Gary Neville

Shirt Number: 2
Position: Defender
Date of Birth: February 18, 1975
Birthplace: Bury, England
Height: 5 Feet 10 Inches
Weight: 79.37 Kilograms

After playing for both Bury and Greater Manchester Schoolboys, Gary Neville joined Manchester United on schoolboy forms in July 1991 and signed as a professional 18 months later in January 1993.

He was a part of the successful youth team of 1992 and 1993 which produced several players for the senior squad. He made his first senior appearance for the Reds in the UEFA Cup in September 1992 against Torpedo Moscow.

It was in the 1994/95 season when Neville became a regular in United's first team, replacing the injured Paul Parker at full-back. The same term, he appeared in the 1995 FA Cup Final only to end up on the losing team - a double disappointment considering United missed out on winning the League Championship on the last day of the season by a single point.

However, the following season Neville collected a League winners' medal and came on as substitute in the 1996 FA Cup Final victory over Liverpool. His joy was complete when he was picked for England's Euro '96 squad, where he played in every game apart from the semi-final from which he was suspended. Gary added another Championship medal to his collection in 1997.

In the summer of 1998, Neville was included in Glenn Hoddle's 22-man England squad for the World Cup in France, playing in three of England's four matches.

Gary played a full part in the 1998/99 season, making 54 appearances throughout the Treble-winning campaign. He even managed to score a goal against Everton!

Gary started 1999/2000 in the physio's room, recovering from a groin injury. He made a comeback in the home match against Newcastle only to suffer a recurrence and be forced out until the start of November.

After that, Gary missed just three games in all competitions up until the end of April, racking up his 250th United appearance along the way. The Premiership medal won at The Dell was the fourth of his career.

Gary added to his collection of England caps at Euro 2000, playing in all three matches before returning to United to claim the fifth League crown of his young career. A goal against Aston Villa in January took his tally in a United shirt to three in nine seasons!

Gary filled in at centre-back for much of the 2000/2001 campaign in the absence of Jaap Stam, and his assured performances alongside Wes Brown meant Jaap had a fight on his hands to get back into the team. Injury and suspension meant that Gary's season ended with four matches left to play, leaving the defender one short of his 300th United appearance.

On 18 May 2001, Gary signed a new six-year contract that will keep him with the club up to and including July 2007.

Nev would have been selected in Sven Goran Eriksson's England squad for the 2002 World Cup, but a broken metatarsal bone in his foot - identical to David Beckham's injury - ruled him out of the tournament.

The injury kept him out until 18 September, when he appeared on the bench at home to Maccabi Haifa. He was back in the starting line-up by 1 October, and was virtually ever-present as United turned a disappointing campaign into a glorious one in the final hurdle. Gaz picked up the sixth League winners' medal of his glittering career at the last match of the season - away to Everton - on crutches after an operation to remove the metal pin from his foot from the metatarsal episode.