66. Jordi Cruyff

Signed from: Barcelona (£1,400,000), August 1996
Debut: 3-0 win vs Wimbledon, August 17th 1996
League Record: 15 games (+19 as sub), 8 goals
Sold to: Alaves (free transfer), June 2000

If Darren Ferguson had problems having the boss as his old man, how about the pressure of your dad being one of the greatest players of all time? That was the shadow Jordi Cruyff had to always deal with throughout his playing career.

An attacking midfielder, he was born in Holland despite his dad being a huge Barcelona star at the time, though the middle name he went by (his first name is Johan) was a name from Catalonia. Jordi got his break under his pop at Barca, and did good enough to get in the Netherlands squad for the 1996 European Championships. Unfortunately for him, the tournament was a nightmare for a Dutch squad blighted by in-fighting, summed up by a 4-1 kicking from England. To compound the pain, Cruyff Senior was sacked by Barcelona and Jordi quickly realised he wouldn't fit in the new regime.

Jordi was a decent player blighted by injuries at United that prevented him from ever being a regular in the first team. It must have frustrating for him, as he was often shifted our wide left as cover for Ryan Giggs, a role he clearly wasn't suited to. After his first season, appearances became more limited, hard going for a player who clearly had enough talent to do better. A loan spell back to Celta Vigo in 1999 signposted where his future was, and he eventually returned to Spain when his contract expired.

Later, he would have spells in Ukraine and Maltra before moving into coaching. He's currently General Manager of Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

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.

62. Phil Neville

Signed from: Youth team
Debut: 5-2 win vs Wrexham (FA Cup tie), January 28th 1995
League Record: 210 games (+53 as sub), 5 goals
Sold to: Everton (£3,500,000), August 2005

Younger brother of Gary, Phil was also considered to be a talented cricketer in his youth, but chose United when they came knocking. Their sister Tracey was also talented, playing netball for England. Phil made his debut in the season Gary established himself at right back as injuries did for Paul Parker - also captaining the youth team to FA Youth Cup success that same year.

The next season, he made some fine performances at left back (Dennis Irwin shifting to the right), knocking Gary out of the first team at times. Indeed, for the FA Cup final against Liverpool in 1996, Phil got the nod ahead of his brother, who had to make do with being a sub – he’d looked impressive through the season, putting in some good crosses when he got forward.

To cap off a superb first full season, he won his first England cap and made the squad for the 1996 European Championships. However, Gary remained first choice at international level and Phil never quite managed to establish a regular spot, being left out of the World Cup 22 in 1998 and 2002, though he made the squads for both the 2000 and 2004 Euros – at the former, a rash challenge in a decisive game against Romania saw a penalty awarded and converted, effectively knocking England out and condemning Neville to much venting of bile over the subsequent year from opposition fans back at domestic level.

As an aside, at the time, a few people said I looked like Phil, thus it was something of a knock to a teenager's confidence on reading a newspaper report which labelled my apparent lookalike as the "Ugliest Player at Euro 2000".

For United, he never quite managed to maintain the high levels he set early on, remaining a solid presence in the squad, capable of covering either full back position and, later on, putting in a shift in midfield when needed. It was in that role he had his finest moment in a red shirt.

In December 2002, we were chasing an Arsenal team that were looking to establish dominance in the league. They were the reigning champions and FA Cup holders, boasting an impressive midfield led by French international Patrick Vieira. With the chips down, Phil seemed to dig up the spirit of Bryan Robson and dominated a game in which we won 2-0 - a performance still talked about by fans.

However, in the next couple of years, Fergie made a series of nightmare midfield buys, of whom he felt obliged to play, and both Phil and Nicky Butt were out of action. Clearly good enough to have a first team stake elsewhere, he reluctantly asked for a transfer. I was disappointed at the time, as he certainly deserved more games and his attitude and commitment were solely lacking in others players around at the time.

On finally leaving, he became a deserved first choice (and captain) at Everton and it’s a surprise to me that he didn’t feature more for England. Then, in June 2013, he returned to United as first team coach under the new regime of David Moyes.

