As the Premiership began to mature in the second-half of the nineties a sea-change began to occur in managers' buying habits, it became harder for young stars to break through, and less likely that a lower-league player would be given a chance. Now was the time for signing established World stars.
In the third part of our look back on Northern Ireland footballers in the Premiership we can see the decline hasten, just ten made their bows between the 1995/96 and 1997/98 seasons...
Gerry Taggart
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
18/10/70
|
95/6
|
Bolton W.
|
11
|
0
|
1
| |
PoB:
|
Belfast
|
97/8
|
Bolton W.
|
14
|
1
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.85m
|
98/9
|
Leicester City
|
9
|
6
|
0
| |
Weight:
|
77kg
|
99/0
|
Leicester City
|
30
|
1
|
6
| |
Position:
|
Defender
|
00/1
|
Leicester City
|
24
|
0
|
2
| |
01/2
|
Leicester City
|
0
|
1
|
0
| |||
03/4
|
Leicester City
|
9
|
0
|
0
| |||
TOTALS
|
97
|
9
|
9
| ||||
-
| |||||||
Aidan Davison
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
11/05/68
|
95/6
|
Bolton W.
|
2
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Sedgewick.(ENG)
|
97/8
|
Bradford City
|
5
|
1
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.85m
|
98/9
|
Bradford City
|
2
|
0
|
0
| |
Weight:
|
82kg
|
TOTALS
|
9
|
1
|
0
| ||
Position:
|
Goalkeeper
| ||||||
-
| |||||||
Neil Lennon
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
25/06/71
|
96/7
|
Leicester City
|
35
|
0
|
1
| |
PoB:
|
Lurgan
|
97/8
|
Leicester City
|
37
|
0
|
2
| |
Height:
|
1.75m
|
98/9
|
Leicester City
|
37
|
0
|
1
| |
Weight:
|
83kg
|
99/0
|
Leicester City
|
31
|
0
|
1
| |
Position:
|
Midfielder
|
00/1
|
Leicester City
|
15
|
0
|
0
| |
TOTALS
|
155
|
0
|
5
| ||||
-
| |||||||
Michael O'Neill
|
-
| ||||||
DoB:
|
05/07/69
|
96/7
|
Coventry City
|
1
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Portadown
|
97/9
|
Coventry City
|
2
|
2
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.85m
|
TOTALS
|
3
|
2
|
0
| ||
Weight:
|
82kg
| ||||||
Position:
|
Midfielder
| ||||||
-
| |||||||
Wesley Boyle
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
30/03/79
|
96/7
|
Leeds United
|
0
|
1
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Portadown
|
TOTALS
|
0
|
1
|
0
| ||
Height:
|
1.78m
| ||||||
Weight:
|
70kg
| ||||||
Position:
|
Forward
| ||||||
-
| |||||||
Maik Taylor
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
04/09/71
|
96/7
|
Southampton
|
18
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Hildesheim (GER)
|
01/2
|
Fulham
|
1
|
1
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.91m
|
02/3
|
Fulham
|
18
|
1
|
0
| |
Weight:
|
91kg
|
03/4
|
Birmingham C.
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |
Position:
|
Goalkeeper
|
04/5
|
Birmingham C.
|
38
|
0
|
0
| |
05/6
|
Birmingham C.
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |||
07/8
|
Birmingham C.
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |||
09/0
|
Birmingham C.
|
2
|
0
|
0
| |||
TOTALS
|
179
|
2
|
0
| ||||
-
| |||||||
Paul McVeigh
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
06/12/77
|
96/7
|
Tottenham H.
|
2
|
1
|
1
| |
PoB:
|
Belfast
|
04/5
|
Norwich City
|
31
|
4
|
1
| |
Height:
|
1.68m
|
TOTALS
|
33
|
5
|
2
| ||
Weight:
|
66kg
| ||||||
Position:
|
Forward
| ||||||
-
| |||||||
Alan Fettis
|
-
| ||||||
DoB:
|
01/02/71
|
96/7
|
Nott'm Forest
|
4
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Newtownards
|
97/8
|
Blackburn R.
|
7
|
1
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.88m
|
98/9
|
Blackburn R.
|
2
|
0
|
0
| |
Weight:
|
83kg
|
TOTALS
|
13
|
1
|
0
| ||
Position:
|
Goalkeeper
| ||||||
-
| |||||||
Aaron Hughes
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
08/11/79
|
97/8
|
Newcastle U.
|
4
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Magharafelt
|
98/9
|
Newcastle U.
|
12
|
2
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.83m
|
99/0
|
Newcastle U.
|
22
|
5
|
2
| |
Weight:
|
71kg
|
00/1
|
Newcastle U.
|
34
|
1
|
0
| |
Position:
|
Defender
|
01/2
|
Newcastle U.
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |
02/3
|
Newcastle U.
|
35
|
0
|
1
| |||
03/4
|
Newcastle U.
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |||
04/5
|
Newcastle U.
|
18
|
4
|
1
| |||
05/6
|
Aston Villa
|
35
|
0
|
0
| |||
06/7
|
Aston Villa
|
15
|
4
|
0
| |||
07/8
|
Fulham
|
29
|
1
|
0
| |||
08/9
|
Fulham
|
38
|
0
|
0
| |||
09/0
|
Fulham
|
34
|
0
|
0
| |||
10/1
|
Fulham
|
38
|
0
|
1
| |||
11/2
|
Fulham
|
18
|
1
|
0
| |||
12/3
|
Fulham
|
23
|
1
|
0
| |||
13/4
|
Fulham
|
11
|
2
|
0
| |||
TOTALS
|
434
|
21
|
5
| ||||
-
| |||||||
Phil Mulryne
|  | ||||||
DoB:
|
01/01/18
|
97/8
|
Manchester U.
|
1
|
0
|
0
| |
PoB:
|
Belfast
|
04/5
|
Norwich City
|
8
|
2
|
0
| |
Height:
|
1.73m
|
TOTALS
|
9
|
2
|
0
| ||
Weight:
|
66kg
| ||||||
Position:
|
Midfielder
| ||||||
-
Overview, 1992/93, 1993/94-1994/95, 1995/96-1996/97, 1998/99-2001/02, 2002/03-date
Comments