Mick McCarthy

Barnsley

Born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, McCarthy made his league debut for then-Fourth Division Barnsley on 20 August 1977 in a 4–0 win over Rochdale. He spent two years in the basement league, before the club won promotion. Two years later, the team again went up to the (old) Division 2. A strong central defender, he was a virtual ever-present for his home town club, but departed in December 1983 for fellow Division 2 club Manchester City.

Manchester City

McCarthy was signed by Billy McNeill, himself a former centre-back, and was given the number 6 jersey. The Maine Road club won promotion in McCarthy's first full season and he finally had the chance to play at the highest level. His first season in the top flight was steady enough as the club reached mid-table, but relegation struck the following year. McCarthy himself would not face the drop though as he moved to Celtic in May 1987.

Celtic

He picked up his first silverware at the Scottish club as they won the league and cup double in his first season. The following season McCarthy again won a Scottish Cup winners medal, although the club had to settle for third place in the league.

Lyon

McCarthy again moved onto a new country, as he joined Lyon on a three-year contract in July 1989.

Millwall

McCarthy returned to England on loan with top-flight Millwall in March 1990. He signed permanently in May 1990 for £200,000. His appearances in the next two seasons were…

McCarthy, the son of an Irish-born father, Charlie, is an Irish citizen since birth. He made his Irish international debut in a goalless friendly against Poland on 23 May 1984, McCarthy soon became a first-choice player and featured in all three of Ireland's games at UEFA Euro 1988. He went on to become captain, leading to the nickname "Captain Fantastic", as per the title of his autobiography. The highlight of McCarthy's international career was the second-round penalty shoot-out win over Romania in the 1990 World Cup finals. This led to a crunch tie with hosts Italy in the quarter-final, where Ireland's first ever appearance in the finals came to an end, losing 1–0. McCarthy was the player who committed the most fouls in the 1990 tournament. In total, McCarthy won 57 caps for the Republic of Ireland; scoring two goals, one against Yugoslavia in April 1988, the other against the United States in May 1992.

Millwall

McCarthy became player-manager at Millwall in March 1992, succeeding Bruce Rioch. In his first full season (1992–93), he was still registered as a player, but made only one further appearance (in the Anglo-Italian Cup), before he became solely a manager. He took the club to the play-offs in 1993–94 after a strong third-place finish, but they lost out to Derby County in the semi-finals. During the 1995–96 season, McCarthy became the prime candidate for the vacant Republic of Ireland manager's job, after the resignation of Jack Charlton. After a protracted period of speculation, McCarthy was officially appointed on 5 February 1996, two days after his resignation at the club. Despite sitting a comfortable 14 points clear from the relegation zone at the time of his departure, Millwall would go on to suffer the drop (by virtue of goals scored) after McCarthy's departure. His loan signings of the underachieving Russian internationals Sergei Yuran and Vassili Kulkov from Spartak Moscow, who each received a £150,000 signing-on fee and were being paid five times the wage of the rest of the first team, would later be cited as one of the main reasons Millwall were eventually relegated under Jimmy Nicholl, although it cannot be proven.

Republic of Ireland

In February 1996, McCarthy became the new manager of the Republic of Ireland football team following the resignation of Jack Charlton. His first game in charge was a friendly international against Russia on…

McCarthy's father, Charles, was a native of Tallow, County Waterford, Ireland, while his mother Josephine was "a wonderful Yorkshire lady", in McCarthy's own words. McCarthy has written, "As a youngster growing up I was very aware of my Irishness. My Dad would tell us we were half-Irish". In 2001, McCarthy encouraged those of Irish descent in Britain to select the box marked 'White Irish' for ethnicity when completing the UK census:

I believe that I am Irish, that’s why I will tick the box…I played for Ireland, I’m manager of Ireland and I’m an Irish citizen. I would encourage anyone to register as Irish if that’s what they believe they are. McCarthy's brother-in-law is Robert Elstone, formerly chief executive of Everton. McCarthy supports Leeds United.