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|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince | ||
| Position(s) | Midfield | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Walsall | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 Nov 05 | |||
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (born October 21 1967 in Ilford, London) is an eminent football player of the last two decades who won numerous honors with Manchester United and became the first black player to captain the England team in a career that saw him play for five English clubs and Italian side, Internazionale.
West Ham United
Ince joined his boyhood club West Ham United on leaving school and made his debut in the first team at the age of 19, coming on as a substitute in a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United. The following season he began to establish himself as a regular in the midfield, proving himself to have all-round qualities of pace, stamina, uncompromising tackling and good passing ability. He also packed a powerful shot, and was awarded with England under-21 honors to go with the youth caps he acquired as an apprentice.
In August 1988, an eventful season for Ince began. In a struggling West Ham side, he shot to national recognition with two stunning goals in a wholly unexpected 4-1 win over champions Liverpool in the League Cup, and continued to score goals as the Hammers reached the semifinals while having real trouble finding any form in the League. West Ham lost to Luton Town in the semifinals and, despite frequent displays of individual brilliance from Ince, were relegated at the end of the season.
Manchester United & England
Ince played just once in Division Two the following season before completing a highly controversial transfer to Manchester United for one million pounds. The move was controversial because Ince had been photographed in a Manchester United kit long before the transfer was complete, and this photograph appeared in the Daily Express. Ince received hateful abuse from West Ham United fans and quickly sorted out the finalities for the move to Old Trafford, though he endured further trouble when the deal was delayed after he failed his initial medical examination.
In a recent article in Four Four Two magazine, when answering questions about his career from readers, he got his chance to explain the story:
"I spoke to Alex Ferguson and the deal was close to being done. I then went on holiday, and my agent at the time, Ambrose Mendy, said it wasn't worth me coming back to do a picture in a United shirt when the deal was completed, so I should do one before I left, and it would be released when the deal was announced. Lawrence Luster of the Daily Star took the picture and put in the library. Soon after, their sister paper, the Daily Express, were looking for a picture of me playing for West Ham, and found the one of me in the United shirt in the pile. They published it and all hell broke loose.
"I came back from holiday to discover West Ham fans were going mad. It wasn't really my fault. I was only a kid, I did what my agent told me to do, then took all the crap for it."
Ince eventually made his Manchester United debut in a 5-1 win over Millwall and (despite peculiarly wearing the No.2 shirt all season) became a strong presence in the midfield alongside long serving captain Bryan Robson and fellow new signing Neil Webb. United won the FA Cup in his first season, defeating Crystal Palace 1-0 in a replay at Wembley after initially drawing 3-3.
As Robson's career subsequently wound down, Ince became the fulcrum of the United midfield, with snapping tackles, raking passes and some tremendously hit shots, though he was not too prolific a goalscorer.
He won his second winners' medal when United defeated Barcelona in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in Rotterdam in 1991 and received his third another year later when United beat Nottingham Forest in the 1992 League Cup final.
Ince made his debut for the full England team in September of that year in a friendly match against Spain in Santander. England lost 1-0 but Ince proved a success. He was duly awarded his second cap a month later in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Norway in a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup.
At the same time, Manchester United were competing in the inaugural Premiership season with Ince and his best friend at the time, Ryan Giggs at the fore and part of a now legendary team that included Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, Andrei Kanchelskis, Steve Bruce and Denis Irwin. Seeking a first League title for 26 years, United won it and Ince completed his domestic medal set just three years after joining the club. This success at club level was marred, however, by failure at international level, as Ince was dropped by manager Graham Taylor for two of five World Cup qualifiers, the second of which was a crucial 2-0 defeat in Norway which made England's hopes of reaching the finals slim.
However, Ince made history during England's summer tour of the USA when, in a match against the host nation, he became England's first black captain in the absence of David Platt and Tony Adams. England lost 2-0.
As the following domestic season got underway, Ince won his tenth England cap in a 3-0 win over Poland which kept alive their World Cup qualification hopes, though required a victory over Holland in Rotterdam a month later. In a controversial match, Holland beat England 2-0 and qualification hopes had gone. Ince scored twice - his first international goals - as the qualifying campaign ended with a 7-1 thumping of San Marino in Bologna but the margin of victory wasn't enough.
