PAUL MCGRATH - The Black Pearl Of Inchicore
On November 5, 1989, Paul McGrath played 90 minutes for Aston Villa in a 6-2 league win over Everton. The game was unusual for McGrath in that the central defender played with sweatbands on both wrists.
Few of the 17,637 in Villa Park would have noticed McGrath’s sartorial tweak. Nor too Robert Millward of the Birmingham Mail. ‘Aston Villa produced their own box of fireworks to set Villa Park alight with thoughts of another League championship,’ the Birmingham Post reporter wrote.
In fact, those sweatbands were covering up a series of cuts on McGrath’s wrists, caused by a Stanley knife a few days earlier. “I was in trouble with the club,” McGrath says. “I’m drunk and ashamed, on the edge of my bed, and reaching for the knife. I remember the blood pouring across the floor and the screaming of the nanny looking after our boys.”
Football has a significant problem with the treatment of its players. The ability to kick a ball in a pleasing manner is mistaken for a skin thick enough to protect you from depression and addiction. Most supporters don’t care what occurs in a player’s private life, but woe betide them if it impacts on their ability to perform. So goes the repeated mantra of the comments section: ‘They’ve got so much money, how can they be depressed?’ A reminder, as if it should be needed – mental stability cannot be bought. Players are not robots.
McGrath was a superb footballer, but that should not be his lasting legacy. Instead he is an emphatic reminder of the frailty of sportspeople. Mental illness does not pick and choose its victim according to pre-set criteria; it is an indeterminate beast.
There is no greater tribute to McGrath’s excellence than that his battles with addiction never became apparent to supporters of Manchester United, Aston Villa or Ireland. Yet even that compliment is soaked in pathos. His ability to hide his problems only caused them to fester untreated.
McGrath was a supreme defender. His grace and style made him look out of place, a Premier League-style ball-player in the blood and thunder of the First Division. His ability to read the game allowed him to avoid the physicality and aggression many of his peers relied upon. McGrath’s elegance made him extremely popular among his own supporters, but also opposition players and supporters. He was the footballer’s defender, the perfect antidote to the grit and gruel of English football’s 1980s.
(Credit to F365 -
http://www.football365.com/news/profile-of-an-icon-paul-mcgrath)
McGrath was one of those unique centre-backs whom you just didn't know how to classify. He was athletic, monstrous in the air and someone who relished the physical battle with the hustling centre-forwards, but his reading of the game was top notch, always putting out fires and his positioning impeccable - an immense blend of qualities from your archetypal ball playing centre-back and stopper. He was technically gifted and a really cultured player on the ball - esp his one-touch passes and keeping the play ticking - frequently playing as a DM for United and for Ireland in the Euros and the WC but he wasn't exactly overly domineering on the ball and tried his best to keep it simple.
Whilst there is always a tinge of regret that he never fully managed to capitalise on his immense potential*, he had the innate talent to be one of the all time greats imo, there is no doubting the fact that he was one of the best defenders of his generation - this is the 80s & early 90s lot that we are talking about, mind. Whilst his exploits against Italy is arguably his 'greatest' game amongst his body of work, he's had plenty of those big-game performances in his locker (McGrath himself says he's had better games) and has always been a key figure for both club and country.
He was an excellent defender for United - a MOTM performance against a strong Everton side in the FA Cup final, great performances against Platini's Juventus in the Cup Winner's Cup semi-finals and finishing runners up to Linker in the PFA's Player of the Year award for 1986, which is nothing short of remarkable for a defender. He'd do one better at Aston Villa and win the PFA's Player of the Year award in 1993; finishing as Football Writers' Footballer of the Year Runner up in 1992 and 1993; and winning 4 consecutive club POTY awards for Aston Villa, whilst leading them to two runners up finishes in the Football League Championship and the PL. His fantastic display against United in the 1994 League Cup Final deprived us of the chance to complete a domestic treble. In fact Fergie himself personally congratulated McGrath in the tunnel later, on his performance, despite the two not being on the best of terms. McGrath is arguably Villa's greatest player ever and is fondly referred to by Villa fans as 'God'. In fact his chant still reverberates throughout Villa Park on match-days, just as 'Ooh Aah Cantona' still does at Old Trafford.
