London: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs was voted Player of the Year for the first time by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) on Sunday.

Despite making only 12 Premier League starts and scoring a single goal, the evergreen Welshman finally took the prize after 18 years as a professional with United and just short of 800 appearances for the club.

He edged out United teammates Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar and Rio Ferdinand as well as Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.

“It’s right up there with personal accolades — it’s the best to have as it’s voted by your fellow players,” Giggs was quoted as saying on the BBC. “I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of trophies, I won the young player award twice, but this is the big one.

“It’s an exciting season. I think it is going to go right to the wire, there’s big game after big game now. That is what you want and need at a club like Manchester United.”

(REUTERS)