They might be the most successful club in English football, but that doesn’t mean Manchester United haven’t had some real dross over the years.
Former Manchester United man Dong Fangzhuo in action against Roma
Upon signing for Manchester United, Romelu Lukaku described his new side as the “biggest club in the world”. Real Madrid and Barcelona might have one or two things to say about that, but there can be no doubt Manchester United are up there. In terms of trophies, they are the most successful side in the history of English football, home of the most popular domestic league on the planet.
Ranked as the third most valuable football team on Earth, United raked in record profits once again last season, despite a sixth placed finish in the Premier League. So many legends have turned out at Old Trafford, from Bobby Charlton and George Best, to Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes.
But we all know about the great players. The Ballon d’Or and European Cup winners. They have statues and stands named after them and are still routinely talked about on the terraces. Here we are more concerned with those players who Manchester United fans would rather not have to think about. Taken into account is both the players overall ability and the standard of their performances for the Red Devils, and only players who made a first team appearance for the club qualify.
These are seven of the worst players to ever turn out for Manchester United:
7. Liam Miller
Liam Miller during his time at Old Trafford
Why did Sir Alex Ferguson sign Liam Miller? We’re not quite sure. The Irishman had just had a breakout season at Celtic following a long-term injury, but Sir Alex didn’t seem to have much faith in the midfielder right from the get-go. He ended up making nine league appearances in two seasons before dropping down to the Championship and later returning to Scotland and spending his final years playing in Australia.
6. William Prunier
Having spent much of his career in the French top flight and having won one cap for France, you’d probably have to say William Prunier was the most gifted player in this top seven, but his performances for United make him a thoroughly deserved inclusion. Prunier was never supposed to be thrust into the action at Old Trafford, arriving as a trialist having bought out his contract at Bordeaux.
However, following an injury crisis, the Frenchman found himself starting at centre-back alongside Gary Neville for a game against QPR, which passed without incident. In his next game though against Tottenham Hotspur, he struggled, as United shipped four goals in a painful defeat. It would be Prunier’s last appearance for the club.
5. Michael Clegg
Michael Clegg challenges David Ginola in a rare outing for Manchester United
You could be forgiven for never having heard of Michael Clegg. Whilst most Manchester United flops go onto have at least decent careers elsewhere, Michael Clegg pretty much left the game for good. He spent seven years at Old Trafford between 1995 and 2002, during which time he made 9 league appearances, just over one a year then. When Clegg left United, there wasn’t the longest of queues for his signature, and he ended up at Oldham Athletic. Two years later, he retired, aged 27.
4. Pat McGibbon
Pat McGibbon moved to England to sign for Manchester United from Northern Ireland as a teenager, just like George Best, but that is where the similarities end. In five years with the three-time European champions, McGibbon played once, getting sent off in a humiliating 3-0 cup defeat to York City. Following his departure, the centre-back joined Wigan Athletic, where he would spend the next five years playing rather more regularly in the third tier of English football.
3. Arnie Sidebottom
Not many players turn out for Manchester United who are better known for their exploits in another sport, but that could be said of Arnie Sidebottom, who represented England once as a cricketer. Arnie joined Manchester United as an 18-year-old, and spent three years with the club, making 20 appearances, 16 of which came in United’s solitary post-war season outside the top flight in 1974-75.
Woefully out of his depth, Sidebottom went on to play for Huddersfield and Halifax, before turning his full attentions to cricket. Voted the fifth worst player to have graced English football’s top division by the Times, Sidebottom now works as a cricket and football coach at Woodhouse Grove school in West Yorkshire.
2. Dong Fangzhuo
Dong Fangzhuo alongside Michael Carrick, Fraizer Campbell and Gerard Pique
The first Chinese player to play for Manchester United, it has been suggested that Dong Fangzhuo’s move to the club may have been somewhat business motivated due to the club’s large following in the region. Just one league appearance and a couple of cup appearances in four years at Old Trafford suggests that could well have been the case.
Aged 32, Fangzhuo effectively retired in his mid-late 20’s, having struggled with a number of clubs, even in the Chinese second tier. The fact Fangzhuo won only 13 caps for the Chinese national team, ranked 77th in the world, the last of those caps coming when he was 22, says it all.
1. Mark Lynch
The man who we give the unenviable title of worst Manchester United player of all-time to is Mark Lynch. The right-back came through the youth ranks at Old Trafford, spending a total of six years with the club between the ages of 17 and 23. In that time, Lynch played once, scoring an own goal in a 2-0 defeat to Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League.
The Manchester-born full-back would later have brief stints with Sunderland, Hull, Yeovil, Rotherham, Stockport and Altrincham, but failed to play even 40 league games for any of them. He ended his career in 2012 at the age of 30.
Who is the worst player to ever turn out for Manchester United?
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