“The Class of ’92” tells the story of six young footballers that grew up together in the Manchester United academy that went on to become some of the most famous players in the Premier League: David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes. The lads first joined up together during the 1992 season in which they won the FA Youth Cup, which was the first of many trophies that these 6 would bring the Red Devils.
The film begins with Sir Alex Ferguson’s quest to overhaul United’s scouting system when he became manager in 1986. Sir Alex was focused on developing the youth system within the club and throughout his tenure relied on young players. The signing of these 6 extremely talented players was the culmination of Sir Alex’s efforts.
In the movie, each of the individual players are profiled, which is interesting in its own right for someone who only was aware of them towards the latter part of their careers. With Ryan Giggs, for example, my memories of him playing are as the wily veteran, subsisting on his mental ability and awareness on the pitch rather than overwhelming athleticism, so I had no idea just how skilled and athletic he was during his prime. I also did not know about the level of harassment that Beckham received following his sending off in the 1998 World Cup. England was eliminated and Beckham received loads of abuse as a result. Beckham talks about how his grandparents were harassed and that he dealt with death threats, including receiving bullets in the mail at his home.
The film also touches on the overall cultural scene in England during the 1990s and how United fit in. Obviously the main focus of that was on how Beckham became a global icon, but interviews with former Prime Minister Tony Blair and famed director Danny Boyle (a huge United fan) helps the viewer understand the backdrop for what these lads were going through. The fashion, both on and off the pitch, as well as the music were the highlights of this portion of the movie. I really hope they bring back these overly baggy kits.
One thing that’s striking about learning more about these gentlemen is just how much focus and determination they had, even at young ages. Even when they were 15 years old and playing with the youth team, they were all focused on their careers and stayed away from the temptations (for the most part) that can come with individuals in their position. I can’t imagine being in their position at age 32 with the maturity of a 15 year old, let alone actually being 15. But that is what makes these guys so special: they knew what they wanted and they knew what it would take to get there. And they went out and did it.
They first got serious time with the first team back in 1995, when they were still extremely young. When Ferguson jettisoned three veteran players and began to rely on these young players, the pundits were all saying that it was a huge mistake and that you can’t win anything with kids. All they did in that first season was win the league. The main focus of the film is on the 1999 season during which Manchester United won the historic treble (FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League), which no English club has replicated, before or since. All of the players credit the 4th round FA Cup match against Liverpool in January 1999 for turning the tide on the season. In that match, they were down 1-0 late in the match, but they came back and scored twice to win. From then on, they knew that they were never out of any match and could always come back. Skills that would prove useful as the season progressed.
Overall, the biggest takeaway from the film for me is the friendships amongst these six players. A lot of the film is simply the six of them seated around a table talking about their humble beginnings and their past glories. For while they were all professionals and extremely dedicated to making it big, they were still just kids. You can see that in stories about practical jokes & pranks, such as Scholes’s predilection for hitting those players in the head who made the mistake of not looking when they were relieving themselves in the woods during training, to getting busted by Sir Alex for having parties. They also had to undergo rather unusual initiation rituals, the most outrageous of which was David Beckham having to perform a sex act on himself while looking at a calendar of club legend Clayton Blackmore. Seriously.
As is noted in the movie, the fact that 6 individuals could all come up together at the same time through the youth system of a major club and then feature together in a title-winning season is a remarkable achievement that we may never see again. With Becks, Butt, Giggsy, the Nevilles, and Scholesy, United was blessed with an influx of youth talent that is unprecedented in the Premier League era. All Manchester United fans will love this movie, as the older fans will be able to relive the glory that these players provided and the newer fans will learn a bit more about the club’s history. Even non-United fans will enjoy the movie, as its hard not to like these guys and smile at their camaraderie.
The Class of 92 is currently available via Watch Instantly on Netflix and on DVD/Blu-Ray on Amazon.
Follow Mike Smith on Twitter @thefootiegent
This will be the last positive thing he writes about Manchester United...ever.
