68. Karel Poborsky

Signed from: Slavia Prague (£3,500,000), July 1996
Debut: 2-2 draw vs Everton, August 21st 1996
League Record: 18 games (+14 as sub), 5 goals
Sold to: Benfica (£2,460,000), July 1998

I’m sure hardly any United fans had a clue who this guy was prior to the 1996 European Championships. There, the Czech scored a goal that got replayed countless times as his nation made it to the final, beaten in extra time by the Germans. It was enough to convince Fergie to stump up the cash on what surely must have been a transfer that was "taking a punt" rather than well-planned out.

In hindsight, he was a puzzling addition. As a right-winger, he was in competition with David Beckham, who had had a solid first full season the year before. Then, on the first day of 1996/97, young Dave scored from the halfway line at Wimbledon, a moment which helped propel him to superstardom.

Karel, meanwhile, was less prone to such spectacular moments, though if nothing else he was faster than Beckham. Despite a well-taken goal in our 4-0 spanking of Leeds, he never really established a regular spot. His ridiculous hair style perhaps didn't help endear him to the crowd too – a factor to which Maurone Fellani can relate to.

In his second season, his chances of a game dropped and he was let go to Benfica, to non-existent mourning from most supporters. He clearly wasn't that bad, as he subsequently went on to enjoy a lengthy career in Italy, Portugal and back in his homeland. 118 caps for the Czech Republic isn't too shabby either!

65. William Prunier

Signed from: On trial basis, December 1995
Debut: 2-1 win vs Queen’s Park Rangers, December 30th 1995
League Record: Two games
Sold to: Released, January 1996

A player for whom a lot of mythology has sprung up around, especially in coming in those "Fergie's Worst XI" polls you see, often very unfairly.

Here's the facts: in December 1995, there was an injury crisis in our backline. Pallister, May and Bruce were all out and in them days, the squads weren't quite as deep as they are now. Short-term reinforcements were needed and luckily, King Eric knew an old friend from his days back in the homeland who was without a club. Thus, William Prunier arrived on a trial basis.

His first game, he didn't look too bad. Gary Neville was alongside him at central defence and he even helped set up a goal: a corner was swung in and Will threw himself at it. He made contact and the opposition keeper needed to make the save, only for Andy Cole to nod in the rebound.

A couple of days later, at White Hart Lane, the holes at the back were exposed. Dennis Irwin had joined the injury list and when Peter Schmeichel went off injured, it was no surprise we took a 4-1 drubbing with Prunier taking a lot of the flak.

As it was, Fergie offered to extend his trial, but the player elected to move on and spent several years playing in Denmark, Italy and Belgium before returning to his native France for a lengthy spell at Toulouse.

He remains a figure of fun at United amongst certain sections of the support, but the truth was he barely stuck around to make a real impression and had one good game, one bad.

64. Pat McGibbon

Signed from: Portadown (£100,000), August 1992
Debut: 0-3 defeat to York City (League Cup tie), September 20th 1995
League Record: That was his only game
Sold to: Wigan Athletic (£380,000), Summer of 1997

Hard to believe there could be worst debut: you get sent off and the team crumble to one of the more humiliating results of recent times. I'm not sure anybody would stand a chance after that - and he wasn't let loose in the first team again.

And that's all I remember of Pat. He'd arrived three years prior, but not got a sniff when we have Pallister and Bruce rarely injured, and back up from the likes of Blackmore, Phelan and May waiting.

We sold him to Wigan, after a successful loan spell there, where he managed five years as a regular before heading back home in 2002.

63. Terry Cooke

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 3-0 win vs Bolton Wanderers, September 16th 1995
League Record: one game (plus three as sub)
Sold to: Manchester City (£1,000,000), March 1999

I'd been vaguely aware of Terry Cooke from reading the United magazine: he'd won the 1995 Young Player of the Year award at the club and given the mood of the club at time, with numerous products of the youth policy being thrown into the first team, it wasn't a surprise when Cooke also got his chance.

