I came through Man United academy with Beckham – this is why I became a Man City icon instead

The Class of '92 hatched the careers of several Manchester United legends, but one forgotten member achieved greater prominence with rivals City

Ahead of Saturday's Manchester derby, fans are reminded of those rare players to have represented both clubs. And after coming through Manchester United's academy with David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers, Terry Cooke jumped ship to later star for rivals City.

Cooke, 49, has confessed he felt like the world was at his feet when he initially made his senior United debut in 1995. He and the other members of the Class of '92 were celebrated like rock stars, and some had already won major honours under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Except Cooke's trajectory took a far different course, and he made only seven first-team appearances for the club as he was sent out on repeat loans. His time at Old Trafford finally came to an end when he joined City in 1999, around the same period his former team-mates were completing a historic treble.

He fared considerably better in blue, making 38 appearances for City and helping the club gain promotion back to England's second tier in 1999. It was a humbling process given the success his fellow academy graduates were enjoying back at their boyhood club, and he went on to endure a "very frustrating" series of near misses over the years.

"After my debut I thought that was it, I’d done it," he said, recalling the moment. "Then, the next week, I didn’t play. I was in squads and made a few more appearances and then I went to Sunderland on loan.

"I played for two championship-winning teams in the same season and never got a medal. That summed up the way my career went. It was very frustrating."

Ultimately, injuries came to play a big role in Cooke's descent at United. Just when things were taking off and Ferguson was set to promote him, the winger injured his anterior cruciate ligament during a reserve game against Sheffield Wednesday.

In many ways, it's a minor miracle Cooke ever made a return at the top level. He ended up actually joining Wednesday but found his greatest success with the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer, where he came up against Beckham, who was starring for the LA Galaxy at the time.

"I was told I’d never play again," he recalled in 2020 when looking back on his loan move at Maine Road. "I was out for 12 months and wanted to get back on my feet, so I went to Wrexham for a month.

"I did okay, but my best game was on Boxing Day ’98 against City, even though we got beat 1-0. Joe Royle must have found out my loan period was coming to an end and, at the time City didn’t have an out-and-out right winger. I think I was the missing piece in a way.

"Joe enquired about bringing me in on loan. I could have stayed at United and been part of the squad going around Europe, but I was a young kid and I wanted to play football.

"I came to Maine Road – playing in front of a full house every week even in the second division – and the rest is history."