CLUB CAREER

Club career Stephen started his football career with Cobh Town Schoolboys as an eight year old playing in the Cork Schoolboys League.

 

Stephen made the first of two visits to the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools Skills Competition Final in Old Trafford when he was aged ten and out of a final group of thirty boys he won the competition. The following year he returned to Old Trafford and again he won the competition.

 

Stephen continued with his football education under the guidance of his father Michael himself a legend with Cobh footballing circles and at the age of 13 was selected as a member of the Cork Kennedy Cup Squad. At this stage Stephen was playing for Cobh Ramblers Schoolboys Cork, under Barry McGovern and made it to the final in Limerick but were defeated by the Dublin and District Schoolboys League (DDSL). A small consolation for Stephen was that he was selected as the player of the tournament.

 

Stephen’s performances in Limerick attracted interest from 22 British clubs, and he had trials with a number of them, but 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 academy at Manchester City.

 

He played for the reserves at 16 and soon became a regular, and made his first team debut in a pre season friendly against Bolton Wanderers in the Thailand Cup.

 

A wrist injury in City’s final pre-season game against Olympiacos meant that Stephen had to wait a few weeks before he made his Premiership debut against Bolton Wanderers on the 18th September 2005 when he came on as an 81st minute substitute.

 

He subsequently made his first competitive start against Doncaster Rovers on the 21 September 2005. He was man of the match on his first Premiership start against Everton on the 2nd October 2005. He then started the next six matches for City, which won him a contract to keep him at the club until 2009. In the remainder of the season he participated in around half of Manchester City's matches, ending the season with a total of 16 appearances.

 

On the 26th December 2006, he 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. His second goal for City came against Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of FA Cup, at the City of Manchester Stadium where City went on to win 2-1. On the 18th February, he 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 volley from outside the area.

 

Stephen played 37 games in the 2007/08 season and scored 4 goals in the premiership.

 

Stephen played 47 games in the 2008/09 season and scored a total of 13 goals, 9 in the premiership and 4 in the cup games and was nominated for the PFA young player of the year.

 

Total appearances of (118) and (20) goals.

International Career

Stephen represented Ireland at under-15, under-16 and under-17 level, but was also eligible for England and Italy.

 

In January 2006 Steve Staunton was named as Republic of Ireland manager, and in his first squad for a match against Sweden, Stephen received his first senior call up, and made his debut when he came on as a substitute replacing John O'Shea. He scored his first international goal on the 7th October, 2006 in a 5-2 loss to Cyprus.

 

On the 7th February 2007 Stephen scored the last minute goal against San Marino to win the match 2-1. On the 24th March, 2007, he scored the first ever football goal in Croke Park against Wales and also scored against Slovakia in Bratislava on the 8th September 2007. Stephen was voted FAI young player of the year for 2007.

 

Total appearances (6) and (4) goals.

Full name	Stephen James Ireland
Date of birth	August 22, 1986
Place of birth	Cork, Republic of Ireland
Height	5 foot 9 inches
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Manchester City
2005 to present
	(App)	(Goals)
	118	20
Republic of Ireland
2006 to present                                                                                   (App)                                 (Goals)                                                                                             6                                           4
Up to 24/05/09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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