'Our best player'

Adam Bate talks to Ben Thornley, Manchester United's star pupil from the famous class of '92.

"For anyone who has got to the end of their career, there will always be a player that you've played with and you'll think if that boy hadn't have got injured or if something different had happened then he would have been a top player. For me, that was Ben Thornley." The former Huddersfield Town and Aberdeen winger won't be at the forefront of everyone's mind in the week that the Class of '92 - a new film in honour of that famous Manchester United youth team - is released in selected cinemas. The man himself hasn't even seen it yet. But mention Thornley to his former team-mate Gary Neville and the United legend's voice becomes as animated as anything you'll hear on Monday Night Football. "He was a very quick winger, two-footed, scored goals and was an intelligent player. In fact, he was probably our best player. If you think about David Beckham at that age, Paul Scholes at that age, Ben Thornley was above them in terms of the level he was playing at between the ages of 16 and 18. He was prominent in the FA Youth Cup final victory in 1992, played in every single round and was brilliant in every single round. But then he got that terrible injury. It was a real shame. It's something I think about even when I see him now." Thornley still works at Old Trafford, doing hospitality work and providing co-commentary for MUTV radio. But he could be forgiven for becoming an embittered soul given the fame and fortune he was cruelly denied. Instead, there is nothing but pride when discussing the so-called Class of '92. "Considering I went through my career and didn't achieve the things the six lads in the film did, it's one of the highlights of my career," Thornley tells Sky Sports. "Even Gary Neville says that it's one of his special moments and he's won the Champions League and that historic treble, so you can imagine what that FA Youth Cup in 1992 means to all of us. "You just never think do you? When you arrive for your first day of pre-season training as a 16-year-old, I don't think any of us could have imagined the heights that some of those lads would reach in their careers. You're setting out on a long and arduous road to try and prove you're good enough to play professionally let alone be some of the best players that the Premier League - and the world - has ever seen. "It slowly started to dawn on us how good we were. From when we first started playing together, we pretty much went unbeaten through those two seasons. Nobody could live with us when we played to our best. Obviously we did lose the odd game, but we knew it took something special to beat us. When we got to the quarter-final stage we fancied we could win it. Spurs were the firm favourites as they'd chucked a lot of money at the lads they'd signed as 16-year-olds but we comfortably brushed them aside in the semi-final and Crystal Palace didn't prove as tough in the final." Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Phil Neville. Between them, they have played well over 3,000 games for Manchester United... and counting. And yet, there were others. Northern Ireland's Keith Gillespie went on to enjoy a lengthy top-flight career, while Simon Davies and Robbie Savage became full internationals with Wales. History will remember six legends but that wasn't apparent at the time. Tellingly, while Beckham, Scholes and the brothers Neville were still waiting for their first