Former Scarborough FC player, who brought through Manchester United's Class of '92, dies

Harrison had been diagnosed with dementia four years ago.

After finishing his playing career at Scarborough, he forged the fledgling careers of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Gary and Phil Neville.

Appointed by then United manager Ron Atkinson in 1981, Harrison mentored a number of other high-profile youngsters including Mark Hughes, Norman Whiteside, Wes Brown, David Platt and Darren Fletcher.

His greatest success came under Sir Alex Ferguson with the Class of 92 players forming the backbone of United’s treble-winning side of 1999.

In a statement, the club said: “Manchester United is extremely saddened to report that our former youth coach Eric Harrison passed away on Wednesday. He was 81.

“Everyone at Manchester United sends their deepest condolences to Eric’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.”

Gary Neville wrote on Twitter: “We’ve lost our mentor, our coach and the man who made us.

“He taught us how to play, how to never give up, how important it was to win your individual battles and what we needed to do to play for Manchester United Football Club. Eric we owe you everything.”