Mal Donaghy

Irish Footballer that Played for Man Utd - Mal Donaghy

Mal Donaghy - Introduction

Mal Donaghy was born on 13 September 1957 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In Ulster he played for Cromac Albion in the Irish Amateur League and for Larne in the Irish League. In June 1978 Donaghy crossed the Irish Sea to sign for Luton Town for a transfer fee of £20,000. Over a decade later Mal Donaghy signed for Manchester United for a fee of £650,000. He was signed by Alex Ferguson in the wake of the exit of fellow Irishman, and defender, Kevin Moran.

Mal Donaghy & Manchester United

Mal Donaghy made his Manchester United debut on 30 October 1988 against Everton. It was a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. He retained his position in the United team for the rest of the season making 37 appearances in the League and FA Cup.

Although he started the 1989/90 season in the side Donaghy soon lost his place and began to find it difficult to make the starting line up. He was even sent out on loan to his former club for five matches. The Belfast man made 18 appearances for United that season.

In the 1990/91 season Donaghy made 38 appearances, 15 of them as substitute. Five of those appearances were in United's successful European Cup Winners Cup campaign.

Although he did not get on the pitch, Mal Donaghy collected a winners medal as an unused substitute as United beat Barcelona in the final in Rotterdam. This was the only major honour that Donaghy won with Manchester United.

In his last season with Manchester United Mal Donaghy made 26 appearances the last of which was a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on 2 May 1992. He never managed to score a goal for United. In August 1992 Donaghy left Manchester United to join Chelsea for a transfer fee of £150,000.

Mal Donaghy - Northern Ireland Career

Mal Donaghy made his international debut for Northern Ireland on 16 May 1980 in a 1-0 home win against Scotland. He had a long international football career that spanned 14 years and 91 caps. Remarkably for such a small nation Northern Ireland appeared in two consecutive World Cup finals in 1982 and 1986, and Donaghy played in seven matches at both World Cups. The highlight for Donaghy was when he helped the Irish to defeat the host nation, Spain, in the 1982 World Cup. However this was a bittersweet victory as Donaghy was sent off in the match. Mal Donaghy played his last match for Northern Ireland on 11 June 1994 against Mexico. As with his Man Utd career he did not manage to score any goals for his country.

Mal Donaghy - Manchester United & Northern Ireland Statistics

Trevor Anderson - Harry Baird - Billy Behan - George Best - Jackie Blanchflower - Derek Brazil
Tommy Breen - Shay Brennan - Ronnie Briggs - David Byrne - Noel Cantwell - Johnny Carey
Joe Carolan - Roy Carroll - Tom Connell - Gerry Daly - Bernard Donaghy - Mal Donaghy - Tony Dunne
Pat Dunne - Jonny Evans - Sonny Feehan - Darron Gibson - John Giles - Keith Gillespie - Don Givens
Harry Gregg - Ashley Grimes - Mickey Hamill - David Healy - Denis Irwin - Tommy Jackson
Michael Keane - Roy Keane - Paddy Kennedy - Davy Lyner - Mick Martin - David McCreery
Noel McFarlane - Pat McGibbon - Chris McGrath - Paul McGrath - Sammy McIlroy - Sammy McMillan
Walter McMillen - Liam Miller - Kevin Moran - Tommy Morrison - Phil Mulryne - Jimmy Nicholl
Jimmy Nicholson - Liam O'Brien - John O'Shea - Patrick O'Connell - John Peden - James Robinson
Paddy Roche - Jackie Scott - Tom Sloan - Frank Stapleton - Billy Toms - Anthony Whelan
Liam Whelan - Norman Whiteside

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