Paul McGrath (footballer)

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For other people named Paul McGrath, see Paul McGrath (disambiguation).

Paul McGrath
Personal information
Date of birth	4 April 1959
Place of birth	Ealing, England
Height	1.84 m (6ft 0in)
Nickname	God, the Black Pearl
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Retired
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1981-1982 1982-1989 1989-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998	St Patrick's Athletic Manchester United Aston Villa Derby County Sheffield United	?? (?) 163 (12) 252 (9) 24 (0) 7 (0)
National team
1985-1997	Ireland	83 (8)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Paul McGrath (born December 4, 1959 in Ealing, London, England as Paul Nwobilo) is a former international football defender, a long-time member of the Republic of Ireland national team. He was one of the first Irish celebrities of mixed-race background.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 2.1 Club 2.2 International 3 Trivia 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Biography

McGrath is the son of an Irish mother and a Nigerian father [1].

According to Donald McRae, McGrath's father disappeared soon after his conception. His mother, Betty McGrath, had given Paul up for adoption when he was four weeks old.

Terrified that her father would find out she had become pregnant, and that the child was the product of an interracial relationship, McGrath's mother travelled in secret to London to have her child, who was also considered illegitimate.

Although McGrath's mother would eventually track him down again, Paul Nwobilo, as was then known, was brought up in a number of orphanages in Dublin.

[edit] Career

[edit] Club

He began as a schoolboy with Pearse Rovers and played junior football for Dalkey United. McGrath worked briefly as an apprentice sheet metal worker in Dublin before becoming a full time professional; in 1981 he moved to Football League of Ireland club St Patrick's Athletic. He excelled at St Pat's, earning the nickname "The Black Pearl of Inchicore" and receiving the PFAI Player of the Year Award in his first and only season.

He moved to Manchester United (1982-89), and later Aston Villa (1989-96), Derby County (1996-97), and Sheffield United (1997-98). While at Villa Park he was nicknamed God, and was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1993. He is considered one of the greatest players in Villa's history.

For many years he suffered from alcoholism, and missed occasional matches as a result. His career was also blighted with injury which resulted in him undergoing a total of eight knee operations during his career.

[edit] International

He was a major part of the breakthrough of Ireland's national team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, led by manager Jack Charlton. He was capped 83 times for his country, scoring 8 goals, and played in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

[edit] Trivia

• In 1997, on the popular Irish television program The Late Late Show, McGrath was named by former Republic player and now controversial journalist Eamon Dunphy as one of Ireland's three best ever footballers. The other two Dunphy named were Johnny Giles and Roy Keane.

• Paul currently lives in Monageer, County Wexford.

• A great career moment occurred at the 1994 World Cup. Ireland was drawn to play one of the favorites, Italy. With Ireland leading by one goal to nil, Italy were besieging Ireland's goal. McGrath was marking Roberto Baggio who had the ball at his feet. McGrath slid across the front of him, and tackled the ball straight off his toes, knocking it back to the feet of an Italian player, who immediately chipped the ball into the air, to try and set Baggio up for a half-volley. As the ball was dropping, McGrath got off the ground, leapt up and headed the ball away, beating Baggio in the air. McGrath landed on all fours, facing out from the goal. The ball landed on the half-volley right in front of an Italian player who shot for goal which McGrath took straight in the face and began to chase the ball. McGrath's tenacity that day lifted the entire Irish team to achieve one of the most memorable single results in Irish football history.

[edit] References

• McGrath, Paul (2006). Back from the Brink: Paul McGrath. Century. ISBN 1-84605-076-6.

[edit] See also

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

[edit] External links

• Paul McGrath career stats at Soccerbase
• Information on player
• The Guardian
• The Times

Preceded by: Gary Pallister

PFA Players' Player of the Year 1993

Succeeded by: Éric Cantona

	Republic of Ireland squad - 1990 World Cup Quarter Finalists
1 Bonner | 2 Morris | 3 Staunton | 4 McCarthy | 5 Moran | 6 Whelan | 7 McGrath | 8 Houghton | 9 Aldridge | 10 Cascarino | 11 Sheedy | 12 O'Leary | 13 Townsend | 14 Hughton | 15 Slaven | 16 Sheridan | 17 Quinn | 18 Stapleton | 19 Kelly | 20 Byrne | 21 McLoughlin | 22 Peyton | Coach: Charlton

	Republic of Ireland squad - 1994 World Cup
1 Bonner | 2 Irwin | 3 Phelan | 4 Moran | 5 McGrath | 6 Keane | 7 Townsend | 8 Houghton | 9 Aldridge | 10 Sheridan | 11 Staunton | 12 G. Kelly | 13 Kernaghan | 14 Babb | 15 Coyne | 16 Cascarino | 17 McGoldrick | 18 Whelan | 19 McLoughlin | 20 D. Kelly | 21 McAteer | 22 A. Kelly | Coach: Charlton