What a Club! Five Years for Ashley Young

With a picture of him grabbing the badge on his shirt, another of him sitting with Sir Alex Ferguson and the Premier League trophy, and one with Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, and the FA Cup Trophy, Ashley Young wished himself a Happy fifth Manchester United Anniversary on his twitter account.

Five years. A lot has happened in five years.

Starting out at Watford at 10 years of age and making his professional debut in 2003, Ashley Young was a huge part of the 2005-06 Watford squad that earned a promotion, and a place in United hearts, by beating Leeds United in a playoff at the Millennium Stadium. His stock continued to rise as a move to West Ham United or Aston Villa was on the cards in the summer of 2007. After meeting with both clubs, Youngy (as he’s nicknamed) decided that working with Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa was the next best step in his career. Although no trophies were won in his time at Aston Villa, Young grew into a fantastic footballer. A true winger with loads of pace caught the eye of a lot of teams, but Young’s next move was for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.

United were coming off the high of fulfilling Ferguson’s long time, focused goal of knocking Liverpool off their perch. Faster play with more goals was always the plan, and with Ferguson’s love for out-and-out wingers, his move for Ashley Young wasn’t too much of a surprise. Young slotted straight into the squad and made an instant impact, none greater than when Arsenal came to visit Old Trafford early in his first season. The famous 8-2 score line still finds a way into the conversations of United fans when dealing with Arsenal supporters, and Ashley Young scored two cracking goals that day. His first season brought nine goals but United fell a few goals short of claiming title #20 in his first season.

Ferguson’s retirement, after winning title #20 in Young’s second season, took each footballer by surprise and affected each in their own way. Wayne Rooney appeared to get a new lease on United life. Robin van Persie seemed to lose some of the verve for football that permeated United’s #20 title charge. But Ashley Young seemed to carry straight on into the reign of David Moyes. Privately it may have been different, but publicly it was work as usual. With a change to Louis van Gaal, the next season came big changes for Young, moving from the wing to mostly left back and defensive duties. But, as he’s done since day one, Young worked hard for the badge and continued to find a spot in the squad, even playing a striker in the weaning matches of Van Gaal’s tumultuous reign at United.

There are only a few world class footballers in the world, and Ashley Young isn’t one of them. But every top squad needs talent, skill, hard work, and players who know exactly what they bring to the table, and Ashley Young fits that completely. Young’s fifth manager since joining United five seasons ago starts soon and Youngy will, yet again, be required to prove himself. But you can be sure if he stays at Manchester United, he will continue to give all he has for the greatest club in England. As he said is his fifth-anniversary tweet, “What a club!”