Background
Hanrahan came from a sporting family – his father had played hurling for Limerick and three of his brothers (Peter, Gary and Dave) played in the League of Ireland.
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Joe Hanrahan
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He played schoolboy football with local side Vereker Clements earning five schoolboy caps for Ireland and soon attracted interest from cross-channel in the shape of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this interest from Wolves, Hanrahan decided to sign for University College Dublin where he spent four productive years. He made his League of Ireland debut on 10 September 1981 at F.C. The highlight of his time at Belfield was the 1983-1984 season where he picked up an FAI Cup winners medal, scoring "after a mazy dribble" in the replay as University College Dublin beat Shamrock Rovers 2–1.
He also gained Inter-League and Under-21 representative honours during that season.
He captained the Ireland youth team that qualified for the 1982 European Championships in Finland, but was unavailable for the finals because of university examinations. Drawn against English club Everton in the first round, The Times" match preview picked out Hanrahan as a player to watch.
In August 1985 after scoring five goals in four trial games he signed for Manchester United. He played in friendlies ahead of the 1986-1987 season, but never made the breakthrough.
Unsettled after two years without a competitive appearance, and despite speculation about a £40,000 transfer to Portuguese Vale, Hanrahan"s contract was cancelled and he returned to Ireland.
He signed for Shamrock Rovers in 1987 and after five goals in 27 games in the clubs infamous reign at Tolka Park, he moved to his hometown club Limerick City in 1988 under the management of Billy Hamilton. They finished third in the league that season but Hamilton left during the 1989/90 season and Limerick never challenged. Hanrahan was on the move again in 1990 where Jim McLaughlin took him up north to
He played for, until they released him in summer 1997.
He then joined Bohemians alongside his more talented brother Peter, a move which caused some surprise because of his age and reputation for being injury-prone, but he "silenced the critics with a series of sparkling performances", and also played for Monaghan United before retiring. Club University College Dublin Individual.
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Born
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Nationality
Ireland