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Phil Mulryne

A great young hope for Northern Ireland football, early glimpses of Phil Mulryne were encouraging, the following years brought little but disappointment...

Name: Philip Patrick Stephen Mulryne
Born: 1 January 1978, Lisburn
Height: 5.08 ft
Weight: 10.11 st
Position: Midfielder

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 27 Full Caps / 3 Goals (1997-2005), 1 B Cap / 1 Goal (1996), 5 Under-21 Caps / 1 Goal (1998-1999), 4 Under-18 Caps / 2 Goals, 1 Under-17 Cap; 1 Under-16 Cap, 7 Under-15 Caps / 1 Goal.
Club Honours: (with Manchester United) FA Youth Cup Winner 1994/95; (with Norwich City) Football League Division One Champion 2003/04.

Club Career:
Teams
Seasons
Signed
Fee
League
FA Cup
FL Cup
Other
Manchester Utd
97/98-98/99
-96
Youth
1 (0)/ 0
0(1)/0
3(0)/0
-
Norwich City
98/99-04/05
Mar-99
£500k
132(29)/18
5(2)/2
6(1)/0
3(0)/0
Cardiff City
05/06
Jul-05
Free
1 (3)/ 0
-
-
-
Ipswich Town
-
Aug-06
Guest
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Brighton & H.A.
-
Sep-06
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Legia Warsaw
-
Oct-06
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
(Polish Premier League)
Barnsley
-
Nov-06
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Leyton Orient
06/07
Feb-07
Free
1 (1)/ 0
-
-
-
AFC.Bournemouth
-
Jul-07
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
St Mirren
-
Aug-07
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Kings Lynn
07/08
Oct-07
Free
-
(Southern League)
Linfield
-
Jun-08
Trial
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
TOTALS
-
£500k
135(33)/18
5(3)/2
9(1)/0
3(0)/0

Biography:

Phil Mulryne first came to the publics attention with a goal on his international debut as a nineteen-year-old, and he went on to star as captain in the early successes of Northern Ireland's Under-21 team. An FA Youth Cup winner with Manchester United, it was a combination of the presence of more illustrious contemporaries such as David Beckham and Paul Scholes, and a succession of injuries that limited Mulryne to just a handful of appearances at Old Trafford.

A move to Norwich City brought a little more luck (after further injury struggles), and a run in the Northern Ireland side under Sammy McIlroy. He helped Norwich City to promotion to the Premiership in 2004 under the leadership of Nigel Worthington (who was in the Northern Ireland side in which Mulryne made his debut), but a combination of poor form and continuing fitness problems led to his release after Norwich’s relegation.

Signed by Cardiff City after a brief trial in the summer of 2005, he was joined at Ninian Park by international colleague Jeff Whitley. In September 2005, while on international duty for a double-header against Azerbaijan and England, the Cardiff-duo broke curfew and were sent home by Lawrie Sanchez. Neither played for Northern Ireland again, although the door was left open by Lawrie Sanchez if a suitable apology was received. Mulryne failed to make an impact at Cardiff City, and was released at the end of his first season.

Mulryne then trained with Ipswich Town (playing for their reserves) and had trials with Brighton, Legia Warsaw and Barnsley. In early-February 2007, after over eight months without a club, Mulryne signed with Leyton Orient until the end of the season, making his debut in a 4-1 defeat by Brighton. As of the start of the 2007/08 season he was still without a club, though had been training back at Norwich to maintain his fitness. After a spell training with Yeovil he signed with Kings Lynn on 25 October but was released on 1 January 2008. In March 2008 he was training with Cliftonville. In late-June 2008 he joined Linfield on trial, but he wasn't offered a deal as Blues' boss David Jeffrey decided a midfielder wasn't a priority.

After a year off the football map, it was announced in July 2009 that Phil Mulryne would be entering the priesthood.

See also...
Flown From The Nest
Wikipedia
Irish FA Website


Northern Ireland Cap Details:
11/02/1997 Belgium............ H W 3-0 FR. sub 1 Goal
30/04/1997 Armenia............ A D 0-0 WCQ sub
21/05/1997 Thailand........... A D 0-0 FR
10/09/1997 Albania............ A L 0-1 WCQ sub
03/06/1998 Spain.............. A L 1-4 FR. sub
15/09/1998 Turkey............. A L 0-3 ECQ
10/10/1998 Finland............ H W 1-0 ECQ
27/04/1999 Canada............. H D 1-1 FR
16/08/2000 Yugoslavia......... H L 1-2 FR
07/10/2000 Denmark............ H D 1-1 WCQ sub
02/06/2001 Bulgaria........... H L 0-1 WCQ sub
06/06/2001 Czech Republic..... A L 1-3 WCQ 1 Goal
01/09/2001 Denmark............ A D 1-1 WCQ 1 Goal
05/09/2001 Iceland............ H W 3-0 WCQ
13/02/2002 Poland............. N L 1-4 FR
27/03/2002 Liechtenstein...... A D 0-0 FR
12/10/2002 Spain.............. A L 0-3 ECQ
(courtesy of Colin Beattie)
16/10/2002 Ukraine............ H D 0-0 ECQ
06/09/2003 Ukraine............ A D 0-0 ECQ sub
10/09/2003 Armenia............ H L 0-1 ECQ sub
31/03/2004 Estonia............ A W 1-0 FR
28/04/2004 Serbia & Montenegro H D 1-1 FR
30/05/2004 Barbados........... A D 1-1 FR
02/06/2004 St Kitts & Nevis... A W 2-0 FR. sub
06/06/2004 Trinidad & Tobago.. A W 3-0 FR
09/02/2005 Canada............. H L 0-1 FR. sub
17/08/2005 Malta.............. A D 1-1 FR. sub

Summary: 16(11)/3. Won 6, Drew 11, Lost 10.

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
26-03-1996 Norway Olympic XI.. H W 3-0 FR. 1 Goal

Summary: 1/1. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 0.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
21-04-1998 Switzerland........ H W 2-1 FR
20-05-1998 Scotland........... N D 1-1 MT 1 Goal
22-05-1998 Republic of Ireland A W 1-0 MT
-
31-03-1999 Moldova............ A D 0-0 ECQ
-

Summary:

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