Denis Irwin - Manchster United Legend

Denis Irwin Stats
Full Name	Denis Joseph Irwin
Birthplace	Cork, Eire
Date of Birth	31/11/1965
Height	175cm (5ft 9ins)
Position	Full-back
Squad Number	3
Leaugue Club Football
Club		Apps	Goals
Leeds United (1983 - 86)		82	1
Oldham Athletic (1986-90 Loan)		204	7
Manchester United (1990 - 02)		529	33
Wolves (2002-04)		85	2
Total		900	43
International Football
Republic of Ireland U-21(1986 - 87)		3	0
Republic of Ireland (1990 - 99)		56	4

Introduction
Denis Irwin can be considered a modern footballing great, and is thought of by many to have been Sir Alex Ferguson’s shrewdest ever buys during his tenure as Manchester United manager. The dynamic full-back had a glittering career at Old Trafford, by helping the club win seven League Championships, three F.A. Cups, one League Cup, one European Cup Winners’ Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.

During his 12 year spell at Manchester United Denis Irwin scored a fantastic 33 goals in 529 appearances and was also capped international by Ireland on 56 occasions.

In addition to his time with The Reds Irwin played for Leeds United, Oldham Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers and in total scored 43 goals in 900 appearances at club level.

Denis Irwin Early Career
Denis Irwin’s English footballing career kicked off at Second Division Leeds United in 1983 where he made 72 appearances, before joining Boundary Park outfit Oldham Athletic in 1986 on a free-transfer. During his 4 years spell at the Lancashire club Denis Irwin played 167 games and helped The Latics reach the League Cup final in 1990, where they lost to Nottingham Forest and the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, where Athletic lost Manchester United, a club Irwin would join a couple of months later for a fee of £625,000.

Denis Irwin Manchester United Career
It was during the two F.A. Cup semi-final games against Oldham Athletic that Alex Ferguson decided to take a punt on the Irish full-back and bring him to Old Trafford. The deal was concluded in June 1990, with the player making his Manchester United debut on 18 August in the 1-1 Charity Shield draw against arch rivals, Liverpool.

During his first season at United, Denis Irwin made an impressive 34 League appearances; helped the club reach the final of the League cup , as well as bringing home United’s first piece of European silverware for 23 years, when they defeated Spanish giants Barcelona in the final of the European Cup Winners cup. It would seem that the man from Cork would become a lucky charm during his time at The Theatre of Dreams.

The following season (1991-92) Denis Irwin went form strength to strength and on 7 September 1991 scored his first Manchester United goal in the club’s 3-0 League defeat of Norwich City at Old Trafford. He would go on to net further goals against Chelsea and old club Oldham Athletic (2) as he helped United to a 2nd place finish in the League, after cruelly being pipped on the last day of the season by bitter rivals Leeds United. However the heartache of that loss was somewhat tempered as The Reds, amazingly, won the League Cup for the first time in their history, when a single Brian McClair strike overcame Nottingham Forest. This result was particularly fitting for Irwin, as the same team had beaten his Oldham Athletic side in the final of that very competition, just two years earlier.

The 1992-93 campaign would be the best yet for the defender, as only Brian McClair made more appearances as Manchester United went one step better in the League, by bringing the Championship back to Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years.

If Denis Irwin thought that the previous campaign was as good as it was going to get, he would be gleefully wrong. In an absorbing 1993-94 season, in which the player would appear in most of the club’s 62 games, Manchester United won the League and F.A. Cup double, pipping Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea to those two trophies respectively. Although, United won the double that season, Denis Irwin and his team mates suffered the heartache of losing out on the domestic treble, when, down to ten men they succumbed to 3-1 defeat by Midlanders, Aston Villa.

At the end of another successful campaign Denis Irwin flew to the United States with the Republic of Ireland national team, to take on all comers in the 1994 World Cup finals.

In their opening game of the tournament, Irwin’s Irish side overcame overwhelming favourites Italy in a 1-0 victory and secured their passage into the last 16 phase, with a goalless draw against Norway. Unfortunately for the player they were knocked out by Holland in Orlando

On his return to England Irwin had a season (1994-95) to forget with Manchester United, as they were beaten to the League title by Blackburn Rovers, on the last day of the campaign and six days later lost their F.A. Cup crown to Scousers, Everton.

Over the next four seasons, Denis Irwin would add to his reputation as one the most consistent and reliable full-backs on the continent, by establishing himself as a cornerstone of the winning machine that was Manchester United. During the period between 1995 and 1998 the player helped The Red Devils win two more League titles and the F.A. Cup.

The 1998-99 campaign is a season that Manchester United would never forget, as they club went on to win an unprecedented treble, in the form of the Premier League title, F.A. Cup and UEFA Champions League. Irwin was a key figure in a defensive line-up consisting of Gary Neville, Jaap Stam and David May (as well as back up defenders Phil Neville, Henning Berg, and Ronny Johnsen), which gave United the platform to put teams to the sword. That season The Reds won 36 of their 62 matches and only suffered 4 defeats, so these stats are testament to the role Irwin and his fellow defenders played that season.

After the amazing season on 1999, Denis Irwin would play a further 94 games for the club over the next three seasons, winning two more league titles, to take his tally in that department to an amazing seven, which looks either more impressive when you add that haul to his three F.A. Cups, League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, European Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

Denis Irwin sadly left Manchester United in the summer of 2002 and went on to play two more seasons for Wolverhampton Wanderers before hanging up his boots at the end of the 2003-04 season.

Denis Irwin Honours

Manchester United
FA Premier League: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001
UEFA Champions League: 1999
Intercontinental Cup: 1999
FA Cup: 1994, 1996, 1999
League Cup: 1992
UEFA Super Cup: 1991

Denis Irwin Personal Honours

PFA Team of the Year: 1999

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