Paul Ince arrived at Old Trafford in 1989 from West Ham for £1 million and unwisely incurred the wrath of Hammers fans by being photographed in a United shirt weeks before the transfer was complete. Ince soon became a midfield lynchpin alongside legendary captain Bryan Robson and liked to be known as "The Guv'nor". His tough tackling and accurate passing made him heir apparent to Robson as the Reds midfield general.

United won a string of trophies including The Double in 1994 and Ince played a big part in the success. Ince was also a regular with England and became the first black captain of the national team. However, in 1994-95 Alex Ferguson grew disillusioned, sensing an arrogance and slackness in the midfielder's attitude. Besides United already had Roy Keane.....

Ince was offloaded in an £8 million move to Inter Milan in the summer clear out of 1995, but later committed the heinous crime of joining Liverpool on his return to England in 1998. Even worse - he took great pleasure in celebrating a the last minute equaliser at Anfield in a 2-2 draw in May 1999. Fergie would later call Ince "A f**king big time Charlie" in a TV documentary. A month after the Anfield incident he was sold for £1 million to Middlesbrough eventually becoming player manager of Macclesfield Town in 2007.

Despite having no professional league setup and a small population of only 4 million, the Republic of Ireland has provided Manchester United with many famous players down the years. Since the 1940's the club always maintained an extensive scouting network in Ireland which meant the Red's were first in line for any talented players that came on the scene.

Famous southern Irish reds include 1950's captain's Johnny Carey and Noel Cantwell, striker Frank Stapleton, defenders Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran, Denis Irwin, midfield legend Roy Keane and recently John O'Shea. The 1968 European Cup team had two Irish in it's ranks, as did the 1999 treble side. This connection of Irish players down the years has undoubtedly made United the most popular English Premiership club in the country.

The term Manchester United "The Religion" comes from Irish United fans and dates back to the 1960's. The Republic has around 35 official Manchester United supporters clubs and a couple of thousand fans travel over every other week to Old Trafford.