Denis Irwin

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Denis Irwin
Denis Irwin (2017-07-29 img06) .jpg
Denis Irwin (2017)
Personnel
Surname Denis Joseph Irwin
birthday October 31, 1965
place of birth CorkIreland
size 173 cm
position Left full-back
Juniors
Years station
1982-1983 Leeds United
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1983-1986 Leeds United 72 0(1)
1986-1990 Oldham Athletic 167 0(4)
1990-2002 Manchester United 368 (22)
2002-2004 Wolverhampton Wanderers 75 0(3)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1986-1987 Ireland U-21 3 0(0)
1989 Ireland U-23 1 0(1)
1990 Ireland B 1 0(0)
1990-1999 Ireland 56 0(4)
1 Only league games are given.

Denis Joseph Irwin (born October 31, 1965 in Cork ) is a former Irish football player . The full-back was a fixture on the emerging Manchester United squad under Alex Ferguson in the 1990s . The 56-time Irish national player and World Cup participant from 1994 won seven English championships with “United” ( 1993 , 1994 , 1996 , 1997 , 1999 , 2000 and 2001 ), two FA Cup trophies ( 1994 and 1996 - another final victory In 1999 he missed the red banned ), the league cup in 1992 and, on the European stage, in addition to the cup winners' title in 1991 , especially the 1999 Champions League .

Athletic career

Beginnings (1982–1990)

Denis Irwin grew up in the southern Irish county of Cork and initially his sporting future was not set on football. The reason for this was that he had pursued the more popular, related sports of Gaelic football and hurling in stadiums such as Croke Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Ireland . He also had a well-known mentor in John Allen - later a successful trainer in the strongholds of Cork and Limerick.

In March 1982, however, he turned away from the Irish national sports and joined the youth division of Leeds United in northern England . Two and a half months after he signed his first professional contract there around his 18th birthday, he made his debut on January 16, 1984 in a competitive game against Scunthorpe United (2: 4 in the FA Cup ) and five days later he played his first second division game against FC Fulham (1-0). In the following season 1984/85 Irwin conquered under coach Eddie Gray the regular place on the right defensive side, before he surprisingly lost him again to Neil Aspin after Gray's resignation in October 1985 under his successor Billy Bremner . In addition, Leeds allowed him even after the end of the season 1986/87 a transfer-free club change and with the league competitor Oldham Athletic a prospect quickly found, with whom Irwin then also hired.

On the first day of play, he replaced Willie Donachie, who had previously been positioned there, on the right side of defense and in a 1986/87 season in which Irwin only missed one league game, Oldham only failed in the promotion battle in the play-offs at Irwin's former club from Leeds. After two years in the midfield of the English Second Division, the 1989/90 season brought a significant sporting development. Irwin reached eighth place with Oldham not only in the league . In addition to participating in the final in the League Cup against Nottingham Forest (0-1), the move into the semi-finals was groundbreaking, in which Irwin and his men only narrowly lost to Manchester United - and only lost through one replay. “United” coach Alex Ferguson was so impressed by Irwin's performance that he signed him for £ 625,000 a short time later.

Manchester United (1990-2002)

In his first season in 1990/91 for the new employer, Irwin acted as a full right defender and with his speed, game intelligence and the precise flanks that were hit with swing, which posed difficult tasks for opposing goalkeepers in particular, he added a new "weapon" to the offensive game. In the defensive game he showed weaknesses in some situations - due to his small body size, this often included the header game - but he often compensated for a lack of physical presence with good timing in defensive actions. The first title followed in the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 2-1 final victory in May 1991 against FC Barcelona - just under a month earlier he had lost his second league cup final in a row against Sheffield Wednesday 1-0. When Ferguson signed Paul Parker another player for the right defensive position for the 1991/92 season , Irwin switched to the left side and, thanks to his bipod, he adapted well to the new requirements after initial getting used to. In this capacity, he finally won his first English title in 1992, after he had won the League Cup on the third attempt by a 1-0 in the final against Nottingham Forest. He surpassed his four league goals in the following 1992/93 season, which brought Manchester United the first English championship in 26 years, by another goal and especially his spectacular winning goal in April 1993 against Coventry City provided much-needed three points. He finally rose to be one of the best Premier League players in the 1993/94 season, when he set two highlights on the way to the "double" from the English championship and the FA Cup (a remarkable free-kick goal against Liverpool FC in Anfield and in the eighth final of the cup, a goal after a pass relay with Paul Ince against FC Wimbledon ) and was voted into the top division team of the year (“PFA Team of the Year”).

As a free-kick and corner specialist (mostly from the right), he was also highly valued at that time for his qualities when the ball was at rest; to do this, he took more penalties. In an untitled 1994/95 season, the mostly quiet representative on the field was most noticeable in the FA Cup with goals against AFC Wrexham and Crystal Palace and in April 1995 he signed a new three-year contract with Manchester United. Used on both defense sides, Irwin won the second double from the English championship and FA Cup in his career with United in 1996 , although he only scored one league goal himself (plus an own goal against the Queens Park Rangers (1-1)). Irwin scored a goal against FC Wimbledon (3-0) on the first match day of the 1996/97 season and in the season that ended with the successful defense of the title in the Premier League , he was with the exception of short injury breaks - including 0 : 1 home defeat in the Champions League against Juventus Turin - again in an important key player, who ensured the necessary calm in crucial situations. In addition, after three missed penalties by Teddy Sheringham, he was now United's first choice for penalties and in the 1997/98 Champions League season he was a good successor against Feyenoord Rotterdam in this regard. In the second leg against the Dutch representative, Paul Bosvelt then injured him so badly in early November 1997 that Irwin was largely incapacitated until January 1998. The recovery went well and he returned without any visible restrictions for a cup game against Chelsea and in March 1998 he also led the team as captain.

