Players - Jason McAteer

Jason McAteer
Birthdate: 18 June 1971
Birthplace: Birkenhead, England
Other clubs: Marine (1988-92), Washington Stars (1990), Bolton Wanderers (1992-95), Blackburn Rovers (1999-2001), Sunderland (2001-04), Tranmere Rovers (2004-07)
Signed from: Bolton Wanderers
Signed for LFC: £4.5m, 07.09.1995
International debut: 23.03.1994 vs. Russia
International caps: Ireland 52/3 (14/1 at LFC) - 18.02.2004
Liverpool debut: 16.09.1995
Last appearance: 24.01.1999
Debut goal: 06.01.1996
Last goal: 02.05.1998
Contract expiry: 27.01.1999
Win ratio: 52.52% W:73 D:35 L:31
Games/assists ratio: 8.18
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 4 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 100 / 3 / 12
Total games / goals / assists: 139 / 6 / 17

Player Profile

McAteer was a bona-fide boyhood Red who saw his dream come true when he signed for Liverpool instead of Premier League champions Blackburn. McAteer joined Merseyside-based non-league club Marine after being spotted playing Sunday league football on the Wirral. In 1991 he spent some time working for his uncle in America and played a few games for the Washington Stars, earnign him self a scholarship in Ohio. However as he played with Marine reserves while visa issues were sorted out, he was snapped up on a short term deal by Phil Neal at third division Bolton. In three seasons the central midfielder helped Bolton to the Premier League and starred for Republic of Ireland in the 1994 World Cup. McAteer joined Liverpool at the start of the 1995/96 season. Five months earlier Liverpool had broken his heart when two McManaman goals beat Bolton in the League Cup final. McAteer came as a breath of fresh air making his mark as a right-wing back. He was always a better attacker than defender, delivering dangerous crosses into the penalty area after energetic runs down the right flank. He was tireless in his efforts and sacrificed himself for the Liverpool team. McAteer was a regular from 1995-1997, again suffering Wembley heartbreak in 1996 at the hands of Manchester United. He lost his place in the starting line-up at the start of the 1997/98 season but reclaimed it in November 1997 and played regularly until he broke his leg against Blackburn on the last day of January 1998. Once Evans was out of the way for Houllier to take sole control of the team in November 1998 McAteer's days were numbered.

McAteer's post-Liverpool career saw him move to Blackburn Rovers for £4 million and he helped Rovers into the Premier League at the end of the 2000/01 season. His highlight in football was scoring the sixty-seventh minute winner at Lansdowne Road in September 2001 when the ten-man Ireland team beat Holland putting the Irish on course for qualification for the 2002 World Cup. "The Dutch had already booked their hotels in Japan and Korea so it was lovely to wipe the smiles off their faces. Fantastic, absolutely fantastic time," McAteer recalls. He then moved to Sunderland where he was part of the squad relegated from the Premier League in 2003. Sunderland released him a year later and he moved to his fifth and final English club, Tranmere Rovers. Rovers manager Brian Little made McAteer his club captain and one year following his retirement he became John Barnes' assistant manager at the club. However, Tranmere made a terrible start to the 2009/10 season and both McAteer and Barnes were dismissed by Rovers in October 2009.

"Sometimes I don't think before I speak - like the time I went into a Dublin pub and asked if they served Guinness." McAteer has a reputation for not being the sharpest tool in the box and he gladly confesses to his dimwittedness. "I'm known for being a fool and they called me Trigger. I once bought a pizza and was asked if I wanted it sliced into four or eight. I said just four because I couldn't manage eight slices!" He has never lived down an occurrence that took place while he was at Bolton when a teammate asked him if he could pass him the ketchup. McAteer replied: 'The brown or the red?' When McAteer locked himself, Phil Babb and Neil Ruddock out of his brand-new Porsche outside his house, the police asked him to get a coat-hanger so they could pick the lock and McAteer came back with a wooden one. Also one time after an Ireland match in Dublin McAteer was in a pub having a drink when in walked snooker legend Jimmy White. When seeing Jimmy McAteer shouted: 'Oi Jimmy... One hundred and eighty!.' He also got his vanias mixed up during the World Cup in 1994, doing a Dracula impression when a waitress told him she was from Pennsylvania. 

