All good things must come to an end, the saying goes. But the careers of Alex Ferguson, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, all of whom announced their impending retirement this week, were more than just "good". Their tenures at the top changed the face of football forever, each in their own unique way. Ferguson, with his merciless will to win and sharp wit redefined what it is to be a successful coach with his trophy haul at Old Trafford. Scholes ushered in a new breed of football, his precision passing cited as the inspiration behind Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez' rhythmic tiki-taka at Barcelona. David Beckham, meanwhile - well, where to begin?

In the space of ten days, we've seen three of the Manchester United old guard stand down. Beckham may have departed United some time ago but his name is still sung in the terraces as though he were turning out for the Stretford side each week. All who remains now of the club's famous class of '92 is the ageless Ryan Giggs, who is set to stay for another year with the side. Till then, soak in these statistics, putting in perspective the incredible contributions to the game of this famous trio.

Sir Alex Ferguson

- 22m people in the UK have been born since Sir Alex took the reigns at United 26 years ago.

- Manchester United scored 1535 goals in 723 games at Old Trafford under his management.

- The Scot won 305 of 405 home games in the Premier League with United.

- Fergie has 161 more Premier League wins than the next most successful manager Arsene Wenger, with 527 wins.

David Beckham

- Beckham played 534 top-flight league games during his career, scoring or assisting 242 goals overall.

- In 265 games for Man Utd David Beckham scored 62 goals compared to just 33 in 269 league games for other clubs.

- More than 10m replica Beckham shirts were sold during his career, creating over £1b in revenue for the clubs he played for.

Paul Scholes

- Paul Scholes has scored 59 Premier League goals for United at Old Trafford. Only Wayne Rooney (78) has more.

- Career average of 89.58% pass accuracy.

Andrea Pirlo is the thinking man's footballer - a wine-sipping sophisticate who doesn't bomb around the pitch but rather seems to float from end to end, elegantly sculpting the play around him. It's maybe for this reason the Juventus man has named his new autobiography 'I Think, Therefore I Play'. A fascinating insight into his life and career to date, Icons took a sneak peek at the book ahead of its forthcoming release. Here's some of its most interesting revelations...