Stephen Ireland

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Personal information
Stephen Ireland
Full name	Stephen James Ireland
Date of birth	August 22, 1986 (1986-08-22) (age 21)
Place of birth	Cork, Republic of Ireland
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	7
Youth clubs
?–2003 2003–2005	Cobh Ramblers Manchester City
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005–	Manchester City	81 (5)
National team²
2006–2008	Republic of Ireland	06 (4)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:01, 31 May 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 29 March, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

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

1 Football career
- 1.1 International career
- 1.2 Controversy
2 References
3 External links

[edit] 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 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. However, Ireland erased that memory with a goal in the reverse fixture, which lead Manchester City to a 2-1 home victory over Spurs.^[7]. He Scored his final goal of the Season with a sweet strike in the 2-3 loss to Fulham. He got the ball just outside the left side of the penalty box and curved it over Anti Niemi into the top right corner. He finished the 07/08 season with 4 goals.

[edit] 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 in Bratislava on September 8th 2007.

[edit] Controversy

In September 2007, Ireland was at the centre of controversy when, days prior to the Republic of Ireland crunch match against the Czechs, he asked to speak to coach Steve Staunton and told him he'd have to go home because his maternal grandmother had died. Staunton quickly agreed and a private jet was chartered for Ireland's return.

However the media quickly discovered that Ireland's grandmother was not dead, at which point Ireland announced it was his paternal grandmother who died but yet again, reporters discovered that Ireland's paternal grandmother was also still alive, and her relatives had threatened to sue one newspaper that reported her death. Ireland changed his story again, saying one of his grandfathers had divorced and it was his second wife who had died. That was also quickly discovered to be untrue.

Ireland eventually came out with the truth, admitting he had invented a reason to leave the Irish team in order to visit his girlfriend in Cork. "I decided at that stage that I must tell the truth and admit I had told lies," Ireland said. "I realize now it was a massive mistake to say my grandmothers had died and I deeply regret it."

Irish coach Staunton was furious at Ireland, who was described by one friend as "living in a world of lies." The coach's mood wasn't helped by the fact Ireland lost 1-0 to the Czechs, which effectively ended their hopes of qualifying. Ireland said his girlfriend had miscarried and that "caused us to panic." The FAI as well as football fans over the country were left to wonder why he hadn't simply told the truth, as a miscarriage would have been sufficient to allow Ireland compassionate leave.

"Jessica (his girlfriend) said she was very lonely and wanted me to come home. She thought they might let me home quicker if they thought my grandmother had died," Ireland explained.

He has not played for Ireland since this controversy.