The Ginger Prince

676 appearences.
10 Premier Leagues. 
3 FA Cup medals.
2 UEFA Champions League medals.
and iam not counting the countless Community Shield medals.

'I have stayed here because it’s the best club. I’m from Manchester, so why would I want to move?'
The very words that endeared Scholsy to us.


No hype, no hoopla, The Ginger Prince went about his work quietly. Never attracting the media frenzy many others attracted and still continue to attract. Paul Scholes excelled in cricket as a young kid. But what turned out to be cricket's loss turned out to be football's gain, and my, what a gain it has been!


Scholes on his debut for Manchester United in a 2-1 victory over Port Vale. The first glimpses of genius were apparent in that performance. His legendary passing vision, his thunderous right foot, his no-nonsense approach to that game, everything became evident form that first game.


My most vivid memory of Scholesy is when he scored that screamer into the top corner against Barcelona in the 2008 Champions League semi-final.

Manchester United would go on to win the Champions League that year.


Scholesy was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008 following 14 years of splendid service to club and country. Scholes retired from international football in 2004. Such was Scholes stature, that Fabio Capello requested him to return to international duty for the 2010 World Cup. Scholesy politely declined,


Thierry Henry remarked 'Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes... He knows how to do everything.'


When asked about Scholes, the great Sir Bobby Charlton stated, 'Paul is always so in control and pin-point accurate with his passing — a beautiful player to watch.'


Xavi Hernandez, the modern day midfield genius, when asked about Scholes, said, 'A role model. For me, and I really mean this, he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years. He's spectacular, he has it all, the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him.'
Such adulation is something Paul Scholes deserved, and rightly got.


I would have written a lot more about our dear Scholesy, but it's already been done a lot.
So I would end this with arguably one of the world's best midefielder of all time, Zinadine Zidane's words, ' Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation.'


So long Paul Scholes, you will be missed, dearly.

                                                                                             The Ginger Prince