Andrew Cole names forgotten Class of '92 member who could've been Man Utd legend but for 'nasty injury'

Manchester United legend Andy Cole has revealed that one member of the class of 92 would have been spoken alongside the very best if it wasn't for a terrible injury that derailed his career.

Cole joined United in 1995 from Newcastle and made 195 league appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson scoring 93 goals in the process.

The English striker came into the squad at the perfect time, with the class of 92 starting to fully make their mark with players such as Beckham and Scholes strutting their stuff.

However, while reminiscing over his early years at United on 'The Rest is Football', Cole brought up a name that not many people would know when discussing the vast array of talent at United.

"There was so many of them, the players who missed out, players like Ben Thornley who had a nasty injury," Cole explained.

"Ben would have been up there with the rest of them definitely."

Thornley, who played out wide, was regarded as one of United's top talents, that was until a devastating tackle by Blackburn defender Nicky Marker in a reserve match in April 1994.

The challenge caused severe damage to Thornley's knee, altering the entire course of his career before it had even begun.

The then 18-year-old Thornley was being considered by Sir Alex for the club's FA Cup semi-final against Oldham Athletic a few days later, and he had even rejected the chance to be substituted five minutes before the injury.

Looking back on his decision, Thornley told The Guardian: "It's probably the worst decision that I've ever made in my life and something that completely changed my life."

Ben Thornley- Getty

In the interview, he described what it was like to come up through the academy and have such hype surrounding him.

"Crazy, absolutely crazy. There are very few footballers that have ever lived that would measure up to George Best and so to be compared to him, at whatever level, by somebody who has been a World Cup winner - well, you can't ask for more than that," He explained.

Thornley made 13 appearances for United but spent the majority of his career at Huddersfield Town before making his final career appearance for Halifax Town in 2004.

Topics: Manchester United, FA Cup

Tom Jenkins

Tom Jenkins is a Social Editor and Journalist for SPORTBible. Specialises in Football and F1 but has experience covering a variety of sports such as MMA, Boxing and Cricket. Suffers weekly as an Evertonian.

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