12. Liam O'Brien

Signed from: Shamrock Rovers (£50,000), October 1986

Debut: 2-0 win vs Leicester City, December 20th 1986

League Record: 16 games (+15 as sub), 2 goals

Sold to: Newcastle United (£275,000), November 1988

Ron Atkinson’s final signing, as it turned out, having been impressed by the Irishman during a pre-season game against Shamrock Rovers. 

He never got a chance to play for the man who signed him, getting his first opportunity in the first team when Remi Moses got crocked. Not long after his debut, he made some history by getting sent off after 85 seconds in a game at Southampton. By all accounts, he was hard done to by the referee, who may well have wanted to lay down his authority with the TV cameras watching.  

With Bryan Robson actually staying fit for a decent spell, O’Brien’s opportunities for first team action were obviously limited and with United hesitating to offer a new contract, he was allowed to move up North to Newcastle United at a good return on the initial investment. This may have seemed a duff move at first, as they were relegated a matter of months later, but he became a regular face for Barcodes in the early 90s and played his part in their 1993 promotion campaign, masterminded by returning hero Kevin Keegan only a year or so after further relegation seemed likely. O’Brien made a name for himself in his time on the Tyne by scoring the winning goal in a match against rivals Sunderland. 

However, the step back up to the top flight appears to have been too much, as after a few games, he was packed off to Tranmere Rovers, where (along with John Aldridge and Pat Nevin) he became part of a team that always seemed on the verge of making the top flight.

Curiously, while O'Brien made the Ireland squad for the 1988 European Championships despite only having started six games the preceding season, he failed to make the cut for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups when he was a first team regular at his teams at the time.