Recruited from Everton's staff in 1981, Eric served United with distinction as a mentor of young players, including a number of prodigies who achieved great success with club and country after graduating to the first team at Old Trafford.
The most famous group of youngsters to emerge under Eric's tutelage was the Class of '92 - his FA Youth Cup-winning side in that year included David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes. He led the club to glory in that prestigious competition again three years later, this time with Phil Neville in his line-up.