Manchester United plan to retire Ryan Giggs number
-
Manchester United are considering retiring their No 11 shirt when its current owner, Ryan Giggs, finally calls it a day.
According to The Sun, unofficial talks have been held by the United board to commemorate the career of the most successful player in the club's history.
There have been many legendary players for the Red Devils, but the Welshman has won more medals than anyone else and has played more times for the club than anyone ever has or probably ever will.
In a 19-year career span, he has won 10 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, twoChampions League trophies, three League Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, one Inter Continental Cup and one Club World Cup, making him the most decorated player in English football history.
A club insider said: "Although people may talk of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, they played in an era when such moves were impossible as shirts were numbered 1-11.
"Retiring the number 11 shirt would have no complaints from many United fans - though on current form Ryan's departure looks to be quite a way off yet." -
i beg the man united board,the management,coaches,pls pls pls retire the num 11 shirt!!!its the greatest honour that we can give him!!the most illustrated man united legend of all time!!i love ryan giggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
this is quite awesome news.
-
Retire number 20!
-
well,i hope the will retire all numbers!
-
Originally posted by Jffdevil:
well,i hope the will retire all numbers!
you high?
-
Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:
you high?
beware, this joker (jffdevil) is a troll, trying to inject anti-MU feelings across the forums
-
time to use abcdefg
-
man u number one!!
-
i like and respect giggs. he deserves this treatment
-
My fav player.
-
I don't agree with retiring numbers... United will always need a number 11... No need to retire the number... Just build a statue of him or re-name some part of the stadium stand after him will do... Retiring a number is rather over in my opinion... There will always be another great... They can think of other ways to honour him...
-
Originally posted by zocoss:
I don't agree with retiring numbers... United will always need a number 11... No need to retire the number... Just build a statue of him or re-name some part of the stadium stand after him will do... Retiring a number is rather over in my opinion... There will always be another great... They can think of other ways to honour him...
The other great will have to wait 19 years later, win more cups than him and be as good as him. His feat is hard to emulate.
Anyway all clubs experience cycles. For a decade or so, your club will dominate then for the next decade the next club will. Utd will not forever be up there so winning so many awards would really be quite impossible.
-
Originally posted by dibilo:
The other great will have to wait 19 years later, win more cups than him and be as good as him. His feat is hard to emulate.
Anyway all clubs experience cycles. For a decade or so, your club will dominate then for the next decade the next club will. Utd will not forever be up there so winning so many awards would really be quite impossible.
Yes 19 yrs is a long time, winning all those titles were great... But it still doesn't make it right to retire a first 11 number... Imagine had they retire Cantona's No.7 back then... Then we wouldn't have the Beck No.7, follow by the Ronaldo No.7 today right?Numbers have special meanings... Getting and wearing the number 7 has become an historic meaning at United... David Beckham requested the number after Cantona retired... Players work hard for it and being handed the number could also act as an inspiration.
If you take it way and keeping it in some so called "memory box", then it becomes meaningless for future generations of players at the club... and also we the fans lose something too... We lose a chance to discuss who would be or deserve it ever again it we retire it...
Just imagine... Had they retire it after Best, then over the years would the fans still get to be excited on who will be the next number 7? Wasn't Robson a deserved No.7 too apart from Cantona, Beck and Ronaldo? We would have all forgotten the meaning of the number by now especially most of us who wasn't even born let alone be a United fan during G Best's time... Don't you think so?
-
asi i said..best is retire all numbers,lets start wth num 100 onwards.how??
-
sure we can name football legends donning jersey numbers 1,7 and 10...but try naming at least 5 legends who donned jersey number 11..only ryan giggs is synonymous with jersey 11..people think of jersey 11, they think of ryan giggs..people think of ryan giggs, they think of jersey 11..so i think its quite apt and befitting that Man Utd Jersey 11 be retired to honor his achievements....
-
I support the move!
-
Honestly, when I think of what's Ryan Giggs, the number 11 doesn't even come to mind at all... His wonder goal against Arsenal in their 1999 treble season is the most memorable moment of him... And I believe many others would feel that way too...
I think one of the reason there has not been many memorable number 11's not that there isn't could be because he has kept that number for many years already... Just imagine, Giggs was already playing at United when Bryan Robson was still wearing the No.7 there... and since then, how many number 7's have they got? Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo...
