Stephen Ireland Was On £85 per Week While Playing For Man City

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I read an article this week about ex Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland surviving on £85 per week when he came through the academy at Manchester City. He was single handedly raising 3 children at 18 years old as his partner was not around. He had to bring them to matches with him and get a babysitter for them at the ground while he was playing the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. He spoke about how the players used to all go out after the game and he had to go home and mind the kids and change nappies etc. Minding the kids was always a problem as he was not talking to his parents so he had to rely on other players wife's. He also had to get regular loans off his friends Micah Richards and Ben Thatcher because he could not afford nappies for the kids even though he was getting in the city team week in week out. It wasn't until Sven Goran Eriksson became manager that things changed.

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Stephen Ireland started to shine in midfield for city and he was controlling games. Sven realised the young player was not like the others being a single father to 3 kids under the age of 20. Stephen told him his problem and Sven told him to go off and write his own contract. So he did. He gave himself bonus's for appearances. If he played so many games he got extra. He gave the contract to Sven. He got it typed up and Ireland signed a deal. He now could afford whatever he wanted. Hence the Range Rover with the pink rims that he is famous for. I found it unbelievable the Sven did this for him and gave him a blank page surprised me more.
If you look up Stephen Ireland on google the word grandmother goes hand in hand. To get out of Ireland international duty, he pretended that his grandmother had died. His girlfriend actually had a miscarriage but he did not want to tell that to anyone so he made up a story about his grandmother. The press got hold of it, did a bit of digging and found out that his grandmother was alive and well. Bit Stephen Ireland's main reason for not liking international duty was the he had trouble getting the kids minded. The FAI told him that they would put the kids up in a hotel with a nanny but he thought that was not the life he wanted his kids to lead. I get that and maybe if we knew the full story back then we would of not been so hard on him.

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Stephen Ireland has no club at the moment. He went from Manchester City to Aston Villa, went on loan to Newcastle. Then went to Stoke and ended up at ill fated Bolton. He has no club at the moment but still thinks he can compete at the highest level. I always liked Stephen Ireland. He was always a bit odd but he was some midfielder in his day. I hope he finds a club real soon and at 34 it is fair to say that his career has not turned out as he has hoped. He plays in Vincient Kompany's testimonial tonight. Playing with the likes of Scholes and old teammate David Silva. It's a shame really because he had the talent, just bad luck and arguments with clubs managers hindered his development.