Above everything else McAteer deserves the highest praise imaginable for organising the "Tsunami Soccer Aid" charity-match which around 38,000 people attended at Anfield on Easter Sunday in 2005. McAteer sprung into action after watching a BBC documentary on the Indian Ocean Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 that resulted in up to 280,000 deaths which makes it the sixth deadliest natural disaster in recorded history. "I went to bed and thought: 'It's easy to put your hand in your pocket, give £20 and forget about it, but I want to do more,'" McAteer recollects. "The easiest thing that came to mind was to arrange a Liverpool legends - celebrities match." His charity event raised over £412,000!
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 100 12 13 14 0 139
1995-1996 29 7 4 0 0 40
1996-1997 37 2 4 8 0 51
1997-1998 21 1 3 1 0 26
1998-1999 13 2 2 5 0 22
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
9 696 Newcastle United
8 684 Arsenal
8 610 Manchester United
8 564 Chelsea
7 488 West Ham United
6 540 Leeds United
6 540 Southampton
6 477 Aston Villa
6 455 Coventry City
6 419 Everton
5 450 Middlesbrough
5 412 Nottingham Forest
5 368 Wimbledon
5 363 Tottenham
5 341 Blackburn Rovers
4 356 Leicester City
4 299 Charlton Athletic
4 271 Sheffield Wednesday
3 270 Manchester City
3 238 Derby
3 204 Sunderland
2 180 Mypa 47
2 180 Sion
2 180 Brann
2 180 Paris St Germain
2 95 Valencia
2 78 Kosice
1 90 Rochdale
1 90 Shrewsbury Town
1 90 Strasbourg
1 90 Celta Vigo
1 90 Fulham
1 90 Port Vale
1 90 QPR
1 90 Crystal Palace
1 90 Barnsley
1 90 WBA
1 90 Burnley
Total Started/substitutions
119 Started
14 On the bench
20 Substitute
6 Substituted
Total Venue
72 Home
65 Away
2 Neutral
Total Competition
100 Premier League
13 League Cup
12 FA Cup
8 European Cup Winners Cup
6 UEFA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
117 64 29 24 54.7% Roy Evans
17 6 6 5 35.3% Evans / Houllier
5 3 0 2 60% Gérard Houllier
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 3 3 0 0 0 6
1995-1996 0 3 0 0 0 3
1996-1997 1 0 0 0 0 1
1997-1998 2 0 0 0 0 2
1998-1999 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Started/substitutions
6 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
3 FA Cup
3 Premier League
Total Goal minute period
2 16-30 minutes
1 61-75 minutes
3 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
6 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 12 1 3 1 0 17
1995-1996 3 1 1 0 0 5
1996-1997 6 0 2 1 0 9
1997-1998 2 0 0 0 0 2
1998-1999 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 16.09.1995 Blackburn Rovers Anfield League
50 29.09.1996 West Ham United Upton Park League
100 08.11.1997 Tottenham Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 85 06.01.1996 Rochdale Anfield FA Cup
Related Articles
Thomas gives Sunderland Roker Choker

Press Association report on Liverpool 2 - 0 Sunderland on 20 September 1995.

McManaman conjures up Cup win

Match report from The Press Association on Liverpool - Bolton on 02.04.1995.

Liverpool could have had him for nothing

Press article on Jason McAteer's arrival to Liverpool.

Related Quotes

Credit Card application form question:
'What is your position at the Company?'
Jason McAteer's (self confirmed) response: 'Right Back'

Jason McAteer

"From now on, I want to be known as Captain Sensible. I'm known for being a fool and they called me Trigger. I once bought a pizza and was asked if I wanted it sliced into four or eight. I said just four because I couldn't manage eight slices!"

Jason McAteer

“John Barnes says he could have been a rapper. I was a wrapper, technically. I worked at Cadbury’s."

Jason McAteer

Scrapbook
LFC Magazine interview from 1995/96
LFC Magazine interview from 1995/96
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Marine 1990-1992 Unibond League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Bolton Wanderers 1992-1993 England Second Division 21 0 25 1
Bolton Wanderers 1993-1994 England First Division 46 3 62 6
Bolton Wanderers 1994-1995 England First Division 43 5 54 7
Bolton Wanderers 1995-1996 England Premier League 4 0 4 0
Blackburn Rovers 1998-1999 England Premier League 13 1 13 1
Blackburn Rovers 1999-2000 England Premier League 28 2 31 2
Blackburn Rovers 2000-2001 England First Division 27 1 35 1
Blackburn Rovers 2001-2002 England Premier League 4 0 4 0
Sunderland 2001-2002 England Premier League 26 2 27 2
Sunderland 2002-2003 England Premier League 9 1 10 1
Sunderland 2003-2004 England First Division 18 2 24 2
Tranmere Rovers 2004-2005 England League Division 1 34 4 39 5
Tranmere Rovers 2005-2006 England League Division 1 29 0 29 0
Tranmere Rovers 2006-2007 England League Division 1 18 0 22 0
Total 320 21 379 28