Paul McGrath (footballer)

Paul McGrath ( born December 4, 1959 in Ealing, London ) is a former Irish football player. Was the son of a Nigerian father and an Irish woman as a defender for more than a decade, part of the national team of his native country.

Childhood

Paul McGrath lived from birth a difficult childhood. The pregnant Betty McGrath decided to secretly give birth to her child from a liaison with a Nigerian who had left shortly after learning of the pregnancy, London. Fearing both prior to the reaction of her father and of reprisals within the Catholic tradition around their hometown of Dublin before her extramarital son of multiracial origin, the traumatized mother of the young Paul was just four weeks off after the birth for adoption. As " Paul Nwobilo " the shy boy grew up in several orphanages and in the midst of an environment as the only dark-skinned child he developed an inferiority complex, which might be even decades later in adulthood in binge drinking and suicide attempts reflected. In football, however, the adolescent to a model athlete Paul is another side lived from, through which he enjoyed early recognition.

Sports career

Club career

As a student McGrath initially played at the Pearse Rovers, before he came into use in the youth team of Dalkey United. In the latter club he has already caught the attention of Billy Behan, who was traveling at the time as a talent scout for Manchester United. Professional football player he was then, however, the domestic Ireland at St Patrick's Athletic, where he became a full-time soccer player until 1981 and had previously worked as thin sheet metal processing and security guard. His debut was McGrath in August 1981 in a League Cup match against Shamrock Rovers at Richmond Park, and because of its consistently good performance received the " Black Pearl of Inchicore " in his first - and, finally, single in Ireland - season the award of Ireland's player of the year ( " PFAI players' Player of the Year ").

In April of 1982, McGrath changed hands for £ 30,000 at Manchester United, has been trained at this time of Ron Atkinson. The central defender made ​​his debut on 13 November 1982 in Old Trafford with a 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, and quickly became one of the favorite players of United supporters. In 1985, he won with a 1-0 final victory against Everton with the FA Cup trophy and his first had by then become one of the best defensive players in English football. In the following period, however, should injury problems at the knee, but above all ensure his increasing alcohol escapades that McGrath is under new coach Alex Ferguson the desired starting place was not secure. Ferguson, in contrast to Atkinson, the alcohol problems of his actors condemned only in case of missing services on game itself, it attached value that " a football club not a drinking club " was, several times went with McGrath together. In 1989, McGrath was eventually reached a low point; he tried to escape his increasing problems with a suicide attempt and the United Club leadership finally offered McGrath a " pension payment " in the amount of 100,000 pounds and a personal charity match ( " testimonial match" ) to what the Irishman refused again. Instead signaled Ferguson potentially interested clubs that McGrath was ready for a transfer.

Despite an offer of his former conveyor Ron Atkison - now employed by Sheffield Wednesday - signed McGrath 1989 a contract with Aston Villa. There, the Irishman found footballing back to its former strength, although it still plagued by knee problems and he always lived new lows off the pitch. One example of this was his performance as impellers in midfield by his new team the opposing FC Everton with an interim 6-0 lead nearly overran - while he tried to hide his self-inflicted wounds with long sweatbands. The coached by Graham Taylor club from Birmingham played in the 1989/90 season with the win the English championship and finished at the end behind the Liverpool to second place. This was followed by the appointment of Taylor as the new England manager with a disappointing fourth last place in the subsequent season a sporty fall under the new athletic director Jozef Vengloš, which was in turn replaced by Ron Atkinson. The first season of the new Premier League was heavily influenced by the achievements McGrath, who was the center of a defense against Aston Villa and at the end of the 1992/93 season in addition to winning the new runner - now behind his old club from Manchester - from his fellow players was selected in the league of England player of the Year. His first trophy he won with Villa finally 1994, when he just could defeat Manchester United in the final of the League Cup with a 3-1 (one of the first to congratulate was by the way, Alex Ferguson, the McGrath with the words " Well done, big man. " Congratulated ). Two years later he retired from Birmingham with another League Cup victory - Leeds United is markedly inferior in the final with 0:3. From the Villa supporters McGrath (nicknamed "God " ) is regarded to this day as one of the best players of the club, which has steadily thereby expressing that jersey with his name still achieve high sales figures.

Short term McGrath stood still at Derby County and Sheffield United under contract, before he ended his turbulent career and a total of eight knee surgeries in 1998.

Irish national

In the national team of Ireland, in the 1980s experienced a sports recovery under Jack Charlton, McGrath was a key player and came there especially in midfield for use. He graduated from the European Championships in 1988 and the subsequent two world championships in 1990 and 1994, three major tournaments and was in 1992 after the resignation of Mick McCarthy briefly in four games captain Ireland. Special recognition it received its performance in World Cup match of 1994 against Italy, as McGrath the opposing playmaker Roberto Baggio ausschaltete and with his fighting spirit had a high proportion of the 1-0 upset win against the Turniermitfavoriten.

The National team career McGrath lasted between its debut on February 6, 1985 against Italy and his last mission February 11, 1997 against Wales over twelve years, and included 83 international matches and scored eight goals.

After the football

In 2006, the autobiography "Back from the Brink " that McGrath had co-written with journalist Vincent Hogan appeared. The work was voted the best Irish Sports Book of the Year ( " William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year ").

Achievements

• FA Cup winner: 1985
• English League Cup Winners: 1994, 1996
• England's Footballer of the Year: 1993