There's a cornish pasty baker, a podiatrist and a fair few ex-Liverpool pundits, but what are the rest of the Republic of Ireland's Italia '90 squad up to these days?
1 Packie Bonner
Bonner was the man that produced the most memorable image from Italia ’90 for the Republic of Ireland as he saved Daniel Timofte’s penalty against Romania to help take his side through to the quarter-finals. After hanging up his gloves, Bonner went into coaching, working with the Irish international team before going to work with the FAI as a technical director for development. More recently he has worked with UEFA’s coaching programme, helping them to put together a goalkeeper training course.
2 Chris Morris
Morris started every one of Ireland’s games at Italia ’90, playing at right-back. After finishing up his playing career with Middlesbrough in 1997, Morris returned home to Cornwall where he went to work for his family business 'Morris Cornish Pasties', which, according to the Daily Telegraph, makes “the finest pasties in Cornwall”. The former defender remains involved in football, coaching part-time with Exeter City as well as being the manager of their Under-16 side.
3 Steve Staunton
One of the most gifted full-backs of his generation, Staunton is sadly more remembered these days for his unsuccessful spell in charge of the Ireland team. Dropped in at the deep end as Brian Kerr’s successor with scant experience, Staunton struggled to cope and was eventually replaced by Giovanni Trapattoni after failing to qualify for Euro 2008. Staunton went on to be assistant manager at Leeds and boss at Darlington without any success before working for Middlesbrough and Sunderland as a scout. These days he focuses on his charitable work with the Stephen Staunton Foundation, which raises funds for among other Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin and the Teenage Cancer Trust.
4 Mick McCarthy
One of Ireland’s best defenders went on to become one of our most successful managers. McCarthy was handed the reins of the international side in March 1996 and took Ireland to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan where he famously had a slight tiff with Roy Keane. Parting company with Ireland in November of 2002, McCarthy went on to enjoy fruitful management spells with Sunderland and Wolves, helping to get both promoted from the Championship to the Premier League. Currently in charge of Ipswich Town, he guided them to the play-offs this year but they were edged out by Norwich in the semi-finals.
5 Kevin Moran
The oldest member of the Ireland squad in Italy, Moran hung up his boots in 1994 after a season in which his Blackburn Rovers side finished second in the league to Manchester United. Following his retirement from the game, Moran helped to set-up Proactive Sports Management with Wayne Rooney’s former agent Paul Stretford. Moran retains an interest in the company, which has since rebranded itself as Formation Group PLC and has expanded into the property market. He also works in the media as a football analyst and panellist.
6 Ronnie Whelan
Following his international retirement in 1995, Whelan became player-manager at Southend United before losing his job two years later after they were relegated from Division One. The former midfielder went out on to manage Panionios and Olympiakos Nicosia as well as a short spell with Apollon Limassol. Whelan now focuses on his media work and is often a panellist with RTÉ Sport. The former Liverpool midfielder also works with Myaware, the national charity for people with myasthenia, an auto-immune disease.
7 Paul McGrath
Arguably the best defender to ever pull on a green shirt, McGrath has suffered some well publicised battles with addiction since retiring from football, which he thankfully seems to be winning. He documented many of his demons in his autobiography Back from the Brink, which won several awards. McGrath is a columnist with the Sunday World and he continues to work with charities Acquired Brain Injury Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Ireland.
8 Ray Houghton
Ray Houghton remains a familiar sight to football fans thanks to his media and commentary work. Part of the 2014 RTÉ World Cup commentary team, the former Liverpool midfielder also works for TalkSport and Sky Sports. Houghton writes a weekly column for the Irish Daily Star and continues to work with the FAI as an ambassador for Irish football.
9 John Aldridge
As seems to the be the case for most other ex-Liverpool players, Aldridge is heavily involved in media work. The striker finished his playing days with Tranmere before taking charge of the club as player-manager, however, following their relegation from League One in 2001 he stepped down and moved away from management. He now works as a co-commentator on Liverpool’s Radio City station but surely his crowning achievement was winning RTÉ's Charity You're A Star in 2006.
10 Tony Cascarino
Was he eligible? Wasn’t he eligible? We say it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that Cascarino was a vital part of the Ireland squad that qualified for Euro’ 88 and the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Since he ended a football career that took him from Gillingham to Marseille, Cascarino has become a semi-professional poker player and regularly turns up at the bigger poker events in Europe. The former striker also works as a football pundit with several media outlets.
11 Kevin Sheedy
The man who put the ball in the English net. Kevin Sheedy, who also scored the first of Ireland’s penalties in that famous shoot-out with Romania, spent a decade of his playing career with Everton and now works there as a coach in the team’s youth academy. After retiring from playing, he spent a short spell with Tranmere Rovers as their assistant manager and also worked at Hartlepool before making his return to Goodison Park in 2006.