After the 3-1 disaster at Aston Villa on the opening day of the season, we'd won four on the bounce before Bolton came to town. Our front six that day featured five homegrown youngsters (Butt, Scholes, Beckham, Giggs and our man here) plus Lee Sharpe, who had been at the club for seven years, since he was 17. Cooke looked good, showing some clever flicks and providing the cross for which Ryan Giggs opened the scoring.

He had a harder time a few days later, when he came off the bench in a League Cup tie against York City. What should have been a routine job went horribly wrong and we crumbled to a humiliating 3-0 defeat. A couple of weeks later, Cooke was given a chance to redeem our honour in the second leg - and to give him his dues, he contributed with a goal. But our 3-1 win wasn't enough.

Around this time, Cooke was pictured with his fellow youngsters alongside the Youth Team Coach Eric Harrison as he received some order - but it was a shortlived spell in the limelight for the West Midlands lad. As a right winger, he wasn't in the same league as David Beckham (not asking much!) and in the summer of 1996, other players were signed who could play that position and a series of loan spells followed over the next couple of years.

One of these proved to be successful, when he joined a Manchester City side then in freefall, dropping as far as the third tier - some of their nu-fans attracted to their current powerful side may struggle to believe only 15 years ago they were playing the likes of Macclesfield Town. Struggling to adapt to life far from the top, Cooke seemed to be something of a catalyst, scoring five goals in 17 games to secure a permanent transfer and help push them into the promotion play-offs. In the dramatic final of those against Gillingham, in which only a last-gasp Paul Dikov equalising goal saved them from disaster, Cooke slotted away a penalty in the shoot-out that helped City to victory.

That was probably the peak of Cooke's career. The following saw him suddenly fall out of fashion with City manager Joe Royle (it was rumoured that his not being picked was due to the club not being able to afford the additional fees to United that would be incurred if he hit a certain number of appearances) and he again found himself down the rounds as a loaned-out player before a free transfer in 2001.

He later went on a globe-trotting serious of career moves, with spells in North America, Australia and Azerbaijan before injury forced his retirement in 2011.

60. Kevin Pilkington

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 3-0 win vs Crystal Palace (as sub), November 19th 1994
League Record: four games (+2 as sub)
Sold to: Port Vale (free transfer), Summer of 1998

As a goalkeeper, Kevin was always going to struggle to break into the first team when the man already there was the best in the world, while Gary Walsh was a more than capable deputy.

Despite that, he did manage some game time due to injuries and didn’t embarrass himself. Having experienced players like Bruce and Pallister ahead of him doubtless helped – the two of them must have been pleased in part to not have a giant Dane barking abuse at them for 90 minutes.

Sadly for Kevin, his most prominent moment in the shirt came when Schmeichel got injured at Tottenham – Kevin was thrown in to a line up already struck by injuries, and Spurs took advantage to record a 4-1 victory. The arrival of the veteran Tony Coton pushed him back into the reserves and he went through several loan spells to gain experience (he didn't appear to do too well at Rochdale), as well as putting him in the shop window.

Port Vale was the first stop on a varied career in the lower tiers, most notably with Mansfield Town and Notts County. At the latter, he lost his first team place to Kasper Schmeichel – son of Peter. Some families just have a habit of fucking up a guy’s life. All the same, the best part of 400 league means that while he didn’t enjoy the successes of Neville, Scholes and Beckham, he still managed better than O’Kane, Davies and Casper. Most recently, he's back at Notts County as their goalkeeping coach.

Kevin is also the last of the “Class of ‘92” to appear in this list. The only other notable “graduate” would be Robbie Savage, who after being released on a free transfer without making the first team, would carve a good career out for himself with Crewe, Leicester City, Blackburn and Birmingham, as well as being a regular for the Welsh national team.

59. Graeme Tomlinson

Signed from: Bradford City (£100,000), Summer of 1993
Debut: 2-0 win vs Port Vale (League Cup tie), October 5th 1994
League Record: no league appearences, two as sub in the League Cup
Sold to: free transfer to Macclesfield Town, Summer of 1998

My only memories of Graeme are of reading about his arrival in the official club magazine, of which I still have every copy from the first (in December 1992) to around 2004. I say “I” still have them – the vast majority are currently going very mouldy in my parents’ attic.

