From David Beckham to Ryan Giggs, from Phil Neville to Paul Scholes, Manchester United’s famed Carrington academy has gone on to produce quite a few future club icons for the Red Devils. However, it’s also produced a number of players like Danny Welbeck and Ryan Shawcross who, despite not excelling at Old Trafford, have gone on to enjoy a stellar Premier League career. Danny Higginbotham belongs in the latter category.
Born in Manchester, England, Higginbotham grew up in the suburb of Altrincham and passed his 11+ exam only to be denied entry into Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. Instead, he joined Manchester United’s academy, where, after failing to impress in the first year of his apprenticeship, he broke his femur against Preston North End’s reserves. In contrast to his teammates, who spent the summer partying, Higginbotham would lock in and drive 35 minutes from Altrincham to United’s Cliff training ground (later having to bike to training). Higginbotham fought his way back to full fitness and eventually earned a two-year professional contract, before making his professional debut on May 10, 1998, in a 2-0 win at Barnsley.
“It was an absolute privilege. All of my family members are Manchester United fans, so, to and, you know, to be there from the age of 10, I consider myself very fortunate,” stated Higginbotham in an exclusive Busby Babe interview. “I had some great coaches, because at that time, it was the school of excellence, and then at the age of 14, you’d sign schoolboy forms, then at the age of 16, if you were considered good enough, you’d be an apprentice, and then you’d go on to become a professional, if you were considered good enough then. But you don’t realize that at 10/11 years of age, you don’t appreciate just how good the people who are coaching you and the history that they have. I had Nobby Stiles, may he rest in peace, what an unbelievable human being, it was a privilege to be coached by someone of his magnitude. But also how humble he was, how he was able to pass on his coaching ideas and everything, and make us better players…that was at the age of 11/12, which is just incredible. Then we had Brian Kidd, who scored in the European Cup Final for Manchester United in 1968 and went on to be assistant for Sir Alex Ferguson for so long. We had Paul McGinnis, who is Wilf McGinnis’ son, a really, really good coach, Tony Whelan…the list goes on and on. You start to become an apprentice, then you’ve got Eric Harrison, another wonderful human being who unfortunately passed away as well, and I think anybody that came through at United, whether you went on to play 250 to 300 games for Manchester United, or, you were just there until you got to the end of your apprenticeship, they will speak highly of Eric Harrison. He was just a phenomenal character as well.”
He was loaned out to Belgian second-tier club Royal Antwerp, who had recently announced a partnership with United. It wasn’t an easy spell at Antwerp, but he nevertheless managed to go from an unwelcome arrival to a fan favorite, only to be banned for a year after referee Amand Ancion falsely accused him of grabbing his neck and choking him. It seemed that his career had ended before it had even begun, but instead, Sir Alex Ferguson, fresh off leading United to a treble, flew to Brussels and served as a character reference. When they returned to Manchester, Ferguson offered him and teammate Ronnie Wallwork, who had also been scapegoated, new four-year contracts, eventually getting both bans stricken after 46 days. Higginbotham made six appearances across four different competitions – the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, EFL Cup, and the FIFA Club World Championship (now FIFA Club World Cup) – before departing United in 2000. Similarly to other stars like Keinan Davis, Higginbotham has been able to cut his teeth in both the English first division and second division, departing for Derby County in 2000 and emerging as a vital cog in defense, helping them stay up with a famous win at Old Trafford on the penultimate day of the season.
“There were enjoyable times throughout my career and a lot of learning curves, but I think Derby was a really interesting one for me. I went there and left Manchester United, where, no matter what age group you’re playing with, you’re the dominant team, you’re the favourites, you’re dominating the ball, you’re flying forward as a left back, and you’re playing more as a left winger, especially in those times. It didn’t matter whether it was the first team, the reserves, the A team, the B team, whatever you want to call it, all the way down your age groups. We used to do fitness sessions at United as well, but at Derby, it went up another level.”
“I’ll never forget, we did an indoor running session, and then afterwards, I just thought I was gonna throw up. I’ve laid down, and we had this thing called the Bowling Green, where we used to do five-a-sides on a Friday, young versus old. This was in pre-season, I’ve just lain down, and the sun’s on my face, and all of a sudden, this shadow came over me. I was like, what’s happened? I opened my eyes, and it was Steve Round, who eventually ended up being the assistant manager at Man United, a really good coach. He said to me, ‘Are you okay?’ I was like, ‘No, I just feel as though I’m gonna spew up, I feel as though I’m gonna be sick.’ And he said, ‘Well, the reason our pre-seasons are like this is you’ve just come from a club that spent 70% of the game with the ball. You’ve now come to a club that spent 70% of the time chasing the ball.’ The first 7 or 8 months at Derby for me were not good at all, and I think if Jim Smith, may he rest in peace, could have sent me back, or sent me somewhere else, he probably would have done. But the last few months of that season were really good for me. We ended up beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the second-to-last game of the season, we ended up staying up, and then the next season, we got relegated, but personally, it was a really good season for me. I won the Derby fans’ Player of the Year, which was great for me, so it was a little bit of adversity, and then asking myselff ‘Okay, well, how are you going to respond?’ I then had time at Southampton as Sunderland, but probably the best time, the best fit for me, was Stoke City.”
After dropping to the second tier with Derby, Higginbotham departed to top-flight side Southampton in January 2003, only to once again suffer relegation. He then made the move to Championship side Stoke City, where he emerged as a pivotal figure in defense and the captain. But after missing out on promotion, Higginbotham forced a transfer to Premier League side Sunderland, where he lasted just one year before heading back to newly promoted Stoke. Higginbotham excelled in the Potters’ backline, racking up 14 goals and 8 assists in 128 appearances, before departing in January 2012. He bounced around from Championship sides Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town, followed by a spell with League One side Sheffield United and then Conference Premier side Chester, and then a swan song with boyhood club Altrincham. Higginbotham hung up his boots in 2014 and, just like other retired players like Ricardo Faty, he’s been able to make his mark in the field of punditry and commentary. Now living in New Jersey, Higginbotham balances his post-playing career between commentating Premier League matches for NBC and MLS matches for Apple TV, and he’ll be hoping to see his United team turn around under Michael Carrick. Whilst Higginbotham may not have been able to break into the starting XI like Carrick, he’ll always be grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson for saving his career before it commenced.
“I saw him before I moved over to America, I was doing some work at Sky, and said, ‘Hi, Gaffer.’ It was really nice to see him; you’re still in awe of an individual like that, regardless of anything. He was no longer a manager, but with the success that he’d had, for me, he was one of the greatest-ever managers. He went, ‘How are you doing, Danny? How’s the family? As I was walking past him, he said, ‘Come and sit with me.’ It was him and I just sat there for 2.5 hours until we got to our destination, and just talking about all different things. It was no longer one of the greatest ever managers talking to this kid who was trying to make a career for himself. It was just two individuals chatting, and he was just incredible. When I was at Southampton, we played Manchester United in the last game of the season, and they beat us, and they relegated us. He waited for me outside the dressing room and said, ‘I’m sorry about the way that it’s gone down,’ things that he didn’t have to do. Obviously, he wasn’t my manager for that long, because I only played a few games for the club, but he left such a lasting impact because of what he did for me in my hour of need as a young player. Every time we played Manchester United, if I saw him, if he had time to chat to me, we’d speak. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to have a career, and it would have been over probably by the age of 20.”