Ryan Giggs – SPOTY 2009

At least there was one thing for a Manchester Utd fan to cheer this weekend with Ryan Giggs receiving the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The award was unexpected as Giggs had been ranked as an outsider and he seemed genuinely shocked to have won; not surprising given the modesty of the man who continues to perform at the highest levels at the age of 36.

There are those who would question the choice of Giggs as winner but just consider for a moment his record:

• Over 820 appearances for Man Utd so far
• 151 Goals
• 11 Premier League Titles
• 4 FA Cups
• 3 Football League Cups
• 2 UEFA Champions League Cups
• 1 UEFA Super Cup
• 1 Intercontinental Cup
• 1 FIFA Club World Cup
• PFA Player of the Year 2009
• PFA Young Player of the Year 1992, 1993
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year, 1996, 2009
• Goal of the Season 1999
• 64 Caps for Wales
• 12 International Goal

Giggs is also a UNICEF ambassador and there is an excellent piece in The Times about his trip to Sierra Leone in November.

And if you still question the brilliance of the man check out Ryan Giggs’ goal against Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay.