28
PATRICE EVRA
2006–2014Born in Senegal, Evra only lived there for the
first year of his life before his family moved
to Belgium and then France. Evra was a
street footballer who started out as a striker
before being moved to the wing and
eventually full-back, though he never lost his
instincts to get forward or to make
overlapping runs on the wide left. Originally,
several clubs rejected him for being too
small, but he was physically strong and
tactically smart. After bouncing around
various French clubs he found his true home
at Unite d, signing in January 2006 and going
on to make over 270 appearances and win
14 major trophies.33
BRIAN MCCLAIR
1987–1 998‘Choccy’ McClair joined Unite d in July 1987
for £850,000 after four successful seasons
at Celtic, where his goal-per-game ratio
was considerably better than one in two –
often quoted as the measure of a world-
class striker. McClair quickly proved he
wasn’t just a flat-track bully and was
equally capable of scoring hatfuls in the
English First Division, becoming the first
player to net more than 20 goals in a
season for Unite d since George Best 20
years earlier. That his goal-scoring feats
became fewer owed much to him being
moved around, eventually back into
midfield, but his versatility made him
indispensable to his manager.29
NORMAN WHITESIDE
1982–1989Born in Belfast and growing up
in poverty on Shankill Road,
Whiteside was a footballing
prodigy. Legendary scout Bob
Bishop persuaded Whiteside to
sign, though initially the youngster remained
in Belfast, flying to Manchester for training at
weekends. He made his first-team debut as
a 16 year old and scored his first goal, in a
2-0 win over Stoke City, a mere eight days
after he turned 17. He’s the youngest
goalscorer in both an FA Cup and League
Cup final. Whiteside was strong, fearless,
good with both feet and in the air and
blessed with a cool temperament; the only
thing he lacked was a yard of pace due to his
constant knee and pelvic injuries.32
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJÆR
1996 –2007The Norwegian made his name
at home club Molde before a
£1.5-million transfer during
the Euro 1996 tournament.
Solskjær quickly made a name
for himself and was soon nicknamed ‘the
baby-faced assassin’ by fans for his
combination of youthful good looks and
deadly striking. Tactically astute, he was able
to analyse games from the bench and made
a habit of coming on late in games and
scoring, most notably his four in ten minutes
against Nottingham Forest in February 1999
and of course the Champions League winner
that same season. His ‘Olegend’ status has
not been diminished by his underwhelming
stint as United manager.31
EDWIN VAN DER SAR
2005–2011Unite d had targeted Van der
Sar as a replacement for Peter
Schmeichel in 1999, but
instead he went to Juventus
and then to Fulham, so it was
another six years before he came to the club.
When he did, he established himself as one
of the very best keepers, saving a penalty
during the 2008 Champions League Final,
which led to him becoming one of a select
number to win Europe’s premier club
competition with two different clubs. Slim
but tall and athletic, he had excellent
positional sense and could distribute the ball
accurately with either foot. He won 26 major
honours across the teams he played for and
gained 130 caps for the Netherlands.30
GARY PALLISTER
1989–1998Pallister grew up a Middlesbrough supporter in
County Durham and signed for the club when he
was 19, going on to make over 150 appearances. He
moved to Unite d in August 1989 for £2.3 million, a
record fee for a defender at the time. He proved
worth it, making over 300 appearances for Unite d at the heart of
the defence. Having not previously played in the top flight,
Pallister was initially prone to the odd lapse of concentration, but
once he had ironed that out he became a powerhouse. A back
injury suffered at the end of the 1995–96 season robbed him of a
little pace. He returned to Middlesbrough to see out his career.ImagesGetty ImagesFourFourTwo.com The Story of Man Utd 5150 GREATEST
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