Paul McGrath
Be the first in the stands
Republic of IrelandCounted from the international goal archive — every scorer-credited goal in the matches it covers, 1916 to today. A record of covered matches, not a complete career count; own goals never join a scorer's tally.
Paul McGrath is an Irish former professional footballer, who played as a defender. Regarded as one of the greatest centre-backs in modern football and one of Ireland's greatest ever footballers, McGrath was known for his tackling ability, determination, composure and reading of the game, and was known by the nickname "The Black Pearl" at Manchester United. He was also known by the nickname "God" at Aston Villa. — Wikipedia
identity matched to Wikidata · last verified 2026-09-11
In the line-ups
12 appearances in recorded line-ups · 1988–1995The archive holds 12 team sheets naming Paul McGrath in Republic of Ireland's starting line-up, from 1988-06-12 to 1995-12-13.
12 appearances in the starting line-ups the archive holds — not a career total. Our line-up coverage is partial, so a match he played that we hold no sheet for is simply not counted here.
International goals in our archive
7 goals across 7 scoring matches · 2 tournaments · 1987–1995| Date | Opponent | Result | Minutes | Competition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-09-06 |  Austria | L1–3(a) | 74' | UEFA Euro qualification | Vienna |
| 1993-06-09 |  Latvia | W2–0(a) | 42' | FIFA World Cup qualification | Riga |
| 1992-05-26 |  Albania | W2–0(h) | 80' | FIFA World Cup qualification | Dublin |
| 1991-10-16 |  Poland | D3–3(a) | 12' | UEFA Euro qualification | Poznań |
| 1989-06-04 |  Hungary | W2–0(h) | 33' | FIFA World Cup qualification | Dublin |
| 1987-10-14 |  Bulgaria | W2–0(h) | 52' | UEFA Euro qualification | Dublin |
| 1987-09-09 |  Luxembourg | W2–1(h) | 75' | UEFA Euro qualification | Dublin |
Honours
3 team trophies · Wikipedia + Wikidata, community-updated| Team honours3 | ||||
| Football League Cup | ×2 | 1993–94, 1995–96 | Aston Villa | |
| FA Cup | ×1 | 1984–85 | Manchester United | |
| Individual honours18 | ||||
| Player of the year · 12 | ||||
| Aston Villa Player of the Season | ×4 | 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93 | ||
| Ballon d'Or nominee | ×4 | 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993 | ||
| FAI Senior International Player of the Year | ×2 | 1990, 1991 | ||
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | 1993 | |||
| PFAI Players' Player of the Year | 1982 | |||
| Teams of the season · 2 | ||||
| PFA Team of the Year | ×2 | 1985–86, 1992–93 | ||
| More honours · 4 | ||||
| British Sports Book Awards | ||||
| English Football Hall of Fame | 2015 | |||
| FAI Hall of Fame | 2020 | |||
| Football League 100 Legends | 1998 | |||