19. Mal Donaghy

Signed from: Luton Town (£650,000), October 1988

Debut: 1-1 draw vs Everton, October 30th 1988
League Record: 76 games (+13 as sub)
Sold to: Chelsea (£100,000), August 1992

One of those players you forget played for us until you're reminded, Mal Donaghy is perhaps better regarded by fans of Luton Town, with whom he was a consistent performer throughout most of the 1980s.

Perhaps it was seeing him play his part in their 3-2 victory over Arsenal in the 1988 League Cup final that inspired Fergie to cough up a then not-inconsiderable sum to bring him to Old Trafford. Curiously, he'd allowed Kevin Moran to leave on a free only a few months before, which makes me wonder why we went and spent so much on a defender only a year younger at 31.

Moran, of course, was a crowd favourite due in no small part to his at-time insane bravery: he famously smashed his head in the 1983 FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, and was carried off on a stretcher, blood pouring out from the wound while pumping his fist in the air towards the fans.

What Donaghy (who made over 90 appearances for Northern Ireland, including in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals) had going for him was that he was rarely injured and could play anywhere across the back four. In his first season, he played most games alongside Steve Bruce in the middle but from then on took on a utility role, filling in where needed without being a first choice again.

Thing is, I have two clear memories of Mal. The first is in the semi-final of the Cup Winners Cup against Legia Warsaw - the first leg in Poland being a game I seem to recall being on around 3/4pm our time, as I was watching it after getting home from school. They scored first before McClair quickly equalised. With Warsaw on the attack, Mal made a crunching tackle on their right winger, and fed the ball to Mark Hughes, who drove through their defence before smashing in a low drive from the edge of the box. Steve Bruce scored a third to create plenty of breathing room for the second leg, a 1-1 draw. For that challenge, Donaghy earned his winner's medal for sitting on the bench in the final in Rotterdam.

However, the next year he made a serious arse of himself in a game against Chelsea, at a time when we were chasing the title. Under no pressure whatsoever, he played pass back without (I assume) checking where his teammate was. The result was a somewhat horrific own goal, and a 1-1 draw at a point where we were struggling for points. It's that memory that taints my feelings for the guy, though his solid, unspectacular style doubtless didn't endear him to my young mind.

That summer, Mal was binned off to Chelsea, where he played regularly for a couple of years before retiring. He's currently coaching the Northern Ireland under-19 team.