Ronald Andrew Whelan (; born 25 September 1961) is an Irish former professional footballer player who played as a midfielder and sometimes as a defender. He played an integral role in the dominant Liverpool side that won a wealth of titles in the 1980s. He was at the club from 1979 until 1994, scoring a number of vital goals. In 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, a poll of 110,000 Liverpool fans conducted by Liverpool's official website, Whelan came in 30th. Whelan finished his career at Southend United, where he was also player-manager. He has also managed in Greece and Cyprus, with Panionios, Olympiakos Nicosia and Apollon Limassol. Whelan was an important member of the Republic of Ireland national football team at one UEFA European Football Championship (1988) and also appeared at two World Cups (1990 and 1994). He played a total of 53 times for the national side between 1981 and 1995. Since retirement he has begun a media career, and is a regular contributor to RTÉ Sport in Ireland. Early life Whelan was born into a family of footballers from Dublin, Ireland; his father, Ronnie Whelan, Sr., was an Irish international and a key member of the successful St Patrick's Athletic side of the late 1950s and early 1960s. His brother Paul Whelan played for Bohemian FC and Shamrock Rovers. Whelan was a skilful and industrious midfield player, who, after an unsuccessful trial period for Manchester United (for whom he made one appearance for their 'B' team, scoring in a 7–4 win over Liverpool 'B', on 20 August 1977), made his League of Ireland debut for Home Farm on his 16th birthday at Tolka Park. Whelan scored for a League of Ireland XI against the Basque Country at the San Mamés in August 1979 Liverpool Whelan was signed for Liverpool by Bob Paisley for a bargain £35,000 on 19 September 1979, a few days before his 18th birthday and made his debut 18 months later, on 3 April 1981, scoring his first goal in the 27th minute of the 3–0 league win over Stoke City at Anfield. This would be Whelan's one and only appearance of the season for the first team, as Whelan spent much of his first few months at the club in the reserves. The following season Whelan won his place on the left side of the Liverpool midfield, ending the Anfield career of Ray