43. Paul Parker

Signed from: Queens Park Rangers (£1,700,000), August 1991
Debut: 2-0 win vs Notts County, August 17th 1991
League Record: 100 games (+5 as sub), 1 goal
Sold to: Derby County (free transfer), summer of 1996

The final part of the finest backline United had seen in many years, Paul Parker slotted in at right back alongside Dennis Irwin, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, all playing in front of Peter Schmeichel. Parker was also the first to lose his place in the first team, with injuries breaking him down while only in his early 30s.

After serving his first years with Fulham, Parker moved to the top flight when he signed for QPR. Gaining a reputation for his pace and man-marking skills, he made the 1990 World Cup squad and eventually ousted Gary Stevens for the right back position. Sadly, he may be best remembered by many for deflecting a West German free kick over Peter Shilton and into the net. What’s overlooked is that it was his cross that set up Gary Lineker’s equaliser.

No matter, he’d looked sharp in Italy and United were sniffing around even then only for an injury to get in the way. A year later, he was back to fitness and we brought him up North, allowing Dennis Irwin to move over to the left at the expense of poor old Clayton Blackmore. In a way, it’s a surprise he wanted to move, as not too long before, he’d been put through some horrendous racist abuse from the more idiotic United fans.

The move did nothing to help his England career, though: after the 1990 World Cup, new manager Graham Taylor was clearly not a fan, preferring the likes of Lee Dixon for the number two shirt.

No matter – after a slightly stop-start debut season, Parker came back strong in the autumn of 1992, after missing the first few months. Sharp in the tackle with speed to match the vast majority of left wingers he came up against, Parker was a key part of a superb defence. His one league goal came that season, in a 4-1 thumping of Spurs when he picked up the ball inside his own half, ran at a retreating defence, played a one-two with Brian McClair and slotted it away in style. Good example of making your few moments in front of goal look as good as possible.

1993/94 was Parker’s best season: the aforementioned back five only missed seven games between them all as we took the League and Cup double. He looked especially good given he was playing behind Andrei Kanchelskis, a man (unlike Ryan Giggs) who never let the idea of “defensive duties” get in the way of his game.

And that was nearly the end of it, as far as his first team career went. Injuries took their toll, with only one start in the league through 1994/95 and Fergie give a chance to a young local lad we’ll be coming across as entry #46. To make matters worse, his replacement also had a kid brother who wasn’t too bad either, meaning by 1996, Parker was well down the pecking order: he didn’t play enough games to qualify for a third Championship medal and wasn’t in the cup final squad.

Despite that, there was still time that year for one last moment of glory: brought off the bench in a FA Cup tie at Reading, within minutes he’d hit a long range screamer in, though whether it was a shot or a mis-hit cross, only he knows.

Released on a free that summer, he had short spells at Sheffield United and Derby, before finishing his pro career acting as defensive cover at Chelsea. Retired at the age of 33, he’s since done some media work and writes a football column for Yahoo!

42. Peter Schmeichel

Signed from: Brondby (£505,000), August 1991
Debut: 2-0 win vs Notts County, August 17th 1991
League Record: 292 games
Sold to: Sporting Lisbon (free transfer), June 1999

If I'm going to be brutally honest, by my reckoning there's only been three players who crop up in this list who could were without doubt the best in their position in the world. Peter Schmeichel is the first - in simple terms, throughout most the 1990s, he was the best goalkeeper in the business.

United hadn't had a really exceptional goalie for decades. Harry Gregg, signed in 1958, was at the time the most expensive 'keeper in the world, and was voted as the best at that summer's World Cup in Sweden, but injuries prevented him taking part in the glory days of the 1960s. Alex Stepney had been reliable and injury prevented Gary Bailey from maturing into his peak years.

Brian Clough knew how important the man between the sticks was to winning the league: so he bought the best in Peter Shilton. Initially, Fergie struggled with the signing of Jim Leighton failing, and Les Sealey only providing a stopgap. By signing Schmeichel, he'd made a huge move in our exceptional run of success throughout the rest of the decade.

Though we through the League away in his first season, the Big Dane was blameless, keeping plenty of clean sheets and introducing a new attack option with his long throws from goal that would often clear the half-way line. After a short spell of adjustment, he was soon confident in dealing with high balls aimed to the likes of John Fashanu and Mick Harford, his massive frame meaning he could clean out opponents and teammates alike in claiming the ball.

He had an exceptional summer that year, playing a big part in Denmark's unlikely claiming of the European Championships. Bringing that winning mentality back, he played every game in our first Premiership success. Over the next few years, he was untouchable as the best and was always first choice for United, with only a few minor injuries getting the way.

On several occasions, he would throw himself forward to try to save a game. He even managed a goal against Rotor Volgograd in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup, though it was in vain as we went out on away goals. Later that season, he put in what may have been his finest performance. Playing at Newcastle, then our big title rivals, he took everything they threw at him, pulling off a number of sublime saves to secure a vital 1-0 win.

1998/99 would turn out to be his last season. Midway through, he began to look a little jaded and some uncharacteristic mistakes saw him given a small break to take a holiday and get his head together. He came back on top form and played a huge part in our treble triumph. His penalty save from Dennis Bergkamp in the FA Cup semi-final replay lives long in the memory and in the Champions League final a few weeks later, he bombed forward in the last minutes to cause enough confusion to enable an equaliser.

