Ryan Giggs’ awarding of the Player of the Year award in 2009 was a contentious decision, considered by many to be little more than a sympathy honour for his not winning the prize before. A squad player, the Welshman’s league appearances were split between starts and substitute appearances, while his goalscoring tally stood at four goals in all competitions, just two of those domestic. Make no mistake, he did play his part in United’s winning of the title, but the widespread belief was that there were far superior contenders for the award.
Ginola became the first player with a club that finished outside of the top four to win the award and, despite his brilliance at times for Spurs, there was discontent at the prize not going to a Manchester United player.