Former Manchester United midfielder ordained a Roman Catholic priest

A former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star has been ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Dominican Order.

Philip Mulryne made five appearances for United back in the late 1990s after graduating from the club’s academy. He moved on to Norwich in 1999, where he played 135 time for the Canaries in a six-year spell and also won 27 caps for Northern Ireland. After short spells at Cardiff City and Leyton Orient, Mulryne officially retired from football in 2009.

So far, it sounds like a fairly typical footballer’s CV.

However, Mulryne didn’t move into coaching or punditry once his playing career was over. Instead, the one time Premier League footballer – who would have earned around £600,000 a year at one point – devoted himself to religious life, MirrorUk reports.

Now he has been ordained into the priesthood, and taken a vow of poverty.

Fr Mulryne was ordained in Dublin over the weekend.

Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia visited the Republic of Ireland from Rome to conduct the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Archbishop Di Noia said: “After mature deliberation, dear Brother Philip, you have shown your readiness to embrace the service to which you have been called.

“Whatever gain you had, you have counted as loss.

“In a real sense, your experience as an athlete has helped to prepare you for this moment: you have known the meaning of working hard to attain a goal, and now the goal is Christ.”