Tomlinson was an early case of Fergie importing young talent (insert your own joke there), a practise a lot more common today. He’d impressed in a Youth Cup tie, and had even scored a few for the Bradford first team. He first got into the team a year after he signed, in the second leg of the (in)famous Port Vale League Cup tie, following it up with another showing from the sub's bench in the next round, where we put up a decent showing against Newcastle, losing 2-0 at St James' Park.

Sadly, a bad injury whilst out on loan stopped him making any real progress, robbing him of a lot whatever Fergie has seen in him in the first place. Given a free transfer, he drifted to Macclesfield and Exeter, never finding any goalscoring form, before leaving the professional game.

58. Chris Casper

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 2-0 win vs Port Vale (League Cup tie), October 5th 1994
League Record: two games, both as sub
Sold to: Reading (£300,000), November 1998

Son of 1970s Burnley forward Frank, Chris Casper was another who made a handful of showings over a number of years. Like John O’Kane, as a defender, there was too many quality players ahead of him for there to be a realistic chance of making the first team on a regular basis.

It was the best part of two years after his debut that he got in the team again, making appearances in all the cup competitions as well as his two showings from the bench in the League. Loan spells followed, the last of which was at Reading, where he was impressive enough for them to shell out the cash.

It seemed to be working out until a horrific leg injury ended his career aged only 24. Moving into coaching, he eventually became manager of Bury while only aged 30. A two-and-a-half year spell in charge (relatively a long term by modern standards!) came to an end in January 2008. More recently, he's worked with club's Academy systems for the Premier League.

57. John O’Kane

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 2-1 win vs Port Vale (League Cup tie), September 21st 1994
League Record: one game (plus one as sub)
Sold to: Everton (£400,000), January 1998

As a full-back, John O'Kane (seen fourth from left on the back row of the picture above) had little to no chance of becoming a regular when we had Irwin, May and the Neville brothers around. An opening day injury crisis saw him a sub in the opening game of the 1995/96 season, where our 3-1 defeat was met with the now infamous line from Alan Hansen that "you never win anything with kids".

To give Hansen some mitigation, United's subsequent success that season was only in part down to the youth of Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Nevilles. They were surrounded by experienced quality players like Cantona, Schmeichel, Irwin, Bruce and Pallister. Even the likes of Keane and Giggs (then in their mid 20s) had the best part of 150-200 games each under their belts. We were hardly a team of "kids" at the time.

As for O'Kane, he must have felt confident when Everton signed him up after a series of loan spells at Bury and Bradford, but he struggled to make an impression and the he moved progressively downwards with moves to Bolton, Blackpool and then non-league Hyde United. Like Simon Davies, he perhaps left it too late to leave United - he was nearly 24 when he did so.

After a three year stint with Hyde, he eventually returned to his native Nottingham, where he has been doing support work in social care.

56. Simon Davies

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 2-1 win vs Port Vale (League Cup tie), September 21st 1994
League Record: four games (plus seven as sub)
Sold to: Luton Town, for £150,000, August 1997

Looking back, it’s almost staggering how many young players Fergie give a chance to in the mid 1990s, and for all those that made it (such as our previous entry), plenty more don’t and end up sliding down the divisions.

At least Simon Davies got a decent chance, and even scored a goal in a 4-0 win over Galatassary that was sadly something of a dead rubber – qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League had become impossible by that point. Davies wasn’t awful, but never looked like he was going to challenge Ryan Giggs’ spot on the left wing. Despite only one League start in 1995/96, he still managed to win a cap for Wales.

In the summer of 1996, Fergie went on a spending spree and Davies moved further down the pecking order. In truth, Simon would have benefited from leaving then, as he spent the subsequent season with only sub appearences in League Cup ties to show for it, and doubtless this caused some stagnation.

A transfer to Luton Town failed to bring any revival in his fortunes and his career never picked up again. Mike MCSG offers a perspective on his time at Rochdale here. Following that, he spent three years in the Welsh league.

As of January 2014, he is working on the other side of town for City’s under 21 side.

