| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Philip Patrick Stephen Mulryne | ||
| Date of birth | 1 January 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1996 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996–1999 | Manchester United | 1 | (0) |
| 1999–2005 | Norwich City | 161 | (18) |
| 2005–2007 | Cardiff City | 4 | (0) |
| 2007 | Leyton Orient | 2 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | King's Lynn | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| 1992–1993 | Northern Ireland U15 | 7 | (1) |
| 1993–1994 | Northern Ireland U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 1994 | Northern Ireland U17 | 1 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Northern Ireland U18 | 4 | (2) |
| 1998–1999 | Northern Ireland U21 | 5 | (1) |
| 1996 | Northern Ireland B | 1 | (1) |
| 1997–2005 | Northern Ireland | 27 | (3) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:34, 17 October 2007 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Philip Patrick Stephen Mulryne (born 1 January 1978 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish footballer who most recently played for King's Lynn.
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Mulryne began his career as a youth team player at Manchester United in 1994. He was in the FA Youth Cup winning team of 1995, and became a Northern Ireland international even before he made his first team debut. His full international debut came in February 1997 against Belgium but Mulryne had to wait until the following October to make his debut for United against Ipswich in the Coca Cola Cup (a 2–0 defeat). Despite being capable as a striker, midfielder or right winger, these positions were virtually monopolised by accomplished stars such as David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Andy Cole and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and so Mulryne only managed a handful of first-team games in five seasons at Old Trafford.
Mulryne joined Norwich City for £500,000 on 25 March 1999 in the hope of gaining more first-team opportunities.
Mulryne made a promising start to his Norwich career, scoring an excellent free-kick in a televised 1–0 win at Grimsby Town in Division One shortly after joining. However, a broken leg sustained against Blackburn Rovers shortly after the start of the following season ruled him out for virtually all of the 1999–2000 campaign.
In the 2001–02 season, Mulryne was a member of the Norwich team that reached the final of the Division One play-offs. The match ended 1–1 after extra time and Mulryne missed one of the spot-kicks in the subsequent shoot-out as Birmingham City won 4–2 on penalties. Mulryne had missed another penalty earlier that season in a league match against Gillingham at Carrow Road. Mulryne's contract was expiring that summer and there was a great deal of speculation regarding his future until he signed a new three year contract with Norwich.
He was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the Premier League as Division One champions in 2004, but they stayed there for only one season before being relegated. Mulryne then departed from Carrow Road, cancelling his contract by mutual agreement shortly before it expired. He signed for Cardiff City two months later.
On 30 August 2005 Mulryne was ejected from Northern Ireland's squad by manager Lawrie Sanchez for a breach of discipline.[1]
At the end of the 2005–06 season, Mulryne was released from his contract at Ninian Park having made only a handful of substitute appearances, and was not until January 2007 before he found a new club after spells having trials with amongst others, Ipswich Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, Polish champions Legia Warsaw and Barnsley.[2]
Manager Martin Ling signed Mulryne for Leyton Orient on 23 January 2007 on a free transfer after impressing on a trial. He made his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion in a 4–1 home defeat on 13 February after 16 months without first team action. He was released at the end of the 2006–07 season, having helped Orient avoid relegation which had looked almost certain for much of the campaign.[3]
He subsequently had a trial at Bournemouth and played in a friendly against Southampton and then came a trial with St. Mirren in Scotland.
On 25 October 2007 Mulryne joined King's Lynn FC on a non-contract basis.[4] He was released by the club on 1 January 2008.[5] It was announced on 14 March that Mulryne was training with Cliftonville.[6]
At the age of 31, Mulryne began training for the Roman Catholic priesthood. It is understood he was invited to enter the priesthood by the Bishop of Down and Connor. In seven years, he could be ordained as a priest for the diocese. His mother, Sally, confirmed her son's vocation to a Sunday newspaper. She said it was a "big decision" for him but that he would be starting at the end of August.[7]