Fergie's Fledglings

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Ryan Giggs, the first of Fergie's Fledglings

Fergie's Fledglings were a group of Manchester United players recruited under the management of Alex Ferguson (often nicknamed "Fergie") in the early 1990s, and trained by Brian Kidd and Eric Harrison,^[1] before eventually progressing to the first team over a period from 1990 to 1994.

Often compared to the Busby Babes in terms of the sheer number of talented young footballers all coming through the youth system at once,^[2] each one of Fergie's Fledglings was developed by Manchester United from a very early age, some signing schoolboy forms with the club at the age of just 14.^[3] The term is often used to refer specifically to the Manchester United team that won the 1992 FA Youth Cup, including future United regulars David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes. However, it is also often extended to include players like Phil Neville – Gary's brother – who was a substitute in the 1993 FA Youth Cup Final and captained the team to the 1995 FA Youth Cup.^[4]

The term first came into common usage during the 1995–96 season, after Ferguson had conducted a mass clearout of the Manchester United old guard in order to blood the youngsters coming through. In response to this, Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen commented "You'll win nothing with kids".^[5] The young side, with an average age of just 24, then went on to overturn Newcastle United's 14-point Christmas lead to win the club's third league title in four years. This was followed up by a 1–0 win over Liverpool in the 1996 FA Cup Final to secure The Double. A period of success followed, punctuated by Arsenal winning the Premier League title in 1998, culminating in the team winning The Treble in 1999.

As of 2008, of Fergie's original Fledglings, only Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville are left at the club, though players like Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher have been added to the group due to their having been with the club from a young age.