12 David O’Leary
“The nation holds its breath......yes we're there!" O'Leary, who famously scored the spot-kick that put Ireland into the quarter-finals of Italia ’90, made big waves in football management. Succeeding George Graham at Leeds United in 1996 was a tall task but O’Leary eventually led them to the semi-final of the Champions League before a slide in form saw him sacked in 2002. He followed that up with a two-and-a-half year stint at Aston Villa, before leaving in 2006 and taking a break from the game. O’Leary returned to management with Al-Alhi of the UAE in 2010 but lasted just 15 games there. He has since appeared as an analyst on Al Jazeera’s Premier League coverage.
13 Andy Townsend
He’s the man who gave the football world Townsend’s Tactics Truck, does anything more need to be said? Alright then, since retiring from playing in 2000, Townsend has become a familiar face on television working with ITV as a pundit on their coverage of internationals, Champions League and Premier League football. He recently parted company with ITV following the end of their Champions League coverage deal but is expected to continue his punditry with broadcasters further afield.
14 Chris Hughton
Since hanging up his boots in 1993, Hughton has almost been consistently involved in coaching and management. Spending 14 years at Spurs and working under ten different managers as first Under-21 manager, then reserve team manager before working with the first team. Hughton also worked as Brian Kerr’s number two at Ireland during this spell. The former full-back went on to manage Newcastle, Birmingham, Norwich and Brighton and Hove Albion, where he is currently employed and helped to keep in the Championship last season.
15 Bernie Slaven
Capped seven times for Ireland, Slaven did not play during Italia '90. He spent eight years with Middlesbrough where he remains a cult hero and has fashioned a successful career in the north-east of England as a radio pundit and columnist. Slaven once bared his backside in the window of a department store in Middlesbrough after insisting he would do if ‘Boro beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. The former forward also ran an unsuccessful campaign to become Mayor of Middlesbrough.
16 John Sheridan
Sheridan featured just once as a substitute for Ireland during Italia ’90 but started all four games for Jack Charlton’s side four years later at USA ’94. Ending his playing days with Oldham in 2004, Sheridan was twice named caretaker manager by the Latics before taking the job on a permanent basis in 2006. He went on to manager Chesterfield and most recently Plymouth Argyle, a club he recently parted company with after two years, citing family reasons.
17 Niall Quinn
Niall Quinn has been a very busy man since his retirement at Sunderland in 2003. He took a brief coaching role at Sunderland after retiring before moving into television punditry and commentary. Quinn returned to Sunderland in 2006 when he headed up a consortium that bought the club and named the former striker as the club’s chairman and manager. Quinn stepped aside as manager to appoint Roy Keane but remained as chairman until 2011. He now works for Sky Sports as a commentator and is behind satellite Internet company Q Sat.
18 Frank Stapleton
Stapleton spent three years as a player-manager at Bradford City before he took charge of fledgling MLS Club New England Revolution for six months. Stapleton has been involved in media work, and has served time as an RTÉ panellist. The Dubliner worked with Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers as a coach for a brief period and is currently the assistant manager of the Jordan international team, working alongside manager Ray Wilkins.
19 David Kelly
The man who scored that goal in the infamous abandoned friendly with England, Kelly finished up his playing career with Derry City, helping the Candystripes to an FAI Cup final victory over Shamrock Rovers in his final game before joining Tranmere Rovers as their assistant manager. After that Kelly forged a strong partnership with Billy Davies, working with the Scottish manager at Preston, Derby and Nottingham Forest. Kelly is currently at Scunthorpe United where he is Mark Robbins’ assistant manager.
20 John Byrne
Easily recognised thanks to a particularly striking blond mullet, Byrne earned 23 caps for Ireland but didn’t feature at all during Italia ’90. Manchester-born Byrne ended his playing days at Brighton and Hove Albion and he now commentates on their home games with Radio Sussex. The former striker is now a fully qualified podiatrist, working with the NHS in Sussex and also running a private practice.
21 Alan McLoughlin
Scorer of the goal that took Ireland to the 1994 World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland in Windsor Park, McLoughlin retired from football in 2003 and went into coaching, working with Forest Green. The midfielder overcame serious illness when he was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney and in 2011 joined former club Portsmouth as a senior academy coach. McLoughlin was eventually appointed first team coach before parting company with the club last year. He’s currently an academy coach with Swindon Town.
22 Gerry Peyton
Perhaps unfortunate to be in the squad at the same time as number one goalkeeper Packie Bonner, Peyton found his chances limited for Ireland but still managed to claim 33 caps. After he hung up his gloves as a player, Peyton travelled to Japan to work as a goalkeeper coach. Plying his trade first with Jubilo Iwata and then Vissel Kobe, Peyton moved to Sweden to work with AIK Solna before eventually returning to England where he has spent the last 11 seasons as a goalkeeper coach at Arsenal.