Manchester United continued to dominate the domestic game and Ince was the midfield general in the side which won the "double" of Premiership and FA Cup in 1994. A year later and Ince suffered more chants of JUDAS when he and Manchester United went to West Ham on the last day of the season, needing a win to reclaim their Premiership crown. Sadly for them, they could only draw the game and Blackburn Rovers took the title. It went from bad to worse as Ince featured then in the United team which also lost the FA Cup final to Everton.
During the same season, Manchester United's temperamental French striker Eric Cantona received a prison sentence (later commuted to a community service order on appeal) after he attacked a Crystal Palace supporter who had chanted abuse at him after he had been sent off for a foul. Ince was also deemed to have got involved in the aftermath and was charged with common assault. He was acquitted after a trial.
Internazionale
Ince's abilities as a player were, at this stage, at their peak - however, Ferguson sold him in the summer of 1995 to Internazionale for eight million pounds. Stories had emerged that Ince had been insisting he was called the "Guv'nor" (sic) by the other players (Ince later said it was a phase which went over the top) and, after selling him, Ferguson went on to label Ince as a "big-time Charlie". Ince left United after playing 278 games for them, scoring 28 goals.
Ince's career in Italy lasted two seasons. After a shaky start, a somewhat sceptical Inter crowd were soon won over by Ince's complete commitment to the Inter cause and as such he soon became one of their favorite players. In the 1995/1996 season Inter failed to challenge for a 14th scudetto, finishing seventh in the championship. Ince, though, had a great first season, playing in all but four of Inter's league matches. The next year, Ince had another successful season with the nerazzurri, scoring 6 times in 24 matches in the championship - in which Inter finished third - and also playing his part in Inter's run through to the UEFA Cup Final. Ince scored in the third round second-leg match away to Boavista as Inter swept all before them before meeting Schalke in the Final. Ince didn't play in the away first-leg as Inter lost 1-0 but he returned to the line-up for the home match which the Italians won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ivan Zamorano. Penalties were again a heartbreaker for Ince though, as Schalke won 4-1 in the resulting penalty shootout.
Despite being offered a new, improved contract by club president Massimo Moratti, Ince decided that after two years away it was time to move home and he left Inter as one of the more successful of English players to have ever played abroad.
Euro 96
For all his PR problems of the time, Ince was still a regular choice for England squads, though he played few games for new coach Terry Venables in the long sequence of friendly and mini-tournament matches which were necessary as England were hosting the next major tournament (the 1996 European Championships) and therefore didn't have a qualifying campaign. With Ince now playing in Italy, it meant that Venables was unable to watch him play very often, though by everyone's admission Ince's two-year spell in Serie A, unlike many British footballers who had gone there, was a big success.
When Euro 96 got underway, Ince was in the England team as the midfield ballwinner and got the label of "Gazza's minder" whose job was to create room for Paul Gascoigne to exploit with his natural ball skills. Though the first group game ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw at Wembley against Switzerland, England went on to defeat the old enemy Scotland 2-0 and then put on a display regarded as "total football" against (ironically) Holland, the team whose performances at the 1974 World Cup had first prompted the phrase's coining. Ince was fouled for a penalty which gave England the lead and helped them towards a 4-1 win; he also picked up a yellow card which rendered him unavailable for the quarter final against Spain, which England won on penalties.
Venables put Ince back in the side for the semifinal against Germany, though he was asked to play at right back to cover for the suspended Gary Neville. Ince and England played superbly but could only manage a 1-1 draw and England lost the penalty shoot out. Ince received criticism for not taking a penalty (the crucial missed kick from Gareth Southgate was England's sixth) and for spending the whole shoot out sitting down in the centre circle with Steve McManaman with their backs to goal.
Another new England coach came on the scene in Glenn Hoddle and Ince kept his place for the next six internationals, which included five crucial qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup in France. England won four of them but lost 1-0 at home to Italy. During the first of these qualifiers against Moldova in Chişinău, a famous photograph of Ince was taken as he tried to climb a wall at the stadium, only for Gascoigne to pull his tracksuit trousers down, revealing Ince's bare buttocks in front of an army of cameras.
