It’s hard to think of many figures in Irish sport whose name carries as much admiration and aura as Paul McGrath.
A star of Manchester United and Aston Villa for seven years apiece, McGrath remains one of the most gifted centre-backs ever to grace the English league and to don an Irish shirt. McGrath was a lynchpin of Jack Charlton’s immortal side of the late ’80s and early ’90s, producing heroic performances at Euro ’88, Italia ’90 and, most famously, at USA ’94.
Almost as notorious as his exceptional footballing ability were McGrath’s crippling struggles with alcoholism and mental health throughout his playing career and beyond retirement.
Today he celebrates his 65th birthday. It’s an occasion for reflection and celebration.
18 June 1994; Paul McGrath of Republic of Ireland tackles Giuseppe Signori of Italy during the FIFA World Cup 1994 Group E match between Republic of Ireland and Italy at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, USA. Photo by David Maher/Sportsfile
McGrath has spoken in the past of his difficulty to look back on his career with pride, due in part to his off-field issues. However, in a one-to-one conversation last month to support Movember, McGrath tells us his outlook has shifted as the years have gone by.
Can he feel pride for what he and his Ireland teammates achieved under Charlton?
I can now.
Honestly, we gelled really well as a football team. I don’t think some of us appreciated a lot of the football we played because it was alien, even to us, in the beginning. But it was getting us one or two results.
Everyone suddenly realised that having certain people in certain positions was brilliant for the team. The defence was solid, so we weren’t leaking goals, and the odd time we’d scrape a goal from time to time, that was all we needed. Once we went ahead of someone, they very rarely came back at us or we defended really well.
That last trait was one of the key factors behind one of Ireland’s most famous victories in June 1994. In the game which brought McGrath’s finest-ever performance in an Irish shirt, the Boys in Green got the better of Italy on a scorching summer’s day in New Jersey.
It was a game that summed McGrath up to a tee. In his book, he describes playing through the pain barrier due to chronic issues in his knees and arm, but not one Italian was going to get past the giant of Giants Stadium that day.
Ireland took an early lead through Ray Houghton’s 11th-minute goal and held on for the remaining 86 to see out a 1-0 win. For McGrath and his teammates, it was just as stressful as it was for those watching on from afar.
“I don’t think we thought we’d score, we thought we might get a draw out of the game if we could just keep it 0-0,” McGrath says. “Ray didn’t read the script, we scored, and we were able to hang on to it.
“Even us on the pitch, we’re going, ‘Oh my God, why did he do it so early?’” McGrath says, “Then you’re starting to think…even when we scored, you think, ‘Well, even if they score now, it’s going to be 1-1, so even then we’ll get a draw out of this.’
“Realistically, the more the game goes on, you suddenly start thinking, ‘Right, now just keep getting that ball up their end of the pitch, keep it away from me.’ All that sort of thing. I think Packie had a few saves, to be honest. We managed to do it, it was a great day.”
McGrath is, of course, underplaying his own role in that game in typically modest fashion. However, he does admit that there was an extra grit and determination about the Irish performance that day, against the team who had eliminated them from the previous tournament in Italy.
The unexpected green wave in the stands in New Jersey remains one of the brightest memories of Ireland’s run of regular tournament appearances.
“It was just magical, being on the bus and going in, then you’re into this stadium, it’s a magnificent place,” McGrath recalls. “Then you walk out to a crowd like that and suddenly you realise…there were so many Irish there that you suddenly say to yourself, ‘Well, we can’t lose today! Whatever happens, we cannot lose this game!’
“The Italians were a very good team at that stage, obviously they’d just beaten us in the last World Cup. It was one of those games, we owed them one anyway.”
But that was not the only massive result of that era. Ireland famously beat England at Euro ’88 and memorably beat Brazil in the late ’80s.
McGrath says that Ireland’s togetherness at the time was next level, a crucial factor in getting them over the line on so many memorable occasions.
From the strikers to the midfield to the lads at the back, everyone was fighting for everyone else. We weren’t going to be bullied by any team.
We used to go away to Bulgaria, all around Europe. We weren’t frightened of playing anyone, which is a brilliant thing to have, I think.
Sometimes you’d go away and play your great football but, if teams start bullying you, more often than not they’re going to beat you if you fold.
The football we were playing wasn’t really to everyone’s taste, to be honest, but it was a way we had of beating teams, so Jack kind of stuck to it for a while.
We annoyed teams, but it was our way of playing football. I know some of the football wasn’t the best but it got us results and Jack stuck to it, which was brilliant on his part.
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Paul McGrath remembers special role Jack Charlton played in his life
Another titan of Irish football is central to the story of Paul McGrath’s time in the green jersey.
1 July 1990; Paul McGrath of Republic of Ireland is introduced by manager Jack Charlton during a homecoming reception on College Green in Dublin after their participation in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Finals in Italy. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
All but ten of McGrath’s 83 Ireland caps were won under the stewardship of the country’s most successful-ever manager.
Charlton is remembered as a bubbly character who brought Ireland to world football’s top table, endearing himself to the general public and cementing his identity as one of the greatest adopted Irishmen of all time.
However, behind the scenes, Charlton knew exactly how to care for those in his squad who needed some care.
The difficulties that plagued Paul McGrath’s private life happened concurrently with much of his Ireland career, and he says that he would fail to report for training sessions with some regularity at various stages of his time with the national team.
McGrath says he is grateful for the warm treatment he received from Charlton, despite the problems which a less understanding coach would not have been so patient with.
I went missing one morning once…well, too many times to mention. But Jack would always welcome me back and always wanted me around the team.
I missed a few games because of some of the stuff I did and stuff but Jack still had me back and stuff.
I really appreciate him as a manager and a friend.
29 May 1994; Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton has a word with Paul McGrath during the International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Germany at Stuttgart in Germany. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
The bond between McGrath and Charlton was among the most special in Irish football history, and the two remain among the most beloved figures among Irish fans.
Four years after his death, Charlton was honoured at September’s meeting between Ireland and England with the reveal of a tifo of the great man raised by the section of supporters in the south stand.
McGrath was in attendance that day, sharing a brilliant video of himself driving up the N11 while blaring ‘Joxer Goes to Stuttgart.’ Though Ireland did not get the job done that day or in November’s return leg, McGrath is optimistic about the prospects of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side.
“I think it’s tough for a man to come in and suddenly be in charge of the Irish team,” McGrath muses, “He’s got to learn the nature of the players and stuff like that. You don’t [do that] in two games, or five games, or ten, maybe even 20 games.”
Sitting down across from McGrath in Dublin for a one-on-one earlier this year was one of the few times in my career thus far that I have felt truly starstruck. With time and experience, you become somewhat accustomed to meeting the big names of Irish sport – but there is only one Paul McGrath.
65 on Wednesday, McGrath has never been one to chase the limelight. I closed our chat by asking if he had any special plans to mark the big day.
“I’ll try and find as many candles as I can from somewhere – 65! I think I’ll just go somewhere quiet and just enjoy the day, seeing my kids, something like that. Do something very, very quietly.”
We wish him many happy returns.
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