Footballers Ryan Giggs and Joe Thompson inspire young fans at Bolton School

The former Manchester United FC star was joined by Joe Thompson, a former Rochdale, Tranmere, Bury and Carlisle player, who has twice fought off cancer, at Bolton School.

(Ryan Giggs and Joe Thompson at Bolton School. Mark Power at KKP Photography)

They were interviewed by the school's PE teacher Ian Hughes in front of young footballer and elite athletes at Bolton School and pupils from Gaskell Primary school.

Giggs, the current Welsh coach, spoke about his early life and his rise from playing street football to international sporting star after being spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Kidd at the age of 14.

Thompson told how football was making friends at a new school ­— and that Giggs was his hero! He spoke about his battle with cancer, including the emotional toll the illness can take.

A Bolton school spokesman said: "The two former players answered a wide variety of questions. Asked whether young children are under too much pressure these days, Ryan said he is ‘old school’ and remembers running home from school and banging a ball against a wall and training as much as he could. He also recommended playing other sports and recalled how he enjoyed rugby, basketball and athletics; he felt you can learn different skillsets in other fields

"Joe advised that balance is important. He told how he always enjoyed school and how he did well in his GCSEs. He said his mum did not believe him when he told her his marks and thought they had confused him with another pupil! Ryan said he 100 per cent regretted not putting more time into his schoolwork but all his energy went into football."

(Ryan Giggs and Joe Thompson at Bolton School. Mark Power at KKP Photography)

The spokesman added: "Both players talked about the importance of resilience and having good support around you when things don’t go your way. Ryan also spoke of stacking the odds in his favour by taking care with his diet, practising yoga, seeing an osteopath and even changing his bed and car to better suit his body."

During the session, Giggs said Zinedine Zidane was the best player he ever played against and Christiano Ronaldo was the best he had played with ­— although Paul Scholes was the "most consistent".

And talking about Sir Alex, he added that whilst he was a manager who was huge on discipline and standards, he did get to know all his players, staff and their families ­— and the last thing he would say before the players went on the pitch was “enjoy yourselves”.