Irwin
began his playing career at Leeds United as a sixteen-year-old,
where he made a total of 72 appearances before being released
as a 20-year-old to Oldham Athletic. He then moved to Oldham
Athletic He played in the 1990 League Cup final and the FA Cup
semi-final against United, in which his performance won him
a move to Old Trafford in a £650,000 deal and he celebrated
10 years at Old Trafford with a record-breaking testimonial
against neighbours City in August 2000.
More success followed with a European
Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1991 before winning the Premiership
in 1993, as an ever-present member of the team, playing in 40
League games, scoring five goals
He is now United's most decorated
player having won six Premiership titles, two FA Cup winners'
medals and a Champions League medal. He also holds the club
record for appearances in the European Cup.
During the historic 1998-9 season,
he was harshly sent off against Liverpool for kicking the ball
away and was forced to miss the FA Cup final through suspension.
He has played in total of 505
games for Manchester United and has scored 33 goals between
1990 and 2001. He has also won many medals with Manchester United
including; the European Cup Winners Cup, the European Super
Cup, Premier League 6 times, FA Cup 3 times, League Cup and
the European Champions League.
Irwin first played for Manchester
United at right back, but was switched to left back in the 1991/1992
season, and was virtually the first name on the team sheet,
until Phillip Neville came along. Irwin has also played international
football for the Republic of Ireland, having played in 56 games
and scoring 4 goals.
At the age of 36 and with younger
and new stars at the club, the opportunities for playing on
the hallowed turf of Manchester United became less frequent,
so Wolves snapped him up for a final season or two to see if
his experience at the back will be enough to finally take the
Molineux side back into the top flight.
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