Again, I feel a number doesn't become anything special until a string of great players of different era have worn it... Best was the first to make the number 7 special but over the years, had it not been for the likes of Robson, Cantona, Beck and Ronaldo, would the number become special?
The number 11 has only 1 Ryan Giggs to its name... Nothing really special for it to be kept away. It should be kept for futures generations of players as a form of reward or encouragement to receive the number... I believe future players will feel proud and honored to wear it... Just like Beck was of Cantona's 7 and in time, if more great players have wore it, the number 11 will become like the number 7 too... Special...
Lastly, I understand he has done great for the club... but there are many other ways to honour him by... We need to be more practical here and not too sentimental...
-
I feel sad for scholes who is also retiring very soon.
-
Since ur talking about practicality, then jersey numbers shouldn't be of a concern..Giggsy kept the number for years ever since he was still in the academy and it's certainly praiseworthy that he didn't make use of it for his own marketing rights (think DB7, CR7, R9)...
Regardless in Man Utd or the whole world, i simply couldnt think of anyone to achieve similar success the way Giggsy did in his own career and retiring that jersey number will definitely be an heirloom in the Man Utd annals that a football great did so much to have that honor in years to come and at least i can tell my grandchildren that in my times..grandpa have seen Man Utd's jersey 11 in action and his name was Ryan Giggs..
touching or not?
-
Originally posted by Master -_-:
Since ur talking about practicality, then jersey numbers shouldn't be of a concern..Giggsy kept the number for years ever since he was still in the academy and it's certainly praiseworthy that he didn't make use of it for his own marketing rights (think DB7, CR7, R9)...
Regardless in Man Utd or the whole world, i simply couldnt think of anyone to achieve similar success the way Giggsy did in his own career and retiring that jersey number will definitely be an heirloom in the Man Utd annals that a football great did so much to have that honor in years to come and at least i can tell my grandchildren that in my times..grandpa have seen Man Utd's jersey 11 in action and his name was Ryan Giggs..
touching or not?
he will reply u...i also saw Mickey mouse in disneyland b4 wat.....touching bo? anyway.. ya he deserve it lah..who can forget that goal in 1999 FA cup?
-
Originally posted by Master -_-:
Since ur talking about practicality, then jersey numbers shouldn't be of a concern..Giggsy kept the number for years ever since he was still in the academy and it's certainly praiseworthy that he didn't make use of it for his own marketing rights (think DB7, CR7, R9)...
Regardless in Man Utd or the whole world, i simply couldnt think of anyone to achieve similar success the way Giggsy did in his own career and retiring that jersey number will definitely be an heirloom in the Man Utd annals that a football great did so much to have that honor in years to come and at least i can tell my grandchildren that in my times..grandpa have seen Man Utd's jersey 11 in action and his name was Ryan Giggs..
touching or not?
Yes, practicality is the reason why there is no need to retire the number for just one player... Sentimental feeling shouldn't preside over this kind of minor stuff. The numbers are still very important to the club's future players... That why I don't agree that it should be kept way in a memory box where 10 yrs down the road, most people will forget it.
B Charlton has achieved no less, Winning the league title and their first European cup, his goalscoring records for United remains and even helping England win their only WC to date as a United player... considered by many to be one of the greatest English players of all time... Isn't he just as deserving as Giggs? Did his number get retired? No but they built him a statue which will be remembered long after he is no longer around... I guess that is enough...
And also I find nothing praiseworthy at all, its all down to individuals like or dislike to market it... I don't find it a bad thing either, United the club have overriding percentage to whatever is generated from it... So I actually think its a very good deal... It also helps to promote the club brand too... How much extra Beckham have made for United we probably will never know the exact sum but when he left, Real over took United in the marketing revenue department... We must also remember that not ever one can do it... Some may want to but may not have that iconic image to deliver...
To you maybe Ryan Giggs is the greatest to wear the United shirt after winning all those stuff and deserve to have his number retired but most United fans don't view it that way (greatest to wear the United shirt)... You can win lesser and still be consider the greatest... I have to be honest with you Giggs as good as he was, never created or started a revolution in the fashion of G Best or E Cantona or even B Charlton... That why they are voted ahead of him as the greatest to put on the United jersey...
