Former Manchester United player during the Sir Alex Ferguson era, Philip Mulryne took up holy orders a few years after the end of his career.
It is an unusual destiny that that of Philip Mulryne. The Belfast native is a pure product of the Manchester United training center which he joined in 1992, before joining the professional group four years later. Present at the club during some of the Red Devils’ best years under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, Philip Mulryne however failed to find his place. Five ends of matches played in total with the team first, including a single appearance in the Premier League, enough to decide to move to Norwich. A club with which he played 178 matches, scoring twenty goals. After wearing the colors of three other clubs, the former midfielder made a radical decision a few years after his retirement from football.
Now aged forty-six, Philip Mulryne has swapped his shorts and crampons for a priest’s alb. His ordination dates back to 2017 and he officiates with the congregation of St. Mary’s Priory Church in the Irish city of Cork. THE Dailymail returned to this atypical trajectory, using words from the former Mancunian to explain his choice. “ We have a wonderful life as footballers and I have been very privileged, but I found with everything around it that in the end there was a sort of void. I was quite shocked: why am I not happy when I have everything young men want? It started me on a journey to re-explore my faith, the faith I had as a young man. I made the decision to come home for a year and it was really during that year that everything changed. »
No regrets
And Philip Mulryne concludes on his journey: “ My vocation to the priesthood and religious life came later that year. I felt this strong desire for this lifestyle and stayed there for a few months and then I found the courage to explore it and I made the decision and it’s been eight years now. » The media added that Philip Mulryne in no way regrets his former life as a footballer.
