January 15 – Former Manchester United and Wales star Ryan Giggs has been appointed manager of his national team on a four-year contract in succession to Chris Coleman.
Giggs won 64 caps for Wales between 1991 and 2007 and ended his glittering 23-year club career in 2014 before managing United in a caretaker role for four games at the end of the 2013-14 season after David Moyes was sacked. He was also Louis van Gaal’s assistant at Old Trafford for the following two seasons before leaving United in 2016.
Coleman famously led Wales to the Euro 2016 semi-finals but they failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup and Giggs had long been a target for the Football Association of Wales (FAW) once Coleman departed.
In a statement Giggs said: “I am so proud to have been given the honour of managing the national team. The challenges that we have ahead of us with the Nations League and qualification for Uefa Euro 2020 excite me a great deal. I can’t wait to start working with the players as we prepare for those crucial games later in the year.”
FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “With his vast amount of experience having played, coached and managed the biggest club in the world, we are confident of a successful future for our national team.”
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