61. Andy Cole

Signed from: Newcastle United (£6,000,000 plus Keith Gillespie)
Debut: 1-0 win vs Blackburn Rovers, January 22nd 1995
League Record: 161 games (+34 as sub), 93 goals
Sold to: Blackburn Rovers (£8,000,000), December 2001

Ah, the days when a huge signing could appear out of nowhere and shock you. The news that Andy Cole was on his way to United was exciting to a youthful United – at the time, he was the reigning Young Player of the Year as well as the previous season’s Premiership top scorer. The prospect of him lining up with Eric Cantona seemed to promise goals galore. It didn’t quite work out that way.

Nottingham lad Cole, son of a miner, started out with Arsenal, then managed by George Graham. The dour Scot clashed with the youngster, and after only a single showing from the bench, he was on the way to Bristol City via a loan spell at Fulham. His first full season as a first teamer (92/93) saw him in good form in the second tier, and he attracted the attention of Kevin Keegan, then revitalising Newcastle United and charging to a return to the top flight. February 1993 saw £1.75 million change hands, and he instantly won hero status with 12 goals in 12 games.

Keegan then made an inspired move by bringing Peter Beardsley back to the North East. Having started out in my native Cumbria with Carlisle United, Peter had caught the eye of the legendary Jimmy Murphy whilst playing in Canada for Vancouver Whitecaps. Murphy had always had a keen eye for talent (he had recommended Steve Coppell) and we signed him for £250,000 in 1982. Then manager Ron Atkinson failed to give the striker much of a chance – half a game against Bournemouth in the League up – and let him go at the end of the season. While Beardsley developed into one of the best forwards in the country, we spent years attempting to find a decent forward line: the likes of Garth Crooks, Alan Brazil, Terry Gibson and Peter Davenport all failing to make the grade. It was, quite simply, Atkinson’s worst mistake as manager for us.

By 1993, perhaps Everton saw Beardsley as past his best – he was 32 at the time – but he and Cole scored 55 league goals over the season, as Newcastle won many fans with their attacking football. Andy got 34 of those, and though he was in slightly slower form the next season (nine goals in 18), Alex Ferguson was still convinced he was the man to replace the aging Mark Hughes in leading the front line.

Andy was never a complete crowd favourite – he had many detractors, including my own dad, who never rated him. Conversely, my mother adopted him as her favourite player, perhaps because he had learned his trade alongside her former favourite Beardsley.

A lot of his problems came on the last league game of the 1994/95 season, away at West Ham. Andy had had his moments early on – five goals in a game against Ipswich was the best one-off haul for a United player since George Best put six past Northampton in 1970, and he scored two vital goals in a 3-2 win over Coventry that kept us in the title race. At West Ham, though, he saw chances saved and hit a post as we only drew 1-1, when a win would have made us champions.

Cole, unfairly, took a lot of the blame. He struggled to reach his best form over the next two seasons – his partnership with Eric never really took off, and he wasn’t helped by a broken leg in the Autumn of 1996. Fergie seemed to be losing patience, as he signed three new strikers from 1996-98, one of whom Cole had already fallen out with over a perceived slight whilst on England duty.

The last of those three, however, brought Cole back to the forefront. Finally connecting with a strike partner, period from 1999-2000 saw him play the best football of his career. No long a pure goalscorer, his all round play had improved to an impressive degree. He scored the goal that sealed the 1999 Championship, as well as the winner at Juventus that saw us seal our place in the European Cup final.

By 2001, however, injuries had begun to take their toll - he played just 19 league games in 2000-01 season - and Fergie spent big on a new striker and adjusted the system so that we played with just the one man up top. With his first team regular status no longer assured, and still hopeful (incorrectly, as it turned out) of getting in the place in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup, he left for Blackburn. He had some success, completing his set of domestic medals by scoring the winning goal in that year season’s League Cup final.

Season-long spells at Fulham and Manchester City followed, making a decent scoring return at both, before his career wound down, ending with an unsuccessful stint back in his hometown with Nottingham Forest. Currently, he works as a television pundit and comes across far more articulacy than he did in his younger days.

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.