INTERNATIONAL CAREER
McGrath's international career was exceptional to say the least and The Black Pearl of Inchicore was an inspirational and commanding presence for Ireland at the rearguard, and was the talisman and driving force behind the plucky Irish side of the late eighties and early nineties - a period in which where they were extremely unfortunate to go out in the Euros 1988 against eventual winners Netherlands (more on that later), made the quarter finals in the 1990 WC and the R16 in 1994 (where his defensive master-class against Baggio's Italy is the stuff of legends). Needless to say he won Ireland's 'Player of the Tournament' for both Euro '88 and Italia '90, and the Irish International Player of the Year twice during this period (90 & 91). Keano's won two of the latter for comparison's sake.
Paul McGrath represented his country 83 times on the football pitch scoring eight goals. It is difficult to recall a single poor performance by Paul when playing soccer for Ireland. Even when playing out of his normal position on the pitch invariably he was one of the star performers match-in match-out. Two stand-out performances spring to mind when Irish soccer fans are asked about Paul's greatest matches for Ireland. Both were against Italy. In the quarter final of the 1990 World Cup in Rome Italy were overwhelming favourites to win the match. In a very good overall team performance McGrath's performance stood out as the Irish lost narrowly 1-0.
Great as that performance was, and it really was great, Paul gave an absolute master class four years later in the opening group match in the World Cup finals in New York. Back in his favourite position at centre-half McGrath was simply magnificent. Ireland lead from early through a Ray Houghton goal. The Irish defence had to endure some periods of sustained attack from the talented Italians.
McGrath also featured in the Ballon d'Or list 4 times during his career finishing 17th, 12th, 13th & 26th - the votes tally isn't earth-shattering stuff but it's vital to take into context that he was a defender who wasn't necessarily playing for a top team nor in one of the heavyweight continental leagues etc. A top notch player on his day and quite simply a wall at the back.
Injuries (a short insight into his character and resilience)
McGrath tended to be plagued by injuries throughout his career but it never stopped him from delivering on the pitch when it mattered most.
Paul McGrath said:
I suffered from knee problems and underwent 10 operations in total, seven at Manchester United, another two at Villa and then one during my time at Sheffield United.
My right knee is now bone on bone, the left one was done back in 1988 after the European Championships and it took ages to come back from because I kept coming back too soon.
Paul McGrath said:
I had plenty of memorable games in my time at Villa but the 1994 Coca Cola Cup Final when we beat Manchester United at Wembley was special.
What a lot of people don’t know is that I was just five minutes away from not playing. I had chronic neck pain and didn’t sleep at all the night before. All I could think about was that I was going to miss the game. I had about four last-minute injections in my neck before the match started.
The bell had gone and the lads were in the tunnel but I was still wondering whether I’d even play. Shaun Teale was magnificent on the day and helped carry me through the match as I had never lost the power in my arm before and it was so painful in my back, neck and shoulders. It was so painful at the time I'd had to sleep sitting up.
Paul McGrath said:
I reckon I was maybe sixty per cent fit for USA '94 and playing largely on instinct. My left arm was useless because of a virus in my shoulder and I needed about five paces to simply find my stride. Against the likes of Giuseppe Signori and Roberto Baggio, that made for a pretty never wrecking ordeal. If you look at photographs of that game, my arm might as well be in a sling. It's hanging limp down by my side, like a snapped branch on a tree. Yet the longer the game went on, the more confident I became.
There's a chemistry that kicks in between defender and striker. One eventually knows that he is being manipulated by the other. That day, Baggio was no longer inclined to move in my direction. Signori had been substituted. It was over.
Colm Keene said:
He was, quite literally, a walking wreck
The infamous Steve Round said:
When I first started out as a youth coach (at Derby) we had a player called Paul McGrath who we'd signed and never trained a day. He didn't set one foot on the training ground. The only time he did was to walk round the pitch and watch training, so he might walk round two laps
But he played every single game and singlehandedly, near enough, kept us in the league that year. He was absolutely magnificent.
So that bucked the trend of what we were trying to do in terms of creating a sports science background to our professionals.
It speaks volumes about his resilience and mentality that despite being injury prone (so much so that he stopped training and only did light sessions on the bike after a few months at Villa and barely nothing at Derby) he still managed to deliver top class performances well into his thirties.
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