Paul Scholes

Manchester United

1993–1999

Scholes was a member of the Manchester United youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in the 1992–93 season, alongside Phil Neville. Scholes turned professional on 23 July 1993 but did not make his breakthrough into the senior squad until the 1994–95 season, when he made seventeen league appearances and scored five goals. His debut came on 21 September 1994, where he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over Port Vale in the League Cup. His league debut came three days later against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, a game which United lost 3–2 and Scholes scored a consolation goal. He scored two league goals when he came on 10 December when United beat Queens Park Rangers 3–2 at Loftus Road. On 3 January 1995, he got onto the scoresheet at Old Trafford for the first time with the opener in a 2–0 league win over Coventry City. He scored once more that season, in a 3–2 away win over Coventry City on 1 May. Scholes came on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup final against Everton, which United lost 1–0. In the 1995–96 season, after Mark Hughes moved to Chelsea, Scholes had more first-team opportunities, standing in for the suspended Eric Cantona as Andy Cole's strike partner for the first two months of the season. Scholes scored 14 goals in all competitions as United became the first English team to win the double twice. He picked up another Premier League medal in the 1996–97 season. After Roy Keane suffered a knee…

Scholes made four appearances for the England national under-18 team, all of which came in 1993, scoring one goal. He scored from a penalty kick on his debut for the team on 30 March 1993 in a 4–2 win over Denmark in a friendly at the Victoria Ground. He was part of the England team that won the 1993 UEFA European Under-18 Championship, which was hosted in England. Scholes played in three of England's four matches at the tournament, including the final on 25 July in which England beat Turkey 1–0 at the City Ground. Scholes made his debut for the England senior team on 24 May 1997 as a 63rd-minute substitute against South Africa in a 2–1 win at Old Trafford in a friendly. He scored his first goal for England on his full debut on his second appearance, in a 2–0 win over Italy on 4 June at the Stade de la Beaujoire in the 1997 Tournoi de France. He was included in the England squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. England were grouped with Colombia, Tunisia and Romania. During England's first World Cup group match against Tunisia, Scholes sealed a 2–0 victory with a goal late in the game. His international career continued after England's elimination from the World Cup by Argentina after a penalty shoot-out in the first knock-out round. On 27 March 1999, Scholes 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 Park over Scotland in the UEFA Euro 2000 play-off first leg, sealing a 2–1 aggregate win and…

In 2014, it was announced that Scholes, along with fellow Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, and Phil Neville, had agreed a deal to purchase Salford City ahead of the 2014–15 season. with plans to get the club to the Football League. The group announced they would take part in a special friendly, with Salford facing a Class of '92 team. On 22 September, the group agreed to sell a 50% stake in the club to billionaire Peter Lim. Having previously informally helped out Nicky Butt with the Manchester United under-19 team during the first half of the 2013–14 season, Scholes agreed to join the United first-team coaching staff on a temporary basis after the dismissal of David Moyes until the end of the season as a favour to friend and former teammate Ryan Giggs, following the latter's appointment as interim player-manager on 23 April 2014. In January 2015, Scholes and Phil Neville were caretaker managers of Salford for a 2–1 win over Kendal Town, between the dismissal of Phil Power and appointment of Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley. On 19 November 2017, Scholes and his old teammate, Ryan Giggs, were invited to join in training works for PVF Football Academy in Vietnam. With Ryan Giggs, who was chosen to be a development director, Scholes worked as a technical advisor. On 11 February 2019, Scholes was appointed as manager of League Two club Oldham Athletic, having been cleared to take the position by the English Football League in light of his…

Scholes was born on 16 November 1974 in Salford, Greater Manchester. He is of Irish and Northern Irish descent. On his mother's side, his grandmother came from Ireland, while his grandfather was from Northern Ireland. The family moved to Langley, Greater Manchester, when he was 18 months old, where he lived on Bowness Road and Talkin Drive. He attended the St Mary's RC Primary School in Langley. The first team he played for was Langley Furrow. Scholes also excelled at cricket. At age 14, he began training with Manchester United. He later joined as a trainee upon leaving the Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton during the summer of 1991. In his final term at school, he was selected to represent Great Britain National Schools in football.