54. David May

Signed from: Blackburn Rovers (£1,200,000), July 1994
Debut: 2-0 win vs Queens Park Rangers, August 20th 1994
League Record: 68 games (+17 as sub), 6 goals
Sold to: Burnley (free transfer), summer 2003

With Steve Bruce well into his mid 30s, Ferguson’s first attempt to find a replacement at centre back was David May.

Like Brucie, May was an uncomplicated player. As a child, he’d supported Manchester City and went for a trials. However, he felt their approach to young players wasn't for him, and he headed North to the more homely Blackburn Rovers, at the time going nowhere fast in the old Second Division. By the time local businessman Jack Walker’s millions had pushed them into the top flight in 1992, May was established alongside ex-United star Kevin Moran at the back and they finished runners-up to us in 1993/94.

All the same, it was still a surprise (to me, at least) when he was given the chance to return to Manchester. Initially played at right back, he lost out to the emergence of Gary Neville and he didn't become a regular starter until 1996/97, after Bruce had wandered off to Birmingham City. To his credit, May was in fine form, chipping in with the odd goal and getting a call up to the England squad.

However, injuries then cost him a first team place, and he was pushed further out by the signings of further defenders with a more sophisticated style than May’s typically English blood-and-guts approach. In the treble season, he barely featured at all until the last few weeks, where (to his credit) he came in and did a steady job. To save players for the Champions League final, he started in the FA Cup final and helped us to a easy 2-0 win over Newcastle.

He was, apparently, under consideration to start the CL final due to suspensions to others, but in the end only made the bench, which resulted in him picking up a medal despite not playing any European football that season. His lasting legacy remains his crafty positioning of himself in the pictures of celebrations from this game (see above), and that season ensured United fans had the chant “David May, superstar/got more medals than Shearer” – two league championships, two FA Cups and a Champions League medal, for the record.

After that, he was restricted to no more than a couple of showings a season due to a series of injuries. By the time he was finally shunted out to Burnley, he was 33 and had been kept around a bit too long. By all accounts, something of a Jack the Lad in his younger days, he currently co-hosts a show on MUTV.

53. Colin McKee

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 0-0 draw vs Coventry City, May 8th 1994
League Record: That was his only game.
Sold to: Kilmarnock (with Neil Whitworth for a combined £350,000), September 1994

Not much to say about Colin - I certainly don't remember him as anything but a regular scorer for the reserves.

He got his one run out in an end of season dead rubber notable only for being the last time Bryan Robson played at Old Trafford. Returning to his native Scotland, a three year spell at Kilmarnock was followed by a series of short-term spells at several small Scottish clubs, never playing more than a handful of games at any, and he retired from the game in 2001.

52. Ben Thornley

Signed from: youth team

Debut: 2-2 draw vs West Ham United (as sub), February 26th 1994
League Record: One game (+8 as sub)
Sold to: Huddersfield Town (free transfer), May 1998

The first (but certainly not the last) of the “Class of 1992” to appear here who didn’t end up with lengthy career at United, Ben Thornley picked up many positive notices, but was never helped by the fact he played left wing – a position more than aptly covered by Ryan Giggs and Lee Sharpe.

His chances dived even further when his leg was broken not long after his debut in a reserve game against Blackburn - he later sued the other player involved, a matter settled out of court. That pretty much ended any real progression, though the fact he was still in the squad as late as 1998 would suggest Fergie had some faith in him working out. But it was not to be, and he was packed off to Huddersfield Town. Though the team looked an outside bet for the Premier League at one point, they were instead relegated in 2001 and Thornley left to play over the border for Aberdeen. From there, it was a disappointing slide into the lower divisions and eventually the non-league, leaving us with a sad sense of a talent lost through matters out of the player's control.

Apropos of nothing, his brother has worked as a masseur to the England national team.

50. Keith Gillespie

Signed from: Youth team

Debut: 2-0 win vs Bury (FA Cup tie), January 5th 1993. Scored once
League Record: Three games (+6 as sub), one goal
Sold to: Newcastle United (valued at £1,000,000 in an exchange deal), January 1995

Direct winger in the old fashioned tradition (i.e. he kept running at the full back, putting a cross in on the occasions he beat his man), Keith Gillespie scored on his debut and two years later got his only Premiership goal with a fine effort against Newcastle. They were obviously impressed as not long later he was playing for them.

