeated Totenham 2-1, ahead of London's Arsenal by 1 point and finished in the Premier League in first place, becoming the champions of England.
On the 22nd of the same month, Manchester United quite simply dealt with Newcastle in the FA Cup final, the meeting ended 2-0, Paul Scholes scored the second goal in the match at 52 minutes and determined the outcome of the game. The treasured treble wards of Sir Alex issued on May 26 of the same year.
The 199th Champions League final can rightfully be called the most dramatic and intense match in the history of football. The meeting was held at the famous Camp Nou, the home stadium of Barcelona. The motley poster of Manchester United - Bayern has put together a full stadium. Already in the sixth minute of the match, the Munich team dumbfounded the “Red Devils” and opened an account. Despite the large number of points, the team of Sir Alex was not able to equalize the score before the break, by the end of the half offensive 0-1 were on the scoreboard.
With the beginning of the second half, “Reds” were unable to reverse the outcome of the meeting. Moreover, the “Bavaria” had some truly scoring chances, the gate of the “Devils” was saved only by a miracle, and his name is Peter Schmeichel. The rest of the match went with varying success, moments were at both gates, but the score was still unchanged.
Fans of the German club already celebrated the victory with might and main, and even prepared congratulatory banners, but they did not take into account one thing: the rivals included the Red Devils, headed by Alex Ferguson himself. The famous “Fergie Time” buried “Bavaria” in just a couple of minutes. At the end of the meeting, Ferguson did not leave the edge and constantly showed at the clock, pushing the players.
The main time is over, the referee added the traditional 3 minutes. At this time, the “Red Devils” earned a corner, even goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel went to the rally. After an accurate cross from David Beckham from the corner, Schmeichel won the ball and sent it an unsuccessful discount to the crowd of players, Ryan Giggs came out of the fight as the winner, taking possession of the ball. He sent the ball into the goal with a soft kick. 1-1! Such an account would automatically translate the game into extra time, if not for the next corner at the gates of “Bavaria”. After a pass by Beckham, Ole Gunnar Solskher accurately sent the ball into the goal, 92nd minute, score 2-1.
Unfortunately, the “Red Prince” was unable to take part in this “carnage of the century” due to the exhaustion of yellow cards and disqualification, however, he contributed to the “golden hat-trick” in the intermediate stages. At the group stage, thanks to his goals, “Manchester United” tied and shared points with Munich “Bavaria” and Catalan “Barcelona”. In the ¼ finals, in the second leg with Inter at 88 minutes, Paul Scholes led the team away from defeat, equalizing 1–1.
In total, in the Champions League of that season, Scholes scored 4 goals. All players of “MU”, who happened to play that season, consider this period the most striking and successful in their career, Paul Scholes is no exception.
Performances after treble and retirement
After the fantastic 98/99 season, Scholes continued to play at a consistently high level until 2011. After the dramatic Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, lost to Barcelona, Spain, following Edwin Van Der Sar, Scholes announced his retirement.
The next season, “Manchester United” started poorly. He flew out of the FA Cup, finished playing in the football league cup in round 5, losing to Crystal Palace. In the Champions League, the team took third place in the group and went to the Europa League. In January 2012, Scholes, who completed his professional career, announced the return of the “Red Devils” to the camp, he himself explained that he really missed the game.
Rumor has it that Ferguson himself persuaded him to return to the club, at least for one season. The return of the “Red Prince” certainly affected the team’s game, but brought no results. In the Europa League, the club took off at the stage of 1/8 finals. And in the regular season, Manchester United, having stumbled twice at the end of the season, finished only in second place.
Paul Scholes decided to stay with the team for another season, in which he played 21 matches and scored just one goal, then he raised the last trophy in his professional career. At the end of the season as part of Manchester United, Scholes became the champion of England for the 11th time. After which he completed the player’s career, this time completely and irrevocably.
In total, the legendary player spent 718 games as part of Manchester United, in which he scored 155 goals. 11 times became the champion of England and twice won the most prestigious trophy in Europe - the Champions League Cup.
England team
The founders of football have been unlucky since 1966, then they won the world championship for the only time in history. Paul Scholes was also unlucky, he played 66 matches for the national team and scored 14 goals, but did not win anything.
