Stephen Ireland

Stephen James Ireland (born August 22 1986 in Cobh, Cork, Ireland) is an Irish footballer playing in England for Manchester City.

Football career

Stephen Ireland started his football career in Cobh, playing junior football for Cobh Ramblers, a team his father Michael had previously played for.^[1] As a schoolboy Ireland had trials with a number of British clubs, though several were discouraged by his Osgood-Schlatter disease, which he suffered from in his mid-teens. At the age of 15 he joined the youth setup at Manchester City. Ireland played for Manchester City's first team in a number of friendlies in the 2005 preseason, and made his competitive debut on the 18th September 2005 against Bolton Wanderers, coming on as an 81st minute substitute.^[2] He subsequently made his first competitive start against Doncaster Rovers on 21 September 2005. He won man of the match on his first Premiership start against Everton on the 2 October 2005.^[3][4] He then started the next six matches for City, which won him a contract to keep him at the club until 2009.^[5] In the remainder of the season he participated in around half of Manchester City's matches, ending the season with a total of 16 starts and 12 substitute appearances.^[6] On the 26th of December, Ireland scored his first Premiership goal for Manchester City, a left footed volley from 20 yards. The goal proved to be the only goal in a vital 1-0 victory at Sheffield United' s Bramall Lane. Ireland's second goal for City came against Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of FA Cup. His goal, scored just moments before the interval, was created by man of the match Joey Barton in front of 25,000 spectators at the City of Manchester Stadium. City went on to win 2-1. On the 18th of February, Ireland rounded off the scoring for Manchester City in a 3-1 away win over Preston North End in the 5th round of the FA Cup with a stunning volley from outside the area. Having started the 2007-08 premiership season extremely well with Manchester City, Ireland scored the only goal, a brilliant volley, in a 1-0 home win over Sunderland. His celebration for the goal courted some controversy, Ireland dropped his shorts to reveal a pair of underwear sporting the Superman logo, however the FA decided a warning would be the fairest course of action.Then in November against Reading F.C he scored and absolutely fantastic volley to keep Manchester City's Home record at 100%. Two weeks later he was sent off in the 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur and received a 3 match ban. ^[7]

International career

Ireland represented Ireland at under-15, under-16 and under-17 level,^[1], but when called up to under-18 level he had a dispute with coach Brian Kerr after he was left out of the side and told to watch the match from the stands. The team lost the match 4-0, and Kerr suggested Ireland would be involved in the next match. When Ireland was again left out, he requested to return to his club, and Kerr informed him that he would never play for the Republic of Ireland while Kerr was manager.^[8] Shortly afterward, Kerr became manager of the senior Republic of Ireland team, leading Ireland to briefly consider choosing to represent either England or Italy, for whom he was also eligible.^[9] In January 2006 Kerr was replaced as Republic of Ireland manager by Steve Staunton. In Staunton's first squad, for a match against Sweden, Ireland received a senior call up for the first time. Ireland came on a substitute in the match, replacing John O'Shea.^[10] He scored his first international goal on October 7th, 2006 in a 5-2 loss to Cyprus. On the 7th of February 2007 Stephen Ireland saved the Republic of Ireland from a humiliating draw with San Marino with a last minute injury time goal. Final score was 2-1. On 24th March, 2007, he scored the first ever football goal in Croke Park against Wales.^[11] This was his third international goal in just four matches. He also scored against Slovakia on September 8th 2007. He then pulled out of the squad to face the Czech Rep stating that his maternal grandmother had died. The following day it was revealed that this was not the case, leaving the FAI embarrassed as they believed they had given Ireland the incorrect information. On September 14th after the FAI contacted Manchester City relating to the matter Stephen Ireland revealed the truth, that his withdrawal was in fact due to a miscarriage suffered by his girlfriend Jessica. On a statement on the Manchester City website Ireland issued a full apology to all those involved.

Controversy

Stephen withdrew from the Republic of Ireland international squad following the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia. When the game ended the manager Stephen Staunton told him that they had taken a call from his then girlfriend, Jessica, and she had claimed that Stephen's grandmother had died. The manager, Stephen Staunton, later challenged Stephen Ireland on the circumstances, as the FAI had discovered that his maternal grandmother was not dead. The player then claimed that there had been a mistake and it had been his paternal grandmother (Brenda Kitchener). Stephen's club, Manchester City, then challenged him on this story, and at that point Stephen confirmed that his girlfriend had suffered a miscarriage, and thought that the FAI might let him return home if they thought his grandmother had died. The full story was then confirmed by Stephen in a widely-circulated email. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/euro_2008/article2453891.ece http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=471262

References

External links

• Stephen Ireland career stats at Soccerbase