I personally had high hopes for Gillespie and was disappointed to see him leave, more so when we sold Andrei Kanchelskis a few months later, as I'd not seen enough of David Beckham at that point to know he was more than capable of holding the right wing. What is interesting to wonder is that if Keith hadn't left United, whether he’d have got the chance on the right wing that was given to Beckham and making the late 90s a very different tale. Certainly his valuation of a million pounds was very high for a (relative) novice in 1995, and shows how much faith Keegan had in him.

He went on to have a fairly successful career in Geordieland and then Blackburn, where he teamed up with Mark Hughes, as well as being a regular for Northern Ireland. His last significant role was at Sheffield United, where he helped them gain promotion to the Premiership in 2006. While up there, he managed to get sent off within seconds of coming on as a sub, for elbowing an opposition player in the face while he ran into position. Bizarre.

Still playing in the League of Ireland as of 2012.

44. Ian Wilkinson

Signed from: youth team
Debut: 1-1 draw vs Cambridge United (League Cup time), October 9th 1992
League Record: None – his debut was his only game
Sold to: Stockport County (free transfer), summer of 1993

First player who I could find no picture of online. Enigma!

Wilkinson got his single run-out due to Peter Schmeichel being out of the country playing for Denmark and usual back-ups Jim Leighton and Gary Walsh being crocked. So, fourth choice keeper, then. No matter, United drew 1-1 and went through to the next round having won the first leg 3-0. With Schmeichel very rarely injured, the re-signing to the experienced Les Sealey and Walsh still around, he was never likely to get anywhere near the first eleven again.

Released on a free, he eventually wound up at Crewe where he played a handful of games in their 1994 promotion to the third tier before injury forced early retirement from the game. Wiki sez he went into academia, eventually graduating as a Doctor of Physiotherapy, but given it also adds he plays Crown Green Bowls (!) at county level, I’m a tad sceptical. If it’s true, though - kudos to him!

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.

37. Darren Ferguson

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 2-1 defeat vs Sheffield United (as sub), February 26th 1991
League Record: 20 games (+7 as sub)
Sold to: Wolverhampton Wanderers (£250,000) January 1994

He’s the son of Fergie, and he’s never going to get away from that. With that out of the way, we can say as a footballer he was never anywhere near United standard. Not awful, of course, but not the kind to ever stamp his mark in the top flight. His best tool was a good left foot, though he never managed to use it to get the ball in the back of the net.

That all being said, he still managed to win a Premiership medal in 1992/93 after playing plenty of games early in the season due to injuries: his best moment was taking the free kick that led to us getting our first win that season (in the fourth game) down at Southampton. When Lee Sharpe returned from injury, however, it was back to the stiffs for young Darren and when Brian McClair moved back to midfield later in the season, he rarely troubled the first XI again.

I doubt anyone was particularly bothered when he dropped down a division to sign for Wolves. Later, he dropped further down the leagues with Wrexham, where he seemed to discover his best form, finally adding a decent scoring return to this game.

He’ll play a part in the stories of players much further down this line as a manager of teams they went out on loan to. This had led to predictable (though not necessarily untrue) comments that Fergie Snr was again helping his son’s football career. Currently in a second spell in the managerial chair at Peterborough, after a less successful time at Preston saw him get the old tin tack.

36. Gary Walsh

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 3-3 draw vs Aston Villa, December 13th 1986
League Record: 49 games (+1 as sub)
Sold to: Middlesbrough (£600,000), summer of 1995

From Wigan, Gary Walsh was a promising Rubgy League player who fell into football almost by chance: when another player dropped out of a game, he took the place. A United scout was watching and he was soon signed up, playing in the same youth team as Lee Martin and Tony Gill.

A few weeks after Fergie took charge, he got his chance aged only 18. At this point, Gary Bailey  - another blonde goalie who’d graduated to the senior team while only a teenager - was on the verge of retiring from injury (he’d play his five final games in the Spring of 1987) and Walsh was thrown in. Ferguson clearly rated him, as he played plenty of games throughout the rest of 86/87 and started the following season as first choice ahead of the more experienced Chris Turner, who had been signed by Ron Atkinson from Sunderland in the summer of 1985, ostensibly as back-up to Bailey, who at that point was fully fit and firmly established as our #1 and third choice England ‘keeper.

