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Monday 18 August 2025 15:44
Some 35 years ago, Denis Irwin made his competitive Manchester United debut.
It came at Wembley and I was there, among the Reds fans packed into the national stadium to see Alex Ferguson’s team take on the mighty Merseyside force of Liverpool.
We had won the first trophy of Sir Alex’s reign, beating Crystal Palace after a replay in the FA Cup final but had performed poorly in the league. Could this be the catalyst to end the long wait since 1968 for the league championship? Well, Liverpool were still a top side but creaks had started to appear when losing to the Eagles in the FA Cup semi-final in the previous campaign.
So anticipation was high, as always, for the Charity Shield, as it was then known, and Irwin made his bow at right-back in a defence also consisting of Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and Mal Donaghy.
Denis Irwin whips in a cross on his competitive United debut.
The Republic of Ireland international had been excellent in both of our FA Cup last-four ties with Oldham Athletic, surely doing enough in those games to convince the Reds to buy him for an absolute steal of around £625,000 to £650,000, depending who you believe.
Latics boss Joe Royle commented: “Alex told me he’d had the lad watched more than 20 times before he made his bid and never had a bad report. That’s the reality of Denis Irwin – he never lets you down.”
Never was a truer word said and the out-of-contract defender rejected approaches from Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday to head for Old Trafford.
I’d be lying if the full-back stood out massively and indicated he would have the sort of impact at United that would reap seven Premier League titles and encompass 529 appearances.
Yet the magic of Denis was his consistency. He was up against the best team in the land, containing John Barnes, Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley, a formidable forward trio. He was unflappable and confident in his work and certainly deserving more of the ‘six’ handed to him in the Sunday Mirror‘s player ratings. Any Reds fan will tell you Den never dropped below a seven out of 10.
The Sunday Tribune described his maiden performance as “mixed” but did note he was a “very good player, or was at Oldham” and was destined to become a regular for his country.
One cross from the Irishman picked out Clayton Blackmore, whose spectacular effort was repelled by Bruce Grobbelaar to deny a goal we would have seen over and over again. If assists were en vogue in 1990 it would have been a major plus for his output, had it gone in.
Denis Irwin lines up with his new team-mates before kick-off.
Blackmore did score, to open the scoring just before half-time, only for a controversial penalty to be awarded by referee George Courtney, when Barnes tumbled over a Pallister challenge. Within six minutes of the restart, Barnes dusted himself down to beat Les Sealey from the spot and the sense of injustice burned brightly in the United end.
it finished 1-1 and, although it may seem strange now, the Charity Shield was shared. Both sides paraded it around the pitch together and would keep it for six months each. There was no penalty shootout which, in retrospect, is a shame because I would have bet my mortgage on Irwin finding the net with his effort, which could have endeared himself even quicker to the Reds faithful.
No bother, though, he would quickly establish himself as a certainty for most all-time United XIs and pick up far more silverware than half of a Charity Shield. We didn’t know it then but Liverpool’s period of dominance was coming to an end, and we were primed to take over.
And getting to know Den in his capacity as a legend when he does ambassadorial work for the club has been a real joy. I was with my father when meeting him at Old Trafford once and he commented that the fans’ favourite was “exactly as I imagined he would be”. You can’t really put it any more succinctly than that. Denis Irwin was dependable on the field and remains totally likeable off it.
The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.
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Monday 18 August 2025 15:44
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