March 19, 2024

Manchester United Irishmen

Irish Footballers that Played for Manchester United

From as early as 1893 Irish footballers began their relationship with Manchester United. Well actually, that’s not strictly true as Manchester United did not exist back then. At that time the club was known as Newton Heath when Linfield forward John Peden crossed the Irish Sea to Manchester.

Peden was an outside left and played just one season with the Heathens before he joined Sheffield United. As Newton Heath morphed into Manchester United the path that Peden followed from Ireland to Manchester has been followed by many more Irish footballers with over 60 making at least one appearance for the Red Devils first team.

Many more made the journey but did not make the grade at United. These include Paddy Sloan from Armagh who went on to play in Serie A in Italy, football pundit Eamon Dunphy, and more recently Irish international Paul McShane.

Green Reds that Succeeded

Irish footballers have featured in almost all of Manchester United’s greatest triumphs down through the years. The first European cup won by any English team was by Manchester United in 1968 in Wembley – ten years after the tragic Munich air disaster. The team on that famous night included three Irishmen; full backs Shay Brennan and Tony Dunne, and George Best. Best scored the first goal in extra time against Benfica of Portugal.

Alex Ferguson’s pursuit of his own Holy Grail came to a successful conclusion when Manchester United won the 1999 Champions League Final at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona against Bayern Munich. Cork full back Denis Irwin played on that fateful night which yielded the second leg of an unprecedented treble for United that season.

Central to that achievement was United’s captain at the time, Roy Keane. His performances during the 1998/99 season was absolutely vital to United’s success. This was never more evident than his astounding and compelling performance in Turin against Juventus in the Champions League semi-final second leg.
(See: Roy Keane – Juventus)

List of Northern Irish Footballers that Played for Man Utd

ni-man-utd The following is a full list of Northern Irish players that have played for Manchester United. Starting in the days of Newton Heath, in 1893, right up to today the list contains every Northern Irish man that has played for Manchester United first team on one occasion at least. There have been 31 footballers from Northern Ireland that have played for Manchester United including the wonderfully gifted George Best and Norman Whiteside whose career was shortened by debilitating injuries.
Player
From
Period With United
John Peden
Lisburn, Co. Antrim
1893 – 1894
Thomas Morrison
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1902 – 1904
Bernard Donaghy
Derry
1905 – 1906
Mickey Hamill
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1911 – 1914
James Robinson
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1920 – 1922
David Lyner
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1922 – 1923
Walter McMillen
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1933 – 1935
Harry Baird
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1936 – 1938
Jackie Blanchflower
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1951 – 1958
John Scott
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1950 -1956
Sammy McMillan
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1957 – 1963
Harry Gregg
Derry, Co. Derry
1957 – 1966
Ronnie Briggs
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1958 – 1964
Jimmy Nicholson
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1958 – 1964
George Best
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1962 – 1974
Sammy McIlroy
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1971 – 1981
Jimmy Nicholl
Ontario, Canada
1971 – 1981
David McCreery
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1972 – 1978
Trevor Anderson
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1971 -1974
Tommy Jackson
Co. Antrim
1975 -1978
Chris McGrath
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1976 – 1981
Thomas Connell
Newry, Co. Armagh
1978 – 1982
Tom Sloan
Ballymena, Co. Antrim
1978 – 1983
Norman Whiteside
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1978 – 1989
Mal Donaghy
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1988 – 1992
Pat McGibbon
Co. Armagh
1992 – 1997
Keith Gillespie
Co. Antrim
1991 – 1995
Phil Mulryne
Belfast, Co. Antrim
1996 – 1999
Roy Carroll
Co. Fermanagh
2001 – 2005
David Healy
Co. Down
1999 – 2001
Johnny Evans
Belfast, Co. Antrim
2006 –

List of Republic of Ireland Footballers that Played for Man Utd

irl-man-utd1 The following is a full list of Republic of Ireland players that have played for Manchester United. Starting with Patrick O’Connell from Dublin, who later went on to manage Barcelona, right up to current Irish first team players for Man Utd such as John O’Shea and Darron Gibson, every Irish player is listed below. There have been 32 footballers from the Republic of Ireland that have played for Manchester United.
Player
From
Period With United
Patrick O’Connell
Dublin
1914 – 1919
Billy Toms
Curragh, Co. Kildare
1919 – 1920
Billy Behan
Dublin
1933 – 1934
David Byrne
Dublin
1933 – 1934
Tommy Breen
Drogheda, Co. Louth
1936 – 1939
Johnny Carey
Dublin
1936 – 1953
Sonny Feehan
Dublin
1948 – 1950
Noel McFarlane
Co. Wicklow
1952 – 1956
Paddy Kennedy
Dublin
1952 – 1956
Liam Whelan
Cabra, Dublin
1953 – 1958
John Giles
Cabra, Dublin
1957 – 1963
Joe Carolan
Dublin
1956 – 1960
Noel Cantwell
Cork
1960 – 1967
Shay Brennan
Manchester
1955 – 1970
Tony Dunne
Dublin
1960 – 1973
Pat Dunne
Dublin
1964 – 1967
Don Givens
Limerick
1966 – 1970
Mick Martin
Dublin
1973 – 1975
Gerry Daly
Dublin
1973 – 1977
Paddy Roche
Dublin
1973 -1982
Ashley Grimes
Dublin
1977 -1983
Kevin Moran
Dublin
1978 -1988
Anthony Whelan
Dublin
1980 – 1983
Frank Stapleton
Dublin
1981 – 1987
Paul McGrath
Ealing, London
1982 – 1989
Derek Brazil
Dublin
1986 – 1992
Liam O’Brien
Dublin
1986 – 1988
Denis Irwin
Cork
1990 – 2002
Roy Keane
Cork
1993 – 2005
John O’Shea
Waterford
1999 – 2011
Liam Miller
Cork
2004 – 2006
Darron Gibson
Derry
2004 – 2012
Michael Keane
Stockport
2009 –
Robbie Brady
Dublin
2012 – 2013

Manchester United History

Manchester United Blog – Manchester United Supporters Clubs

 

Liverpool History – Liverpool Irish Players – Liverpool Supporters Clubs
Glasgow Celtic History – Celtic’s Irish Players

 

Irish Footballers (Non-Manchester United)
Liam Brady – Damien Duff – Eamon Dunphy – Robbie Keane – Niall Quinn