Shortly after, he went off to Portugal, claiming he wasn't up to hectic standard of English football anymore. However, he returned to play for Aston Villa and then, somewhat unfortunately, Manchester City. That left a bad taste in a lot of Red's mouths, especially when he celebrated a win against us.

Despite that, it's interesting that in subsequent media appearances, he's always referred to United as "us". And he remains the best keeper we've had in my lifetime, just about edging a certain Dutchman far, far down the line.

41. Andrei Kanchelskis

Signed from: Shakhytor Donetsk (£650,000), March 1991
Debut: 0-3 loss vs Crystal Palace, May 11th 1991
League Record: 96 games (+27 as sub), 28 goals
Sold to: Everton (£5,000,000), August 1995

The first signing from overseas on our list, and a hark back to different times. Nowadays, when we sign a player, we can look on youtube and usually see a showreel of their best moments. Back in 1991, when we signed some fellow from the Ukraine, I would wager the vast majority of United fans were completely in the dark about him.

In fact, I think the first I knew of him was playing Manchester United: Europe where he appeared in our squad list, only with his first name spelt "Andrej". His actual debut passed me by - Fergie stuck on most our reserves in order to keep the first team fresh for the awaiting Cup Winners Cup final. He must have made a good impression, however, as he was signed up and we had our first proper right-winger since Gordon Strachan had been sold off two years prior.

While Strachan was a winger who dribbled, jinxed and relied on his guile, Andrei Kanchelskis pretty much relied on his main asset: a sprinters pace. Not many, if any, caught Andrei when he got going, and unlike the similarly rapid Franz Carr at Nottingham Forest, he could actually put in a decent cross when he finally ran out of turf to run across.

If we had won the league in 1992, he would have played a big part in it when he scored the winning goal (a superb volley) at Old Trafford against Southampton that Spring. The wheels were wobbling and his goal slightly eased worried minds. Alas, it would be for nothing.

The next season, Kanchelskis struggled for a starting place when Lee Sharpe regained fitness to take the left wing spot with Ryan Giggs shifting over to the right: nearly half his appearances that campaign came from the bench, though he still managed to score some vital goals at QPR and Norwich, the latter in a memorable game where we put the Canaries (our title rivals at that time) firmly in their place.

1993/94 saw him established in the team, however, and he played a big part in our first double winning season. With him and Giggs as our wing options, opposition teams may never have faced two different forms of devastation. Kanchelskis was also one player who profited regularly from the huge throw-outs from our goalkeeper at the time (who'll be our next entry). A goal at QPR that season saw the ball launched from our box to the half-way line, where Kanchelskis carried it the rest of the way and slotted it away. An assist from the 'keeper didn't seem so far fetched back then.

The next season he got better, adding goalscoring to his skillset. The highlight of his time with us came in 1994/95, when he put away a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Manchester City that helped cure the pain of the 5-1 hammering they gave us in 1989. We could do with another Andrei-esque perfomance in the near future...

But what should have been the next step in Kanchelskis' rise in United's Hall of Fame turned out to be one of our last memories of him. By the end of the season, his relationship with Ferguson had turned very sour - rumours of agents pushing for a move to get a big payday would later do the rounds - and he was moved on to Everton that summer, not long after they'd beat us in the FA Cup final.

Early in his time there, he suffered a serious injury inflicted in a game against, inevitably, us. Once fit again, he managed to score plenty of goals but was soon on his way out, beginning a series of moving to various clubs (including a short spell at Man City) without ever really settling again.

Sadly, a story of talent perhaps very badly advised. That said, the guy who took his place on the right wing didn't turn out too bad...

40. Paul Wratten

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 2-1 win vs Wimbledon (sub), April 2nd 1991
League Record: No full games, two appearances as sub.
Sold to: Released, May 1992, subsequently signed for Hartlepool United.

Another man with a fleeting first team career. I can't remember anything about Paul Wratten, but I gather injuries hampered the midfielder's time with us. His two showings off the bench came in dead-rubber games at the end of the 1990/91 season, when the league was long out of reach and we were focusing on other matters.

After he was let go, he was picked up by Hartlepool United, thus returning to his native North East. He seemed to have settled into a first team role by 1993/94 but a change of management, when ex-United utility player David McCreery took over, saw him quickly moved on. With his professional career over, he moved on to non-league outfit Bishop Auckland.

39. Neil Whitworth

Signed from: Wigan Athletic (£45,000), June 1990
Debut: 1-1 draw vs Southampton, March 13th 1991
League Record: Just the debut.
Sold to: Kilmarnock (£265,000), September 1994

From the guy who's played the most for United, to somebody who turned out just the once. Neil Whitworth made his first league game aged only 17 in a Wigan shirt, back in the days they were hanging round the lower divisions.

He obviously made a good impression on someone watching, as a few months later he was off to Old Trafford. Less than a year later, just before his 19th birthday, he filled in at right back down at Southampton. However, centre back was his usual role and with Pallister and Bruce pretty much ever-present, he was never likely to add to his one showing. Loan spells throughout 1992 and 1993 saw him gather enough experience to ensure he had suitors when the time came to move on.

On leaving United, he had a nomadic career in Scotland and England, never settling in one place for long. Still very good friends with Lee Sharpe, apparently.