Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson (born 25 October 1987) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Everton and the Republic of Ireland national team. He has also played for Manchester United and on loan for Royal Antwerp and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In 2007, Gibson, who was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, was at the centre of a dispute between the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Irish Football Association (IFA), after he opted to play for the Republic of Ireland instead of Northern Ireland. The issue was referred to FIFA and was discussed in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

A former pupil of St Columb's College, Gibson played junior football in the Derry and District League, and then with Institute before joining Manchester United in 2004. He made his senior debut for United on 26 October 2005 in a League Cup game against Barnet, coming on as a substitute for Lee Martin. During the 2005–06 season he played regularly for Manchester United Reserves, helping them win a treble. He made 19 appearances, scoring twice. In May 2006, he won the prestigious Jimmy Murphy Award as United's youth player of the year and then played regularly for the United senior team during their pre-season summer games, together with Dong Fangzhuo, Jonny Evans, Fraizer Campbell and Danny Simpson.

Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic. Keane was a dominating central-midfielder, noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005, having joined the club in 1993. Keane helped United achieve a sustained period of success in more than 12 years at the club. He then signed for Celtic but retired as a player less than a year later.

He played at international level for much of his career, representing the Republic of Ireland over a period of 14 years, most of which he spent as captain. He played in every Republic of Ireland game at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, although he was sent home from the 2002 World Cup after an incident with national coach Mick McCarthy.

He was appointed manager of Sunderland shortly after his retirement as a player, and took the club from 23rd position in the Football League Championship in late August to win the division title and gain promotion to the Premier League. Keane's arrival was cited as the catalyst for Sunderland's recovery. He managed to keep Sunderland from relegation in the 2007–08 season, but in his second season as a top-flight manager he left his position with Sunderland in the relegation zone. In April 2009, he was appointed as manager of Ipswich Town, but was sacked by the club in January 2011 with them 19th in the Championship.

Eden Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian international footballer who currently plays for French club Lille in Ligue 1 and the Belgium national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger. Hazard is known for his creativity, speed, and technical ability and is described as a "fearless, explosive attacking midfielder who can change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble". He has also been described as "a defender's nightmare" and has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to the media, coaches, and players drawing comparisons to FIFA World Player of the Year winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Hazard is the son of former Belgian footballers and began his football career in Belgium playing for local clubs Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize. In 2005, he moved to France joining first division club Lille. Hazard spent two years in the club's academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. In his first full season as a starter, he won the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year award becoming the first non-French player to win the award. In the 2009–10 season, Hazard captured the award again becoming the first player to win the award twice. He was also named to the league's Team of the Year. Since making his debut in 2007, Hazard has become an integral part of the club under manager Rudi Garcia racking up over 190 appearances. In the 2010–11 season, he was a part of the Lille team that won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year becoming the youngest player to win the award. Hazard was also given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo for his performances during the 2010–11 season.

Bryan Oviedo Jiménez (born 18 February 1990) is a Costa Rican footballer, currently playing for the Danish Superliga side F.C. Copenhagen.

After his outstanding performance in U-20 World Cup 2009 in Egypt, he had the opportunity to play in the first team, playing some games before leaving for Europe.

In early 2010 he began his European adventure, Copenhagen buying his services until 2013. In his first months, he was loaned to FC Nordsjælland and had more participation, even managed to win the 2010–11 Danish Cup. Bryan returned again to the Danish capital for the 2011-2012 season, and made his first official team appearance on 5 May 2010, when Copenhagen finally secured the Danish championship with a 4-0 victory against HB Køge. In the first half of the 2011-2012 season, he managed to break into the starting lineup, benching Pierre Bengtsson.

Oviedo was also part of the Costa Rican U-20 squad that got a fourth place in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. He played his first match with the Costa Rican national team against Argentina on January the 26th 2010.

Nicholas Edward "Nick" Powell (born 23 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Crewe Alexandra and the England Under-18 team.

Powell began his career at Crewe Alexandra, whom he joined at the age of 5. He made his debut, age 16, in the 2010-11 season and secured a place in the first team by the 2011-12 season, subsequently helping the team to secure promotion to the League One.

Powell started his career at home-town club Crewe Alexandra, joining their youth system as a five-year-old. He made his debut for Crewe on 19 August 2010, in a League Two game against Cheltenham Town, which ended in a 3–2 defeat at Whaddon Road. He came on as a second half substitute for Clayton Donaldson, at the age of 16, becaming the second youngest player ever to appear for Crewe.

On 20 August 2011, Powell was sent off for the first time in the 2-0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town, Powell had only been on the pitch for 8 minutes when he was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Terry Gornell. Powell scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 away win at AFC Wimbledon on 15 October 2011. In January 2012, Powell was awarded the Football League's Young Player of the Month Award for December. He scored his first brace against Gillingham in a 4-3 win on 10 March 2012. On 21 April 2012, he won every award at Crewe's end of season awards ceremony, becoming the first player to win all five, including Goal of the Season (for his 30-yard strike in the 4-3 win at Gillingham), Young Player of the Year and Player of the Year.