Jason McAteer

Irish Footballers that Played for Liverpool - Jason McAteer

Jason McAteer - Introduction

Jason McAteer was born in Birkenhead, England on 18 June 1971. McAteer had carved out a reputation for himself in the Bolton Wanderers midfield and had already won over ten caps for the Republic of Ireland when Liverpool Manager Roy Evans moved to sign him. On 7 September 1995 McAteer signed for Liverpool FC for a transfer fee of £4,500,000. He had been close to doing a deal with Blackburn Rovers but when Liverpool declared an interest McAteer decided to go to the team he had supported as a boy.

Jason McAteer & Liverpool

Jason McAteer made his Liverpool debut on 16 September 1995 against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield. He came on as an 82nd minute substitute for John Barnes as Liverpool won 3-0. He made 40 appearances in his first season with the club including in the FA Cup final on 11 May 1996. Unfortunately for McAteer Liverpool lost to Manchester United through an Eric Cantona goal.

Jason McAteer scored his first goal for Liverpool on 6 January 1996 against Rochdale in the third round of the FA Cup. He scored three goals that season and each of them were in the FA Cup campaign. He scored his first league goal in the following season when he scored the winner in a 1-2 win over Arsenal at Highbury. He reacted first to a saved Robbie Fowler penalty in the 66th minute.

Jason McAteer - Ireland Career

Jason McAteer made his debut for Ireland on 23 March 1994 against Russia in a friendly match at Lansdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium). While he did not play in any of the 1994 World Cup qualifiers but he did enough in a series of pre-tournament friendlies for him to make the Irish 1994 World Cup squad chosen by Irish football manager Jack Charlton. McAteer made his first competitive appearance for Ireland in the USA in the first Irish group match on 18 June 1994 against Italy. He came on as a substitute for goal scorer Ray Houghton as Ireland beat Italy 1-0 - a first for the Irish.

Jason McAteer went on to play 52 times for the Republic of Ireland scoring three goals in total. His first goal for Ireland was against Macedonia in a 1998 World Cup qualifier. His other two goals came in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and both were against Holland. The first was in a 2-2 draw in the Amsterdam Arena, and most memorably, the second came in a tremendous 1-0 home win over the Dutch. McAteer swept home a cross from Steve Finnan to send the the Lansdowne Road crowd into delirium and the Irish team on the way to the World Cup finals.

It was a racing certainty that Jason McAteer would be included in the Irish 2002 World Cup squad by Mick McCarthy and he went on to play in his second World Cup finals tournament. He started in the Ireland / Cameroon match and he came on as a substitute for the Ireland / Saudi Arabia match. McAteer was also very interested spectator as the events surrounding the infamous Saipan Affair which culminated in Roy Keane's foul-mouthed tirade aimed at Mick McCarthy.

Following the appointment as Brian Kerr as Irish manager Jason McAteer lost his place in the team due to a series of hernia, groin and hamstring injuries. Kerr gave McAteer a run out as a substitute in a friendly match against Brazil almost 18 months after his last appearance in a green shirt. McAteer came on for Andy Reid in the second half of the match on 18 February 2004 at Lansdowne Road. It was Jason McAteer's last appearance for Ireland.

Jason McAteer - Liverpool & Republic of Ireland Statistics