Stam joins other ex-Reds in management

Manchester United legend Jaap Stam is the latest Sir Alex Ferguson-era player to step into management following his appointment at Reading on a two-year contract.

According to our research, the Treble winner and three-time Premier League champion is now the 31st member of Sir Alex's various squads who has taken the top job at a professional club, either on a permanent or temporary basis. The full list is at the bottom of this story.

Stam joined United in the summer of 1998 and played for three full seasons, registering 127 appearances for the club. He was sold to Lazio in August 2001 and, famously, Sir Alex has since gone on record to say that he regretted that decision, admitting he should have kept the giant centre-back.

Speaking to ManUtd.com in 2014, Stam said that working with young players in his native Netherlands had convinced him that management was a suitable career. 

"When I was still playing I always said I didn’t want to become a coach as it puts a lot of stress on you and you must work very, very hard," Jaap said. "You don’t have to look at just one player but think of all of them and the opposition. Everything that comes with the job makes it very hard.

"When I stopped playing, the first year after that I didn’t do anything. But then my first professional club as a player, FC Zwolle, asked me to help them out. 

"When I was on the pitch again it kind of grew on me and it gave me a good feeling, helping the lads out on the pitch with advice. It made it easier for them and gives you a good feeling. I was growing into it and, before you know it you are working on yourself to become a coach as well. 

"I like doing it and you never know how it will go. You can say you’re not going to do it and it turns out you enjoy it and that’s what happened to me as well."

When discussing the most influential bosses he played under, Stam told Reading's official website: "Sir Alex was already a very big name in the world of football [when I joined United in 1998] but he kept on growing as a manager. If you get to work with people like that, it gives you a lot of inputs that you can take into your own career as a manager."

SIR ALEX FERGUSON'S UNITED PLAYERS WHO BECAME MANAGERS*

Viv Anderson, Michael Appleton, Henning Berg, Clayton Blackmore, Laurent Blanc, Steve Bruce, Chris Casper, Peter Davenport, Simon Davies, Darren Ferguson, Ryan Giggs, David Healy, Gabriel Heinze, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis, Roy Keane, Henrik Larsson, Pat McGibbon, Gary Neville, Paul Parker, Mike Phelan, Bryan Robson, Mark Robins, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jaap Stam, Frank Stapleton, Gordon Strachan, Chris Turner, Neil Webb.

*List covers first-team managers only and excludes players who have been coaches or assistant managers.

Can you think of a former United player from Sir Alex's era who went into professional management that isn’t on our list? If so, please email the name to Mark.Froggatt@ManUtd.co.uk.