Jamie Cureton has revealed why he rejected a move to Manchester United that would have made him part of the ‘Class of 92’.
The Class of 92 consists of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville, and Cureton could have been part of that.
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The majority of them went on to become huge parts of Sir Alex Ferguson’s early and later Man United sides.
In fact, Scholes and Giggs are arguably two of the best players to have ever represented Man United.
But Cureton turned down the opportunity to be involved.
Incredibly, after a storied career at various different levels, he is still playing football at age 51.
Cureton represents Holland in the Eastern Counties League Division One.
Jamie Cureton explains why he turned down Manchester United
And he joined Paul Hawksbee and Perry Groves to discuss lots of topics around his career and wider football discussions, including how he almost joined the Red Devils.
“Sir Alex Ferguson rang my house and put an offer on the table,” Cureton said on Hawksbee and Jacobs.
“I was a Man United fan, but my dad never put me under any pressure. He said, ‘it’s your decision.’
“I was 14.”
Hawksbee then asked why he turned down the offer.
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“I was at Norwich and had been at Norwich for a year or two, and I was quite comfortable,” Cureton replied.
“What the younger generation won’t realise is that Norwich were finishing second in the First Division and playing in Europe, and they had a team that was producing youngsters.
“Man United, up until that point, were buying players, and I felt I had a better opportunity going there and playing.
“It was the Class of 92, so I would have been in that group. The one thing they never had was a centre-forward, and I would have been it.
“But I made my debut at 19, played against Man United at Old Trafford, so in my head, I’d done the right thing because I was involved.”
And of course, Ferguson wouldn’t let Cureton forget.
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“I was playing for Bristol Rovers and played in Lee Martin’s testimonial,” the 51-year-old said.
“He was chatting to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and I was only 22 at the time, and he made a comment.
“He was following my career and knew what I was doing, so that was quite nice.”
Legend
Cureton made his first-team debut for Norwich in 1993 and is still playing 33 years later.
The striker has played nearly 1,100 games across all divisions from the Premier League to where he is now.
Goals have never been a problem either for Cureton, netting a whopping 402 across the course of his career.
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Cureton is best known for his stints at Bristol Rovers and Reading, having made over 100 appearances for both.
Why are they called the Class of 92?
The team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 was Manchester United.
Within that side were the likes of Scholes, Butt and Beckham, while a few of them officially joined the year prior.
And though some went on to be Man United legends, others didn’t but still had successful football careers.
One of those such players is Robbie Savage.
But all of that group received coaching from 1966 England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles as well as Brian Kidd, and eight of the 14 players signed in 1991 made first-team appearances for Man United, and four of them made a total of 2,000.
