Port Vale v Man Utd, 1994
We take a leaf through a Port Vale’s programme for a game against Manchester United in the Carling Cup.
This game is widely remembered as the moment Sir Alex Ferguson unleashed his younger players onto the league cup stage. Amongst those featuring were six nineteen year-olds – Paul Scholes (who scored twice on his debut), David Beckham (making his full Man Utd debut), Gary Neville (making his fourth Man Utd appearance), Nicky Butt (a relative veteran with sixteen appearances), Keith Gillespie (making his third appearance) and Simon Davies (making his debut).
The 22 year-old Roy Keane lined up in an unfamiliar centre-half position, while the oldest player for the opponents was 30 year-old Brian McClair.
The full Man Utd line-up was: Walsh, Neville, May, Keane, Irwin, Gillespie, McClair, Butt, Beckham, Davies, Scholes
The match ended 2-1 to Man Utd with Bradley Sandeman scoring first for Vale before Scholes’ double strike. United won the second-leg at Old Trafford 2-0 thanks to goals from Brian McClair and David May.
You can watch a video of the game here –
https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=59039
Note the completely incorrect Man Utd line-up