Upon retiring from playing McGrath was appointed as director of football at Irish league side Waterford United FC but he now spends his time playing golf and doing charity work, specifically for the Acquired Brain Injury Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Ireland.Īfter a well publicised battle with alcoholism, McGrath’s autobiography Back from the Brink, went on to become a number one best-seller, winning a number of literacy awards and is widely regarded as one of the best sports books ever written.Īn English football hall of famer, he also works the after-dinner speaking circuit. An iconic football presence during a professional. Individually he won the PFA Player’s Player of the Year Award in 1993 and also had a stellar international career winning 83 caps for the Republic of Ireland and representing them in the 19 FIFA World Cup finals and also the 1988 European Championships. Paul McGrath is Irelands best loved sportsman and also its least understood. McGrath is still held in so much regard by the Aston Villa the fans they have nicknamed him “God” and his name is still chanted on the terraces to this day. Controversy over the manner of Paul McGraths move from Manchester United to Aston Villa for a fee of just £450,000 in 1989 is revived by the official launch in. He was also an integral part of the Aston Villa team which won the League Cup in 19. When McGrath moved from Old Trafford to Villa Park in 1989 at the age of 30 he produced some of the best football of his career despite suffering from recurrent knee injuries and helped the Midlands side to a second place finish in the 1993-94 Premier League season. After a long, illustrious career mostly with Manchester United and Aston Villa, Paul McGrath retired in 1998 at the age of 39 and settled back in his native Ireland.

Paul mcgrath autobiography