Ince won his 30th England cap in May 1997 as England beat Poland 3-0 in Katowice to leave them with an opportunity to get through to the World Cup provided they could beat Moldova at Wembley and then not lose to Italy in Rome. Moldova were duly dispatched 4-0 and Ince, in an incident reminiscent of Terry Butcher against Sweden seven years earlier, started the Italy match with a white England shirt and ended it with a red one after his own blood soaked the shirt following a deep cut to his head. The game ended goalless and England had qualified.
Liverpool & World Cup 1998
By now, Ince was back in England to play his club football, having left Internazionale so that his son Thomas, who was almost five years of age, could attend an English school. He joined Liverpool for more than four million pounds – a move which surprised many because of the long history of rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool, and few players had ever plied their trade with both clubs during their careers.
Ince won no honors in his first season with Liverpool as his new club were in the midst of a largely unsuccessful period where they were cast as 'nearly men' and rather derogatorily, 'Spice Boys' – a term coined to describe the likes of team mates and good friends of Ince's like Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp as underachieving playboys in the game. Ince once reportedly called for 'decorum' amongst his team mates at a festive party where strippers and players like Jamie Carragher were cavorting around while the paparazzi fired away. Unlike those players, Ince kept his England place for the World Cup, winning his 40th cap in the opening group game against Tunisia in Marseille. England got through the group but succumbed in the second round to Argentina, again after a penalty shoot out. This time Ince did take a penalty but saw it saved.
Ince's second season with Liverpool was again trophyless but he achieved a personal high point when he scored a late equalizer against Manchester United at Anfield and celebrated with some ferocity in front of the Kop.
Middlesbrough & Euro 2000
In the summer of 1999, however, Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier told Ince he was surplus to requirements and Ince joined Middlesbrough for one million pounds. Now nearly 32, Ince's career was clearly winding down, though he stayed in the England team (now run by Kevin Keegan) and helped them qualify for the 2000 European Championships in Holland and Belgium and was named in the squad for the finals.
In a friendly against Malta prior to the finals, Ince came on as a substitute and won his 50th cap. He duly played in all three of England's group games of the tournament – winning a penalty against Romania in the last game – but England lost two of three matches and were eliminated. Ince immediately retired from the England scene after 53 caps, with just those two goals against San Marino on his scoring records.
Ince concentrated on club football thereafter in his role as club captain, playing three seasons making 106 apperances with 9 goals at Middlesbrough before he was given a free transfer in 2002 due to family reasons.
Wolves & retirement
Ince joined Wolverhampton Wanderers and duly played outside the top flight of English football (not counting his Italian sojourn) for the first time since his one brief appearance there for West Ham in 1989, prior to his move to Manchester United. That said, Ince was in the Wolves team which instantly won promotion to the Premiership in his first season there, though in 2004 they were relegated straight back again.
Ince was expected to retire at the end of the 2005 season, however he changed his mind halfway through the season following the appointment of Glenn Hoddle as manager of Wolves. In June 2005 he signed a new one year contract with Wolves. In April 2006 he announced that he wanted to continue playing for Wolves for a further season after speaking with his close friend Teddy Sheringham. However, following Ince's failure to get the manager's job at Wolves in July 2006, the newly appointed manager, Mick McCarthy, stated that Ince would not be returning to Molineux, on the 14/05/2006 Ince started a new era with Midlands rivals Walsall.
In a vote for 100 Great Black Britons in 2003, Ince finished in 95th place, just above his cousin Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.
External links
| England squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup | ||
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- 1967 births
- England international footballers
- England under-21 international footballers
- FA Premier League players
- English footballers
- Internazionale players
- Liverpool F.C. players
- Living people
- Manchester United F.C. players
- Middlesbrough F.C. players
- West Ham United F.C. midfielders
- West Ham United F.C. players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Swindon Town F.C. players
- UEFA Euro 1996 players
- FIFA World Cup 1998 players
- UEFA Euro 2000 players