Defenders

Gary Neville

Born: 18th February 1975
Signed: 8th July 1991, trainee
Debut: 16th September 1992 vs. Torpedo Moscow(H) UEFA Cup
International Team: England
Position: Defender
Appearances: 488
Goals:7

While Gary Neville's been around, Manchester United have surely been succsesfull. 6 English Premier League titles, 3 FA Cup titles, 1 Champions League title and 1 World Club Championship title is the tally at the moment. And it's set to increase.

Gary Neville played for Bury and Greater Manchester Schoolboys before he joined Manchester United. He joined the Red Devils on a school boy form on the 8th of July, 1991.

By September 1992, he had joined the Man U first team. His debut was against Torpedo Moscow at home in the UEFA Cup in the same month.

Gary was part of the Youth team of the 92/93 season. That Youth team produced many senior players.

In the 1994/95 season, Gary soon became a regular player for the first team. He replaced the injured Paul Parker at full-back.

Gary got his first cup final appearance in the FA Cup final of 1995. Sadly, he was on the losing side. That season, Manchester United also lost the Premiership title on the last day of the season.

The 1996/97 season, however, saw Gary get his first winner's medal in the English Premier League. He also came on as a substitute in the FA Cup final victory over Liverpool. He earned a place in the England Euro 1996 squad. The only match he missed in that tournament was the semi-final, from which he was suspended.

Gary has been a part of the England team ever since. However, he missed the World Cup Final in 2002 due to a metatarsal injury.

Gary has had to make a midfield partnership with Cristiani Ronaldo ever since David Beckham left in the summer of 2003. Anyhow, he stills manages to balance his defending duties with his duty to help the attackers. And he's chipped in with their duties too, scoring seven times in total. He's to stay at Manchester United, after a new deal was penned to keep him him here till 2007. After the departure of Roy Keane in 2005, he became the captain of Manchester United.

Last appearance:
Carling Cup Semi-final First-leg
10th January 2006
Blackburn Rovers vs. Manchester United
1-1

Patrice Evra

Born: 15th May 1981
Signed: 10th January 2006 from AS Monaco
Transfer Fee: 5.5 million Pounds
Other Former Clubs: OGC Nice, A.C Monza, Marsala Calcio
International Team: France

Manchester United signed Patrice Evra for a transfer fee of 5.5 million Pounds from AS Monaco just days after the signing of Nemanja Vidic. He was 24 years old when he was signed. He had already gotten 5 caps for his international team, France.

Patrice is comfortable at left-side midfield and defence. He is well known for his verocity and pace. He started his career at the Paris St-Germains youth team. He then went profesional in 1998 with Italian Serie C1 side Marsala Calcio. He transfered to A.c Monza Brianza of the Serie B. In 2000, he was picked up by OGC Nice. In 2002, he transfered to AS Monaco, where he was captain until his transfer to Manchester United.

Upon his transfer, Patrice revealed that he had snubed Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Inter Milan for Manchester United.

Last appearance:

Goalkeepers

Tim Howard

Born : 6 March 1979
Signed :15 July 2003, New York/ New Jersey Metrostars
Fee :2.3 million Pounds
Other Previous Clubs:None
Debut :10 August 2003 v Arsenal
International Team :United States of America
Number :1
Appearances :79
Goals :0

Tim Howard signed for United in July 2003 for 2.3 million Pounds from New York/ New Jersey Metrostars, an American Major League team.

United became aware of Tim through goalkeeping coach, Tony Coton. He had heard about Tim's rising profile through contacts in the US. With Fabien Barthez leaving in the summer, Alex Ferguson signed him. He joined goalkeepers Roy Carrol and Ricardo.

Tim Howard was relatively unknown when he arrived in July 2003. However, he soon rose through the ranks and secured himself a first team place. His skills included impressive control of the penalty area, superb reflexes and shot-stopping ability.

He missed just 1 of the first 20 games of his season. He went on to start 44 games. His first winner's medal was in the 2004 FA Cup Final victory over Millwall.

His second season at Manchester United wasn't as smooth as his first. Although he was handed the No. 1 jersey at the start of the season, a goalkeeping mistake that allowed Lyon to draw with United 2-2 meant that his starting place was lost to Roy Carrol. Anyhow, signed a new contract that extended his career at United to 2009.

Last appearance:
FA Cup Third Round
8th January 2006
Burton Albion vs. Manchester United
0-0