Ryan's Week To Remember

It’s been a big week for Ryan Giggs.

On Sunday night he was awarded the prestigious PFA Player of the Year honour and four days later he came off the bench against Arsenal to make his 800th appearance for United.

The Welshman took time out on Friday morning to speak to ManUtd.com, BBC Radio, Key 103 and PA Sport...

How significant was it for you to collect the PFA Player of the Year award earlier this week?
I was really pleased. The players vote for that so for your fellow players to vote you Player of the Year is great. I’m really chuffed to get it and to top it off I made my 800th appearance for United against Arsenal. It’s been a great week.

Is there any sense that the award has been coming for some time and what you achieved this season made your fellow pros look back on your previous 18 years?
I don’t know. I’d like to think it was just for this season. Maybe it is because I’ve been in the game for so long, but I’ve been happy with my form this season and hopefully it was based on that and the past year. I don’t know – you’d have to ask the players who voted for me.

Did you enjoy watching those old clips at the PFA dinner? You’re not the kind of person who looks back a lot on what you’ve done…
No, I don’t tend to look back. It was an emotional night, a great night for me and my family. When you look at the old clips, which I don’t tend to do, it’s nice to see everybody’s reaction.

Some of those goals… were you thinking: ‘I can’t believe I scored that!’
[Laughs] Those were the quicker days when I could beat defenders a lot easier than I can now! It’s great to look back on the goals you’ve scored. Things have changed a lot since I first came into the team. Sky were just taking over then and football’s gone on to a different level. All the equipment’s changed – the stadiums, the pitches… everything for the better.

When you came on against Arsenal on Wednesday an announcement went around the ground to say you were making your 800th appearance. How did that feel?
I had a great reception from the crowd and that gives you an extra lift, an extra buzz. And coming on in a big game like that, I wanted to make an impact. Overall, I was just thinking about scoring or creating more goals for the team. Unfortunately we didn’t do that but we’re pleased with the performance and 1-0 is a good result.

Can you ever see anybody else playing 800 games for one club?
I think there will be players who get near to it or maybe surpass it. The way players look after themselves these days [there’s every chance]. If a player gets into the first team at 18 or 19-years-old and stays relatively injury free they can do it. It is a long time and it is a lot of games but they probably said Sir Bobby’s record would never be surpassed. But that one has and I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody passed my record.

What would your advice be to younger players who are thinking of being one-club men?
If you’re at a big club then why would you want to leave? If you’re playing well then you’re going to stay for a long time. That was the case for me. I didn’t want to leave. There’s always a challenge at United. And you find that at other clubs, too, with the likes of Raul [Real Madrid], Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher [both Liverpool]. They’re all big players at big clubs and they stay for a long time. It probably doesn’t happen at smaller clubs because players want to move on and improve themselves.

Is it a combination of loyalty on the players’ part and the success of the club?
I think loyalty does come into it, as well as different challenges. If a player’s being challenged every season, which you do get at big clubs, then they won’t want to leave.

If you can beat Middlesbrough at the weekend how close will you be to adding an 11th league title?
Each game, if we get the right result, we get closer and closer. The games are running out for other teams to catch us. We’ll be trying to win. It won’t be easy but if we do get the right result it will be a great opportunity for us.