Kevin Moran (footballer)
Kevin Moran ( born April 29, 1956 in Dublin ) is a former Irish football player who acted in defense. He gained notoriety by the fact that he was on 18 May 1985 at the 104th FA Cup final was the first player ever to be sent off in a final of this competition.
Life
Association
In his youth practiced Moran both the "English" football and the Irish variant and later focused on "soccer ", especially as the Gaelic football is only operated on amateur basis.
Moran began his soccer career in the 1975/76 season with his hometown club Bohemians FC and then moved to the neighbors Pegasus FC, where he was discovered by talent scouts of Manchester United FC and soon committed to it. His first try for the " Red Devils " denied Moran on 30 April 1979 in a match against FC Southampton.
But only after Ron Atkinson took over in 1981, the office of the head coach at United, Moran became a regular player. In the ten years that he was with the Red Devils under contract, Moran completed a total of 289 missions and scored 24 goals. Among his greatest successes in this decade include the two Cup wins in 1983 and 1985, in particular the second final on May 18, 1985 against Everton greatly helped that he was memorable. After a bad pass in the build-up play the Red Devils of Everton 's Peter Reid ran alone on the most treasured by Gary Bailey United gateway to, as Moran tried to stop him as the last man rather than the ball but his shot hit the opponent, the spectacular with a flight Moran came across to case. Then Moran was sent off, and because it was the first place in an FA Cup final reference at all, Moran went so into the history of the competition. At the end of Moran was allowed to cheer nevertheless, as United won the game with ten men with a goal from Norman Whiteside in extra time 1-0.
After a two-year commitment to the Spanish Sporting Gijón in the late 1980s Moran ended his career in the 1990s in ranks of Blackburn Rovers, with whom his 1992 promotion to the newly formed Premier League and with whom he in his last season in 1993/94 runner-up behind his former club Manchester United was.
National
Between 1980 and 1994, Moran completed a total of 71 international appearances for the Irish national team, where he scored six goals.
Among the highlights of his national team career included the participation in the staged in Germany EM 1988, in which he played all three games of Ireland. Although the Irish did not survive the group stage, the tournament was a success for them. They arrived in Group 2 third place, ahead of arch-rivals England, who was sensationally beaten in the opening match 1-0.
Another highlight was the participation in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, in which Ireland could advance to the quarter- finals, where they lost to the hosts Italy ( 0:1). Moran played in all five games of his native country, remained this time against England (1-1) undefeated and could furthermore prevail against the reigning European champions the Netherlands, against whom one was two years earlier failed.
More career
After ending his active career, he founded the football agency Proactive Sports Management, the United stars Wayne Rooney and Andy Cole represents among others. He also worked for the TV station TV3
Achievements
- FA Cup Winners: 1983 and 1985