Ronnie Whelan

Football player infobox
playername = Ronnie Whelan


fullname = Ronald Andrew Whelan
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|df=yes|1961|09|25
cityofbirth = Dublin
countryofbirth = Republic of Ireland
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Home Farm
years = 1979–1994 1994–1996
clubs = Liverpool Southend United
caps(goals) = 362 (45) 034 0(1)
nationalyears = 1981–1995
1994
1981
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland B
Republic of Ireland U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 053 0(3)
01 0(0)
01 0(0)
manageryears = 1995–1997 2000 2000–2002 2002
managerclubs = Southend United Panionios Olympiakos Nicosia Apollon Limassol

Ronald 'Ronnie' Andrew Whelan (born 25 September 1961) is a former Irish football midfielder who was an integral part of the dominant Liverpool side of the 1980s. He was at the club from 1979 until 1994, and finished his career at Southend United, where he was also player-manager.

Biography

Whelan was born into a family of footballers from Dublin, Ireland; his father, Ronnie Whelan Senior, was an Irish international and a key member of the successful St Patrick's Athletic side of the late 1950s and early 1960s. His brother Paul Whelan (footballer) played for Bohemian FC and Shamrock Rovers.

Ronnie Junior was a skilful and industrious midfield player, signed for Liverpool by Bob Paisley for a bargain £35,000 from Dublin club Home Farm F.C. on 19 September 1979, a few days before his 18th birthday and made his debut 18 months later, on the 3 April 1981, scoring his first goal in the 27th minute of the 3-0 league win over Stoke City at Anfield. This would be Whelan's one and only appearance of the season for the first team, as Whelan spent much of his first few months at the club in the reserves.

The following season Whelan won his place on the left side of the Liverpool midfield, ending the Anfield career of Ray Kennedy and also taking over his No.5 shirt. It was an excellent season for Whelan, as he settled into first team football and helped Liverpool to another League championship. They also retained the League Cup with victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley with Whelan scoring twice in the 3-1 win.

In 1983, Liverpool retained these two trophies and Whelan again scored in the League Cup final, scoring with a long-range shot into the Manchester United net in extra-time to seal a 2-1 win. Whelan then played a major role in Liverpool's treble of League title, League Cup and European Cup of 1984, although he was injured for part of this season.

Liverpool's trophyless season, culminating in the disaster at Heysel, in 1985 was followed by a much more successful season for Whelan and Liverpool, under the new management of Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool clinched another League title and added the FA Cup, with Whelan setting up two of the goals in a 3-1 victory over Merseyside rivals Everton, the first time the two had met in a cup final, also it was only the third League and FA Cup "double" of the 20th century.

Liverpool ended the following 1987 season trophyless, losing the League Cup final to Arsenal. The following year, Whelan switched to a central role following the arrival of England winger John Barnes at Anfield. This season saw Liverpool play an exciting brand of football and they won both the league title and FA Cup, although Whelan missed out on the cup final as Nigel Spackman, who had won his place in the team when Whelan was injured earlier in the season was chosen ahead of him. Whelan's name and profile was even left out of the official match programme at Wembley for the FA Cup final against Wimbledon, which Liverpool lost 1-0.

Whelan was a regular for the Republic of Ireland making his debut on the 29 April 1981, he came off the bench in the 63rd minute of the 3-1 victory over Czechoslovakia at Landsdowne Road.

Ronnie was part of the Irish side which qualified for the 1988 European Championships in West Germany. He was in the team which memorably beat England 1-0, and he then scored a [http://www.footballclips.net/football/europe/ireland spectacular long-range goal] in a draw with the USSR. Defeat in the final group game against eventual champions the Netherlands in the final group game eliminated Ireland from the competition.

An injury to club captain Alan Hansen meant that Whelan spent much of the 1988/89 season as captain of Liverpool, a role he relished as the club progressed to another challenge for a "double". Then the Hillsborough disaster happened, and Whelan played a key role in leading the team on and off the pitch in a difficult time.

When Hansen recovered, Whelan maintained the captaincy for continuity purposes and it was he who lifted the FA Cup after a 3-2 win over derby rivals Everton. However, he missed the chance to do the same with the League title, with Arsenal taking the championship thanks to a last-minute goal from Michael Thomas.

Liverpool won the League again in 1990 but Whelan's role in the side was diminishing, mainly through a spate of injuries. He stayed at Liverpool until 1994 but an example of his bad luck came in 1992 when he scored the crucial equaliser against Portsmouth in the FA Cup semi-final, forcing a replay which Liverpool won on penalties, but missed the final against Sunderland, in which Liverpool triumphed 2-0, because of injury.

On his departure from Anfield, Whelan became manager of Southend United and also worked with clubs in Greece such as Panionios and in Cyprus such asApollon Limassol but most notably with Olympiakos Nicosia. His greatest success as a manager, was with Panionios in 1999, when his team reached for first time the quarter finals of a European competition, the Cup Winners Cup, when they were eliminated by SS Lazio with 0-4 and 0-3. He now works on the after-dinner circuit and does a spot of punditry.

Whelan is still a firm favourite with Liverpool supporters everywhere. In a poll conducted by the [http://liverpoolfc.tv official Liverpool Football Club web-site] called 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, 110,000 Reds worldwide voted for their top 10 players of all time with Ronnie coming in at 30th position.

Career Honours

Honours As Player

flagicon|England Liverpool

Winner
* 1981-82 League Cup
* 1981-82 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1982-83 Charity Shield
* 1982-83 League Cup
* 1982-83 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1983-84 League Cup
* 1983-84 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1983-84 European Cup
* 1985-86 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1985-86 Screen Sports Super Cup
* 1985-86 FA Cup
* 1986-87 Charity Shield (Shared)
* 1987-88 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1988-89 Charity Shield
* 1988-89 FA Cup
* 1989-90 Charity Shield
* 1989-90 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1990-91 Charity Shield (Shared)

Runner Up
* 1984-85 Intercontinental Cup
* 1984-85 Charity Shield
* 1984-85 European Super Cup
* 1984-85 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1984-85 European Cup
* 1986-87 League Cup
* 1986-87 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1988-89 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1990-91 League Championship (Level 1)
* 1992-93 Charity Shield

External links

* [http://www.thisisanfield.com/columnists/2006/02/exclusive-interview-ronnie-whelan/ Thisisanfield.com Exclusive interview]
* [http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_players/players/whelan/ Offical Liverpool FC profile]
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=442 LFCHistory.net profile]
*
*
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=2239 Liverpool seasonal record (Part 1) 1979/80-1983/84 at Sporting-heroes.net]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=2240 Liverpool seasonal record (Part 2) 1984/85-1988/89 at Sporting-heroes.net]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=2241 Liverpool seasonal record (Part 3) 1989/90-1994/95 at Sporting-heroes.net]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_international.asp?HeroID=5401 Ireland international record 1981-95 at Sporting-heroes.net]
* [http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=51 Irish football greats at Fai.ie]