PAUL SCHOLES

Paul Aaron Scholes

Paul Aaron Scholes is an English football player who currently plays for Manchester United.He is a one club man, having spent his entire professional career with a single club. Scholes represented the England national team from 1997 to 2004, participating in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup, as well as UEFA Euro 2000 and UEFA Euro 2004. He is one of only four players to make over 600 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United.


Personal information

Full name Paul Aaron Scholes
Date of birth 16 November 1974 (1974-11-16) (age 34)
Place of birth Salford, Greater Manchester, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position Midfielder

Club information

Current club Manchester United
Number 18

Youth career

1991–1994 Manchester United

Senior career*

Years Club Apps† (Gls)†
1994– Manchester United 421 (98)

National team

1997–2004 England 66 (14)

Scholes was born in Salford and grew up as an Oldham Athletic supporter, but has trained with Manchester United since the age of 14.[1] He then later joined as a trainee upon leaving the Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School, Middleton, Greater Manchester in the summer of 1991. In his final term at school, he was selected to represent Great Britain National Schools in football.

Scholes was not a member of Manchester United's 1992 FA Youth Cup-winning squad that included future senior teammates David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, but he was part of the youth team that reached the final in the following 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 twice in a 2–1 victory over Port Vale F.C. in the Football League Cup. Scholes came on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup final against Everton, which United lost 1–0.

In 1995–96, after Mark Hughes moved to Chelsea, Scholes had even more first-team opportunities. He stood in for the suspended Eric Cantona as Andrew Cole's strike partner for the first two months of the campaign. Scholes scored fourteen goals in all competitions as United became the first English team to win the double twice. He picked up another Premier League winners medal in 1996–97, but was restricted to three goals in sixteen league games.

Scholes moved to the midfielder and forward attack positions in the 1997–98 after Roy Keane suffered a knee injury in late September and did not play again that season. United finished the season without a major trophy, only the second time in the 1990s that this happened.

In 1998–99, Scholes was a key player in Manchester United's Premier League title, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League Treble success. He scored one of Manchester United's two goals against Newcastle in the FA Cup final. He also scored an away goal against Internazionale in the CL quarter-final, but was ruled out of the final victory over FC Bayern Munich through suspension.

Scholes was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in September 2008. In a December 2008 interview with The Daily Mirror, he said he planned to retire from football completely in two years. "I think I've got two years left at the most I'm looking forward to finishing and everything that goes with it."

On 24 January 2009, Scholes scored his first goal of the season against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. His shot from out-side the box in the 34th minute deflected in off Tom Huddlestone to bring the game to 1–1, while United would go on to win 2–1. On 18 February, Scholes scored his first Premier League goal in over a year in a 3–0 win over Fulham, a swerving volley that hit Mark Schwarzer and rebounded in. On 22 April, he made his 600th appearance for Manchester United in a 2–0 win over Portsmouth.

On 15 September 2009, Scholes scored his first Champions League goal since netting the winner against Barcelona in the semi-final a year and a half ago. He netted the solitary goal in the 77th minute away to Besiktas, giving Manchester United a winning start to their 2009-10 European campaign.

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. 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. Picking up a pass from Paul Ince just outside the Tunisian area, Scholes pushed the ball slightly to his right and hit a shot with his right foot which curled into the top right-hand corner of Tunisian keeper Chokri El Ouaer's net.
His international career continued after England's elimination from the World Cup by Argentina on penalties 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 Euro 2000 play-off first leg, sealing a 2-1 aggregate win and qualification for the finals tournament. In a qualifier against Sweden that June, Scholes became the first and last England player to be sent off in an international match at the now-demolished Wembley Stadium.

With the turn of the century, Scholes became a prominent player in England's midfield, becoming a first-choice selection for the 2002 World Cup. However, after the tournament, Scholes saw his opportunities in the national team decline due to Shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifven-Göran Eriksson playing him out of position on the left midfield to accommodate the pairing of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in central midfield.[20] Scholes announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and his club career with Manchester United as being more important.[21] He has turned down the opportunity to come out of retirement and reclaim his position in the England squad under former manager Steve McClaren

Honours

Club

Manchester United

* Premier League (9): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
* FA Cup (3): 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
* Football League Cup (1): 2008–09
* FA Community Shield (4): 1996, 1997, 2003, 2008
* UEFA Champions League (2): 1998–99, 2007–08
* Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
* FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Individual

* Barclays Premier League Player of the Month (3): January 2003, December 2003, October 2006
* PFA Team of the Year (2): 2002–03, 2006–07
* English Football Hall of Fame: 2008