Jason McAteer

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Jason McAteer
Personal information
Full name	Jason Wynn McAteer
Date of birth	June 18, 1971 (age 35)
Place of birth	Birkenhead, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Tranmere Rovers
Number	7
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992–95 1995–99 1999–2001 2001–04 2004–present	Bolton Wanderers Liverpool Blackburn Rovers Sunderland Tranmere Rovers	114 (8) 100 (3) 072 (4) 053 (5) 077 (4)
National team2
1994–2004	Republic of Ireland	052 (3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:54, 28 March 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 23 July 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Jason McAteer (born on June 18, 1971 in Birkenhead, England) is an Irish international football player who plays for Tranmere Rovers.

His primary position is in centre midfield, though he is an able right winger and full back. To date, McAteer has played for five professional clubs: Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and currently Tranmere Rovers, as well as winning international caps for the Republic of Ireland, his total transfer values reach over £9 million.

McAteer got his big break aged 20, at local non-league team Marine, when he was discovered by scouts from Bolton Wanderers. He would go on to amass well over 100 appearances for the Trotters over his three year stay. Early in the 1995/96 season, Liverpool captured the midfielder in a £4.5 million deal. He would appear 139 times for his boyhood heroes, scoring 6 goals for the Reds, but was black listed together with several of his colleagues like Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman at the time for their collective culture of being "Spice Boys" - a derogatory term that signified the team of that time as underachieving playboys in the game.

Towards the end of the 1998/99 season he joined Blackburn Rovers, for £4 million and would help them to promotion to the Premiership in his first full season the following year. In October 2001, he moved on again, to Sunderland for £1million. He made 27 appearances that season, but was unable to prevent the Black Cats' relegation to the First Division in 2002/03. McAteer remained at the Stadium of Light for another year, playing in both legs of the play-off semi-final against Crystal Palace before being released at the end of the year.

Left without a club for the majority of the close season, he then made the decision to head back to Birkenhead, signing a two-year deal with Tranmere Rovers, hoping to play out his career with his hometown club, and trained as a coach ready to embark on a career in that department after his retirement. He was made club captain by manager Brian Little, skippering the side to the League One, play-off semi-finals, where they eventually lost on penalties to Hartlepool United.

McAteer is widely remembered in Ireland for his part in a televised Head & Shoulders advertising campaign in which he promoted the product whilst in the shower, and a subsequent campaign for Carlsberg when he dreamed about scoring the winning goal in the World Cup.

Famously not the brightest of footballers, McAteer is nicknamed Trigger after the Only Fools and Horses character. At Liverpool, this nickname was taken (by Rob Jones), so McAteer was given the nickname Dave, after one of Trigger's more memorable lines.

His successes include winning two promotions and reaching a League Cup final in three seasons with Bolton, reaching an F.A Cup final with Liverpool and winning promotion to the Premiership with Blackburn. McAteer scored the goal at Lansdowne Road when the 10 man Ireland team beat the Netherlands, which gained Ireland qualification for the 2002 World Cup.

Trivia

In U2's live DVD, U2 Go Home - Live from Slane Castle, Ireland, during the song New Year's Day, Bono wraps himself in an Irish flag and says "Close your eyes and imagine it's Jason McAteer" as McAteer had just scored a goal for the Irish National Football Team (against Holland, 1 September 2001). The crowd reacts to Bono's statement with a great amount of cheer and excitement.

Jason McAteer is also famous for his confirmation that when he was asked on a credit card application to state his position in the company in which he worked, his response was 'I'm a central midfielder but the boss is playing me at right wing back'

Alan Thompson an ex-Bolton team mate of Jason asked Jason to - 'pass the tomato ketchup' and the answer Alan received from Jason is - 'Red or brown'

[edit] External links

• Jason McAteer career stats at Soccerbase

	Republic of Ireland squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Bonner | 2 Irwin | 3 Phelan | 4 Moran | 5 McGrath | 6 Keane | 7 Townsend | 8 Houghton | 9 Aldridge | 10 Sheridan | 11 Staunton | 12 G. Kelly | 13 Kernaghan | 14 Babb | 15 Coyne | 16 Cascarino | 17 McGoldrick | 18 Whelan | 19 McLoughlin | 20 D. Kelly | 21 McAteer | 22 A. Kelly | Coach: Charlton

	Republic of Ireland squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Given | 2 Finnan | 3 Harte | 4 Cunningham | 5 Staunton | 6 Roy Keane | 7 McAteer | 8 Holland | 9 Duff | 10 Robbie Keane | 11 Kilbane | 12 Kinsella | 13 Connolly | 14 Breen | 15 Dunne | 16 Kiely | 17 Quinn | 18 G. Kelly | 19 Morrison | 20 O'Brien | 21 Reid | 22 Carsley | 23 A. Kelly | Coach: McCarthy

Tranmere Rovers F.C. - Current Squad
1 Ward | 2 Stockdale | 3 Tremarco | 4 McLaren | 5 Cansdell-Sheriff | 6 McAteer | 7 Mullin | 8 Zola | 9 Taylor | 10 Greenacre | 11 Ellison | 12 Jennings | 14 Thompson | 15 Goodison | 16 McCready | 17 James | 18 Harrison | 19 Davies | 20 Henry | 21 Jones | 22 Johnston | 23 Shuker | 24 Achterberg | 25 Curran | 26 Hart | Manager: Moore