MAN UTD STAR PHIL ORDAINED AS PRIEST
Former Irish soccer ace who earned €600k a year takes a vow of poverty
A FORMER Manchester United player who once earned €600,000 a year was ordained a priest yesterday.
Philip Mulryrne, 39, who played alongside David Beckham and Paul Scholes, swapped his kit for a cassock at a ceremony in St Saviour’s Church in Dublin.
Father Philip Mulryne, 39, was ordained by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia OP, in St Saviour’s Church, Dominick Street, Dublin, at a ceremony attended by family and friends.
He will now be assigned to the Dominican Priory to join the chaplaincy team at Newbridge College in Co Kildare.
During the ceremony, Archbishop Di Noia said: “After mature deliberation, dear Brother Philip, you have shown your readiness to embrace the service to which you have been called. Whatever gain you had, you have counted as loss.
“In a real sense, your experience as an athlete has helped to prepare you for this moment you have known the meaning of working hard to attain a goal, and now the goal is Christ.”
The talented cleric was spotted by Man United scouts at the age of 14 while playing for his local parish soccer team, Saint Oliver Plunkett.
After impressing on trial he joined the club’s famed youth academy before signing a four-year professional deal in 1994.
Making his debut in 1997 against Ipswich Town Football Club, Philip played five times in total for the first team.
But Fr Mulryne joined just as the remarkable Class of ‘92 players – including future club legends David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville – began to emerge.
This meant first team football was International career hard to come by at Old Trafford and he left to join Norwich City for a fee of €565,000 in 1999.
He spent six years at the club, making 161 appearances and scoring 18 goals – and earning a reported €600,000 a year.
The Belfast man made his debut for Northern Ireland in 1997 against Belgium and went on to play 27 times for the team, scoring three goals.
But his international career came to an abrupt halt in 2005 when he was ejected from the team by manager, Lawrie Sanchez.
He retired officially from the game in 2009 and entered the Diocesan Seminary of Saint Malachy’s Belfast.
He studied philosophy for two years at Queen’s University in the city.
Now he has joined the Dominican Priory, he will take a vow of poverty.
Your experience as an athlete has helped to prepare you for this moment ARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE DI NOIA IN DUBLIN YESTERDAY
A FORMER Manchester United and Northern Ireland soccer star has swapped his kit for a cassock after he became a priest yesterday.