If it has been Cristiano Ronaldo’s year, it will be remembered as Ryan Giggs’s day. No one had been quite sure beforehand who would lift the Barclays Premier League trophy for Manchester United – the injured club captain, the vice-captain who did not start the game or the man who was captain for the day – but, by the time the drama of a tense afternoon had unfolded, it seemed that everyone at the JJB Stadium was there to pay tribute not just to the champions but to the legend that is Ryan Giggs.

This was Giggs’s 758th appearance for United, a figure that puts him level with Sir Bobby Charlton in the Old Trafford record books. That alone would have made it a special occasion for the 34-year-old when he entered the fray as a substitute midway through the second half, but to do so on the day that United won the title – his tenth league winner’s medal of an illustrious career – then to score the 80th-minute goal that put the issue beyond any doubt put the icing on the cake for a man who, in the twilight of his career, has cemented his place among the immortals of the British game.

As he prepared to collect his medal and to pick up the trophy, Giggs was embraced by Steve Bruce, the Wigan Athletic manager and a teammate in his early days as a United player, and, poignantly, by Charlton, who had left his seat in the directors’ box for this purpose.

“He’s fantastic,” Charlton, 70, said. “He’s a great athlete, a great person and a great footballer. Nobody deserves to break records like he does. Ryan’s record with Manchester United is unbelievable and I’m really proud of him. I’ve forgotten about the record already.”

So, too, it seemed, had Giggs, who said that “it’s championships, not individual records, that count”, but the significance of his achievements was not lost on his teammates or indeed the United supporters. As the postmatch celebrations took place in front of the North Stand – Wes Brown spraying the United fans with champagne while Anderson and Nani, neither of whom was involved yesterday, showed off their dancing skills – a chant to the tune of Sloop John B took hold, adopted by players and supporters alike. “He’s won it ten times, he’s won it ten times. That boy Giggsy, he’s won it ten times.”

It was also the tenth league title for Sir Alex Ferguson, but the United manager had no hesitation in paying tribute to a player who first emerged as a 17-year-old in the final weeks of the 1990-91 campaign. “It was amazing,” Ferguson said. “As soon as it started raining, I was thinking how I was going to get Giggs into the game, because he is fantastic on soft ground with his balance, his ability to beat a man. But with Paul Scholes getting his booking, one loose tackle on a greasy surface and he would have been in trouble, so we waited and waited. I ended up making the change midway through the second half, with Ryan and Owen Hargreaves coming on, and it settled us down a bit.

“It was fantastic for Ryan to get the goal that matters, but maybe it was fate. He deserves it. He’s been a credit to the game and, having known him for 20 years, for him to equal Bobby’s record on the day he scores the title-winning goal for us, well, it’s just fantastic.”

As he made his way off the pitch, Giggs, who by this stage had wrapped himself in a Welsh flag, shared a moment with Gary Neville, who has not played a minute of Premier League football since damaging ankle ligaments in a match against Bolton Wanderers in March 2007.

Neville’s wretched injury problems and the retirement in August of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer serve as an unwanted reminder that time, ultimately, catches up with every footballer. Some day it will catch up with Giggs, too, but, as he held the Premier League trophy in his arms last night, serenaded by teammates and supporters alike, it was time to pay tribute to United’s man for all seasons.