Like Bailey again, injury would ruin Gary Walsh’s United career. The most serious was after being kicked in the head during a mid-season tour in Bermuda, from which it was feared he wouldn’t play again.

As suggested by his lateness in entering this blog, Walsh was out of first team contention for three years – his only first team action coming during a loan spell up at Aidrie – with Jim Leighton then Les Sealey holding onto the goalie’s shirt. He made his comeback in February 1991 and appeared in a few more games that season after Mad Les’ bad injury in the ’91 League Cup final, and even won a Cup Winners’ Cup medal as an unused sub.

Of course, any hopes he had of establishing a first team place when Sealey was let go faded to nothing when we went out and snapped the world’s best in as a new #1. I barely remember him getting a game until the end of 1993/94, when he came on as sub at Ipswich and stayed in the team for the last two games of the season: against Southampton he was particularly impressive and a FA Cup winners medal for sitting on the bench was some small reward.

He may have had more the next season, when he finally got a half-decent run in the team and played ten games, which would have been enough for a Championship medal, if we’d won it that season. Sadly for Gary, we finished second due to last day heroics of West Ham keeper Ludek Miklosko denying us the win needed for the title.

That summer, Bryan Robson took him up to Middlesbrough where he was first choice keeper for a while, followed by a spell at Bradford City where he made over 100 league appearances before ending his playing career as back-up at Wigan. Last heard working as a goalkeeping coach at Hull City.

34. Mark Bosnich

Signed from: Non-contract player (June 1989)
Debut: 0-0 draw vs Wimbledon, April 30th 1990
League Record: 3 games
Sold to: Left due to work permit problems (June 1991)

You wait ages for another goalie, then two come along at once… I’m not sure if Leighton had fitness problems leading up to the 1990 FA Cup final, whether he was just being rested or whether Fergie was finally having doubts that would become justified in the first game against Crystal Palace.

Like Les Sealey, Mark Bosnich had two spells with the club. He is, however, the first player who’ll appear more than once as I’ve decided to have different entries for both his spells at the club to avoid talking too much here about events ten years down the line.

There’s not too much to say about his initial period with us. He was a young student from Australia at the time, and I’m not aware of the circumstances that saw him get a small handful of games over 1990/91. It seems he did a decent enough job (two draws and a win) and we may have been keen on signing him to a contract – he was essentially playing as an amateur, I believe. But problems obtaining a work permit got in the way and he went back home. He’d return soon after by marrying a girl from Manchester, which enabled him to sign for Aston Villa and begin a career that’ll bring him back around come entry #88.

(Also, I can't find a picture of him from around the time of his first spell at the club and the fact Garth Dykes' The United Alphabet book uses one of him in a Villa kit for the entry would perhaps suggest there aren't any.)

27. Derek Brazil

Signed from: Rivermount Boys' Club of Dublin, March 1986
Debut: 1-2 loss vs Everton (as sub), May 10th 1989
League Record: 2 games, both as sub
Sold to: Cardiff City (£85,000), August 1992

Someone I have absolutely no recall of, which isn't too surprising given the brevity of his time on the pitch. What is surprising is how long he spent at the club - six years - despite an almost complete lack of first team action.

Which isn't much of a surprise - he always had the likes of Kevin Moran (initially), Paul McGrath and Steve Bruce ahead of him, while Mike Duxbury, Clayton Blackmore and Billy Garton were capable of filling in when needed. Poor Derek never had much of a chance, outside of an outbreak of the Ebola Virus at the club. Given he had trials with West Ham, City, Spurs and Chelsea, I wonder if he felt he made the right decision in joining us?

Not much more I can say - Cardiff City fans may have more of an insight given he played over 100 league games for them. Wiki sez he's still living in the area (managing some local teams, in which capacity I've nicked the picture) and also that he played as part of a United team in a "Legends" tournament - paying spectators may have had a case under the Trade Descriptions Act, though I'm sure he was much preferable to Alan Brazil.