All at WeAreTheBusbyBoys.com are saddened to hear the news that Eric Harrison has passed away at the age of 81.

Harrison was the youth coach at Manchester United for many years and was famous for his role in bringing through the ‘Class of 92’.

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Due to the success of that group of players it is often forgotten that Harrison was brought to the club by Sir Alex Ferguson’s predecessor, Ron Atkinson — a contribution by ‘Big Ron’ to the club which is arguably even greater than the two FA Cups won in his era or the signing of Bryan Robson.

Harrison played a role in bringing through a number of players who would go on to be regarded as club greats such as Norman Whiteside, Mark Hughes and Clayton Blackmore though it was of course his work under Sir Alex which is most renowned.

A hard-task driver, Harrison was a man of his time and as such created an uncompromising breeding ground where young players had to be tough of character. In this respect he was very similar to another youth coach in the club’s past, Jimmy Murphy. Harrison stands not only second to Murphy in the club’s history but also in the country’s when it comes to the development of those young players.

While the Busby Babes’ potential was never truly discovered because of Munich, we were able to have a modern comparison with the achievements of Harrison’s young stars. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville stand at 1, 3 and 5 in the club’s all-time appearance makers and are also the three most successful players to have ever played in English football. Additionally, David Beckham became one of the most well-known people in the world and enjoyed a successful career in a number of countries after leaving United in 2003.

In addition to that 1992 group there were even more great players which came through the ranks over Harrison’s tutelage, with Phil Neville following and being closely associated with his brother’s squad.

Harrison’s immense contribution continued unabated. Harrison won a second Youth Cup in 1995 which Phil Neville was a part of but there were a number of familiar names which were in that team; Ronnie Wallwork, Michael Clegg, Terry Cooke and John Curtis all went on to play for the first team while the likes of David Johnson and Phil Mulryne had good careers elsewhere.

Indeed, Harrison’s contribution to the game as a whole was arguably just as great and welcome as his contribution to United. Consider players like Curtis, like Danny Higginbotham and David Healy and Mark Wilson, all players who provided squad roles during the 90s and went on to have fantastic careers away from United.

At one time it seemed like every week United would come up against a team with a former Old Trafford youth player in their ranks and you would generally know to expect one thing; 100% application and hard work as a minimum.

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These were the traits Harrison demanded, traits which represented the tradition of the club, and traits personified by the likes of Gary Neville and David Beckham which manifested themselves in some of the club’s greatest triumphs.

As the club lick their wounds following the disappointing defeat against Paris, everyone can take the time to assess the situation with some reason, and consider the fundamental change which is taking place at the club again. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has clearly drummed home the message to his players that the least Old Trafford expects is application; it’s a lesson he learned as a player coming into an environment where title winners like Neville, like Beckham, were driven to achieve more. A lesson learned from Eric Harrison.

The greatest minds of, and contributions to, soccer are those which transcend the pursuit of winning games and trophies and instead permeate themselves into the very culture and identity of the club they represent. Eric Harrison’s contribution to Manchester United certainly did that. Football has lost one of its greatest men, but his legacy will live on.