In Manchester United's 1998/99 triple season, which, in addition to another double success in the English championship and the FA Cup, also brought the club the Champions League trophy , Irwin was still a fixture in the team despite increasing competition from young people, but was also missing some phases. After playing ten of the first eleven games, he took a break in October 1998 due to a knee injury. Nevertheless, with three converted penalties in important situations (two against Liverpool and one against FC Middlesbrough in the Cup) he made a significant contribution to the overall success - although suspended due to a red card for the FA Cup final against Newcastle United (2-0) - and in the end he was re-elected Team of the Year as one of five United players. In his tenth season, 1999/2000 for Manchester, he surpassed Peter Schmeichel's record number of appearances in the Champions League and thanks to his decision to end his career in the Irish national team and focus on club football, he continued to defend his regular position on the left defensive. In 2000 he won his sixth league title and at that time, together with Ryan Giggs, had for the first time accumulated more medals in this regard than any other Manchester player in history. The following year he increased this number to seven, the last championship title in his career. The post of left full-back was exposed to constant competition between Irwin, the brothers Gary and Phil Neville and Mikaël Silvestre and the "old master" who had also marked his 500th competitive game in the 2000/01 season ("befitting" for an Irishman on St. Patrick's Day ), made 20 league appearances from the start and scored with a penalty in both Champions League games against RSC Anderlecht . In his last season 2001/02 for Manchester United Irwin came only sporadically to the train; In his final appearance on the last day of the match against Charlton Athletic (0-0), coach Ferguson made him wear the captain's armband again on the occasion of his upcoming departure.

Career finale (2002-2004)

In late July 2002, Irwin moved to the second-rate Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer . The "Wolves" had signed Paul Ince, another "veteran" formerly active at Manchester United, and together they were key players in the ultimately successful promotion campaign . Irwin also attracted attention early on as a goalscorer, including first against Burnley FC and in October against Grimsby Town - both goals from a free kick. He was able to answer existing concerns that questioned his fitness in the comparatively advanced age of football with good performances on both sides of the defense and in the end he managed to be nominated again for the (second division) team of the year.

After he had originally set himself only for one year in Wolverhampton, Irwin extended his engagement due to the prospect of being able to play another year in the Premier League. That the 2003/04 season would be his last, Irwin announced at the beginning of the season in August 2003. There he was represented in all of the first 16 first division games in the team before he increasingly lost his place to Mark Clyde after the turn of the year . His last appearance in the 0-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur was his last and exactly 900th competitive appearance in professional football. Despite the club's relegation as bottom of the table , the spectators said goodbye to him with a standing ovation.

Irish national team

Irwin played a total of 56 games for the Irish national football team between 1990 and 1999 , scoring four goals. His first international match was against Morocco (1-0) on September 12, 1990 , and from then on he had a regular place. At the 1994 World Cup in the USA he started the first two group matches against Italy (1-0) and Mexico (1: 2) before a yellow card suspension prevented his participation in the third game and he was in the knockout round against the Netherlands ( 0: 2) was not taken into account.

Irwin did not qualify for the next three final tournaments of World and European Championships with Ireland and the defeat in the play-offs for participation in the Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium against Turkey (with two draws) was his last appearance in November 1999 as an Irish international.

After retirement

After the end of his active career, Irwin returned to Manchester to work as an expert and presenter for the club's own TV station MUTV . In addition, he was involved in reporting on various football tournaments for the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ , including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . He also writes as a columnist for the Irish newspaper Sunday World .

Personal

His son Liam (* 1992) followed in his footsteps and is also active as a football professional. After serving in the youth teams of Ireland, he played at club level for Bolton Wanderers , Altrincham FC and Stockport Sports FC.

Title / Awards

literature

  • Ponting, Ivan: Manchester United - Player by Player . Hamlyn, 1998, ISBN 0-600-59496-3 , pp. 208 f .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. "Premier League Stars Who Began Careers As Fledgling GAA Players" ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Irish News Review) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / irishnewsreview.net
  2. ^ A b Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 208 f .
  3. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 108 f .
  4. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 124 .
  5. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 140 .
  6. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 151 .
  7. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 155 .
  8. a b Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 167 .
  9. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 155 .
  10. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 210 .
  11. ^ "Charlton hold Man Utd" (BBC Sport)
  12. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 217 f .
  13. "Irwin confirms retirement plans"  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (BBC Sport)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / news.bbc.co.uk  
  14. Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 207 .
  15. ↑ Use statistics on national-football-teams.com
  16. ^ "MUTV - - Presenters Profiles Manchester United Official Web Site" ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.manutd.com
  17. ^ "RTE hopes Ossie and squad will spur fans to back home team" (Independent.ie)
  18. "Denis Irwin / Sunday World" ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Sunday World) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sundayworld.com
  19. Liam, son of Manchester United legend Denis Irwin, is a Republic of Ireland Youth International ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pitchero.com