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'I played game against David Beckham... Now I'm a builder in Beckenham'

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THE Manchester United youth side that lifted the FA Youth Cup in 1992 spawned some of the club's greatest ever players.

The likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, and Nicky Butt were celebrated in the recent Class of '92 film, a feature in many a Christmas stocking.

But what became of the Crystal Palace youth side they beat in the final?

The Eagles' young team may not have included players like Goldenballs and the Premier League's record appearance holder Giggs, but a number of its members went on to make impacts of their own.

Perhaps the most memorable story is that of goalkeeper Jimmy Glass. Having played both legs of Palace's 6-3 defeat, Glass left the club in 1996 without a senior appearance.

Three years later though, he wound up scoring one of English football's most iconic goals – a last minute winner to keep Carlisle United in the Football League in the last of three loan appearances.

"We probably played the most famous youth team that's ever been put together. It was an early part of my career, coming out of the Palace youth team," Glass said.

As one of the oldest members of the squad, the keeper felt it was one of the best Palace youth sides he had seen.

He added: "That season we won the South-East Counties League and made it to the cup final.

"We were up against this fantastic United team but the only one you really knew of any stature was Ryan Giggs. He'd played a few first team games and everyone was looking forward to playing against him.

"You didn't know the names of Beckham, Neville, Butt and people like that. They were just youth team players like us."

Grant Watts started up front at Selhurst Park in the first-leg before coming on as a sub at Old Trafford and revelled in the young Eagles' cup run.

He is now a builder plying his trade in Beckenham and still has a season ticket at Palace.

In his brief time in Palace's first team, he scored against Liverpool (on his debut) and Chelsea in the Coca-Cola Cup.

He said: "We were a good team that year and we'd played some big teams all the way through the cup run, including Crewe who were favourites to win it at the time, and were probably stronger than Manchester United.

"Only years later did you realise what a good side they were and the quality of players they had there."

Other members of the Palace squad included the pacy George Ndah, a relative veteran of 101 Palace appearances, who saw a potential international career with Nigeria curtailed by injury.

Defender Russell Edwards later found himself involved in a much criticised John Terry publicity stunt ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

But most of the side ended up playing out careers in the lower leagues with only a handful of Palace appearances between them.

Almost 8,000 fans watched United's 3-1 win at Selhurst Park with Stuart Hall grabbing a solitary Palace goal as a consolation to a Butt double and a first-half strike from Beckham.

Palace gave a better account of themselves at Old Trafford in front of a crowd of 14,681, but still lost 3-2. Andrew McPherson and Hall scored for the Eagles.

Glass said: "We were a confident team. We weren't the greatest football team in the world but we had a decent defence and could score some goals and I could kick the ball a long way.

"We had a good go."


The Class of 92MANCHESTER UTD David Beckham: Ten years at United yielded trophies galore, including seven league titles and a Champions League winners medal. Moved to Real Madrid in 2003 and later had spells at LA Galaxy, AC Milan and Paris St Germain. Capped 115 times for England , including many as captain. Pop star wife, style icon and one of Britain's most famous men. Gary Neville: The full-back spent his entire, 19-year professional career at Old Trafford, winning trophy after trophy. Also capped 85 times for England. Now part of the England set-up and also a respected Sky TV pundit. Ryan Giggs: Still, at 40 years of age, a regular in United's midfield – nearly 23 years after his first-team debut. Controversially opted to play for Wales ahead of England. Perhaps his finest moment was a stunning solo goal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final vs Arsenal at Villa Park, as United moved towards an unprecedented treble.CRYSTAL PALACE George Ndah: A promising striker in the Palace youth ranks, Ndah made more than 100 appearances for the Eagles first team, scoring 26 goals. He went on to enjoy spells at Swindon Town and Wolves and now runs a football agency Jimmy Glass: Started life at Palace, but most famous for that goal which kept Carlisle in the football league in 1999. With the Cumbrians needing a win to stay up but locked at 1-1 with Plymouth deep into injury time, the ball fell to Glass, who was up for a corner. The rest, as they say, is history – and a legend was born. Now a taxi driver in Dorset. Grant Watts: Striker who started the first leg of the youth cup final, before coming on as a substitute at Old Trafford. Made a few first-team appearances but his career petered out, and he now runs building firm.

'I played game against David Beckham... Now I'm a builder in Beckenham'


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