21st January – Footballing Birthdays
Former Manchester United and Everton defender Phil Neville is 48 today. He spent eleven years at United, playing 386 times for the club before joining Everton in 2005.
Neville played 303 times for Everton until he retired in 2013. He won 59 caps for England and played at left-back at Euro 2000 for the Three Lions.
After his playing days were over, Neville went into management but never reached the success of his playing days. He started out as caretaker manager of Salford City before spending three years as the coach of the England ladies’ team. After that, Neville moved to the USA to coach Inter Miami and is now manager of Portland Timbers.
Nicky Butt is 50 today. Just like Phil Neville, he was part of the famous ‘Class of 92’ youth team at Manchester United. He made his debut for United at the age of 17 and stayed at the club until 2004 when he joined Newcastle United.
Butt spent six years on Tyneside, which included a short spell at Birmingham City. After spending a year playing for South China, he retired from the game in 2011.
In all, Butt won six Premier League medals, three FA Cups and the Champions League with Manchester United as well as the Championship with Newcastle United in 2010. He also won 39 caps for his country.
Former player and manager Alex McLeish is 66 today. The Scot won 77 caps for Scotland and was part of the successful Aberdeen side of the early 1980’s.
In his time at Pittodrie, McLeish won the Premier Division three times, five Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups. In European football, Aberdeen had a wonderful 1983, winning the European Cup Winners Cup against Real Madrid before securing the European Super Cup later that year.
After ending his playing career at Motherwell, McLeish became a manager. He has managed the Scotland national team twice and had great success with Rangers. McLeish has managed at eight different clubs.
PSG winger Marco Asensio is 29 today. The Spaniard has won 38 caps for his country since making his debut in 2016, scoring twice and has played at two World Cups.
Asensio has played club football for Real Mallorca, Real Madrid and Espanyol.
Former Manchester United and Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is 36 today. The Armenian has so far won 95 caps for his country, scoring an impressive 32 times.
The midfielder started his career in his home country before moving to Ukraine and then Borussia Dortmund in Germany. He joined Manchester United in July 2016 and stayed at Old Trafford for a year and a half before moving south to sign for Arsenal.
After leaving Arsenal in 2020, Mkhitaryan has played in Italy, first with Roma and then Inter Milan.
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