From Togher to Old Trafford, Denis Irwin let his football do the talking

Man United great Denis Irwin at his exhibition of memorabilia in the museum at Old Trafford in August 2000. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
“The nature of the man allows him to live with that, and not everyone can do that you know? But Denis has never been the type to ask for recognition or look for it.”

For managing to enjoy the trappings of massive success without letting it impinge on his personal life, Irwin could be described as the luckiest player on that great Manchester United team.

Amid the laughter, you realised how much substance there is to Ferguson’s psychoanalysis of his player. Denis Irwin the man is exactly like Denis Irwin the fullback. Consistent. Steady. Reliable. Quiet.

Whether it was soccer with Maglin Grove and then Everton, or playing hurling and Gaelic football for St Finbarr’s and later, Coláiste Chríost Rí, success presented only one problem. It wasn’t unusual for him to bring home silverware and fling it under the stairs with his gearbag. The first his parents knew about it would be when Maura Irwin discovered some glistening trophy clinging to the dirty jersey. Modesty on that scale is not an affectation.

“So I asked him, ‘Aren’t you excited?’ And he just said, ‘I have to go and play now, I have to prove myself.’ He was totally calm. It was just a case of him deciding he’d have to go and face a different challenge.”

During the failed attempt to reach Euro 2000, Irwin was magnificent in the home victories over Croatia and Yugoslavia, two of the better results achieved by any Irish team in the post-Charlton era. Although in both games, as so often, it was the more headline-friendly contributions of Roy Keane that took the plaudits, Irwin’s understated excellence at the back had been vital. Against Turkey in the first leg of the play-off at Lansdowne Road in November, 1999, it was also his brazen and determined run down the inside-left channel that culminated in David Connolly passing for Robbie Keane to score.

Enjoying a swansong with Wolverhampton Wanderers — where he added a promotion from the Championship to his litany of honours — he came up against his former team at Molineux.
