Paul Scholes Biography
Paul Scholes (born November 16, 1974) is an English football player who has spent his whole career at Manchester United. He plays as an attacking midfielder and was a central part of the Manchester United team which won the Treble in 1999.Born in Salford, England, Scholes had trained with Manchester United since he was 14yrs old and then later joined as a trainee on leaving school in the summer of 1991 (although he was a diehard fan of Oldham Athletic, and remains so) and in his first season guided the club to victory in the F.A. Youth Cup. He did not make his breakthrough into the Old Trafford team until the 1994–95 season, when he made 17 league appearances and scored five goals. The 20-year-old Scholes proved himself to be a promising understudy for the likes of Eric Cantona and Andy Cole. In the F.A. Cup final he twice came close to scoring goals which would have seen United and not Everton win the F.A. Cup.Scholes's performances are much appreciated by Manchester United fans.
Scholes was unable to secure a regular first team place until the 1997–98 season, when he played in midfield after the ninth game when Roy Keane was ruled out by injury. He had already made his England debut the previous summer in a 2–1 friendly win over South Africa at Old Trafford, and was part of the England squad for the 1998 World Cup.
In 1998–99, Scholes was a key player in Manchester United's Premiership title, F.A. Cup, and UEFA Champions League "Treble" success. He scored one of United's two goals against Newcastle in the F.A. Cup final but was ruled out of the Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich through suspension, brought about by a yellow card received in the semi-final away tie against Juventus. He also managed a hat-trick for England in a game against Poland.
Since then, Paul Scholes has established himself as a world class midfielder at both club and international levels. He became a key player in both the Manchester United and England squads, playing an important role in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
He announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, stating that club football was his utmost priority, and he vowed to excel with Manchester United. Prior to this, however, he had become more peripheral to the England team, down in part to the rise of Frank Lampard, and having to play at left midfield during Euro 2004. England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson revealed that he repeatedly tried to coax Scholes out of international retirement but was rebuffed each time.
In ten years as a first team player at Manchester United, Paul Scholes has won six Premiership titles, three F.A. Cups, the European Cup, and the Inter-Continental Cup, amongst many other personal accolades.
Unlike other modern footballers, Scholes does not have an agent and negotiates deals on his own behalf.
Scholes' retirement from England helped revive his club form in 2005. Scholes was unlucky to miss a crucial penalty in the penalty shootout during the 2004–05 FA Cup final against Arsenal. However, he was ruled out for the second half of the 2005–06 season with blurred vision. The cause of this was initially uncertain, at first leaving Scholes' career in the balance [1]. It was later cured and he appeared in United's final game of the 2005–06 season, against Charlton Athletic.
Scholes caused controversy in September 2006 after allegedly making a homophobic comment to the referee during his club's 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League.
Scholes has, however, declared that when the time comes for him to leave Manchester United, he would not rule out ending his career at his boyhood club, Oldham Athletic
With Thanks to Wikipedia.org