Giuliano Maiorana

Giuliano "Jules" Maiorana (born 18 April 1969) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a left winger for Manchester United.

Career

Maiorana was born in Cambridge to Italian parents from Avellino. In 1987, he was working in a bakery and playing Sunday League football when he signed for Eastern Counties League club Histon. After around 30 games for Histon's first team, he was invited for a trial for Manchester United in November 1988. He played the first half of a testimonial match for Ian Handysides, a Birmingham City player who had just been diagnosed with a cancer which would ultimately claim his life nearly two years later, producing a performance described by Alex Ferguson as "one of the best displays I have ever seen from a trialist", and signed a four-year contract with United for a fee of £30,000. The fee saved Histon, £23,000 in debt and under pressure from their bank, from going out of business.

He made his debut on 14 January 1989 as a substitute against Millwall in the First Division, and came to prominence with an exciting display on his first start, in a live televised 1–1 draw with Arsenal (who finished the season as league champions) at Old Trafford that April. Maiorana only started one more game, and made his last two substitute appearances in October 1989. He then suffered a serious knee injury in a reserve game and never played for the club again, finally being given a free transfer at the end of the 1993–94 season.

After leaving United, Maiorana had a brief spell with Ljungskile SK, where he made five appearances, of which four were as a substitute, in the Swedish second-tier Division 1. He then returned home to work in his family's upholstery business, and played for Newmarket Town in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division.

In 2008 and 2009, Maiorana played for Manchester United's Masters Football team in the North West Masters Cup.

Career statistics