I don't think your grand children in 30 or 40 yrs from now would be too interested to know who was the one that wore the No.11 at United if its kept and forgotten for the next 30 yrs as they didn't live during his time and they could probably search the web in a min if they really wanted the info and it would just come across as another unfamiliar name to them which will have no meaning... Just like today we won't bother what G Best wore had his No.7 been retired long ago... We are more interested on the players of our times... The Beckhams, the Ronaldos... and the next number 7...
The Munich air disaster date, time, players, these are the sort of stuff to remember... Not just one single player... As we always hear, no player is bigger than the club... and in this instance, more rightly so...
-
even if man utd does not officially retire number 11...i can guarantee there will be an unwritten law that nobody will be given permission to wear that number much in the case of many players who have devoted themselves much to the club and country like Maradona, Pele, Zola, Maldini (even though he still playing but he expresses that only his sons should be able to wear that number should they play for AC), Cyruff and many more..Even the thai Kiatisuk Senamuang has his number retired for his club..
either way i guess only by posthumous means should the number be retired in the case of Phil O Donnel, Puerta, Feher and Vivien Foe..likewise should Fandi Ahmad pass away...
-
I guess you have a point but its still very much in the air right now to me... It may happen then it may not... The official line is still not taken... But who knows, it may be given to a new youngster after Giggs retires or it will be left vacant until they buy another winger of player like what happen with Rvn... But one thing we can be sure of is the youngster who receive Giggs number will be honoured to be handed a great player of the club's shirt...
I personally don't support the retiring of important numbers... Like the 1,7, 9, 10 and 11s... Cos these numbers are significant unlike the 3,4 ,5 or 14, 18, 24, 25, 34 or 41...
True that Chelsea retired Zola's number but the number 25 any significance? I don't think players would be too keen to ask for such numbers compare to the 1, 7, 9, 10, and 11... Just like Beck requested for the No.7 and Rooney wanted the No.10... This will always be the case...
Some clubs retire numbers for their own personal interest while some do it for other reasons...In England, there are 6 clubs who have retired former players numbers... Of the 6, 5 are dead... 3 clubs are from in the Premiership while the other 3 are in the lower league...
Bobby Moore's number at West Ham did not get retired until 18 yrs after he left the club... It was only after he passed away that they gave him this honour... Zola is the only living one I belief but again, his number of 25 has no significance...
Marc-Vivien Foe wasn't even a City player to begin with, he was only on his first year loan from Lyon... Yet City retired his jersey but not Lyon who he had been playing for 3 yrs before his loan...
Again I say some clubs do it for their own interest... Some players are really bigger than their clubs especially when these clubs are really small clubs...
Roberto Baggio is one instance... who played more games and scored more goals at Juventus than at Brescia but it was at Brescia his last club where he was already in semi-retirement that retired his shirt number... But why not at Juve one might ask? when he was at the peak of his game...
The same can be said of Pele too... He played for Santos for 18 long years and over 400 matches... Winning the WC for Brazil 3 times I think but they didn't retired his number... But ironically it was at his retirement club, a little known club in the USA by the name of New York Cosmos that retired his number... Pele only played 3 season and 50+ matches for them... Compare that to the 400 over at Santos?
Diego Maradona you could argue could be another one... What is Napoli compare to Maradona? You can say having people know he once played for them is far better on them than for him... You can say the same with Brescia with Baggio and New York Cosmos with Pele too don't you agree? Perhaps one day LA Galaxy may also retire Beckham's number just to remind people they once had such a famous player at their club...
If you think about it, doesn't Real or Barcelona have any great or loyal players over the years? But I belief these 2 clubs have never retired any of their past players numbers simply because the club is bigger than the players... They didn't see the need to do so I guess... In fact, I think Spain don't even have a single club who retires players numbers (stand to be corrected)...
So, if some village club in Vietnam by the name of Hoàng Anh Gia Lai wants to retire Kiatisuk jersey... I would say, well its good PR for them cos the man is more well known in SE Asia than the club itself... At least we are now mentioning it because of the player in question and not because of the club...
So we can see that there are some beneficial returns to retire a player's number too but mostly at the smaller clubs level... For the big clubs, they must take serious consideration before doing so... As for big clubs, its solely for the player and not the benefits...