Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012. With Fulham he has played in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final.

Duff has previously played for Blackburn Rovers, with whom he won the Football League Cup; Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles and another League Cup; and Newcastle United where he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Born in Ballyboden, County Dublin, Ireland, Duff joined Blackburn Rovers as a trainee in 1996 after playing for Leicester Celtic, Lourdes Celtic and St. Kevin's Boys as a schoolboy in Dublin. He made his Blackburn debut at the age of 18 against Leicester City on the final day of the 1996–97 season for which he won the Man of the match award. In his first full season (1997–98) he scored four goals. Blackburn were relegated the following season.

Duff helped Blackburn achieve promotion back to the Premier League in 2001 and then win the League Cup in 2002, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium. Following the 2002 World Cup, Duff signed a new four-year contract with Rovers, though press reports had suggested that he was to change clubs. Despite injury problems in the 2002–03 season, he finished as Rovers' top goalscorer with 11 league goals, which helped his team finish 6th and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL (born 8 May 1935 in Ashington, Northumberland) is an English former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup. He is the brother of former Manchester United and England footballer Bobby Charlton.

Charlton was a part of the successful Leeds United side of the 1960s and 1970s, winning a league championship (1969), an FA Cup (1972), a League Cup (1968) and two Fairs Cups (1968 and 1971) and made a club record 773 appearances. He won 35 England caps and played in every game of the successful 1966 World Cup campaign. In 2006, Leeds United supporters voted Charlton into the club's greatest ever XI.

Charlton later became a manager of both domestic and international sides. In his first season as a manager, he led Middlesbrough to the Second Division title, for which he was voted Manager of the Year in 1974. He later took charge of the Republic of Ireland national team, and led them to their first ever World Cup in 1990, where they reached the quarter-finals.

Stephen Carr (born 29 August 1976 in Dublin) is an Irish footballer who plays for and captains Birmingham City. He previously played for the Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and, for a shorter spell, Newcastle United. He is a former international player with the Republic of Ireland. His position is right back, but had been known to deputise at left back or centre back when required.

As a fifteen year old, Carr went on trial from Stella Maris Football Club where he played his schoolboy football to Tottenham Hotspur and was signed up by then manager Ossie Ardiles. He made his debut for the club on 29 September 1993 away to Ipswich Town in the 1993–94 Premier League season. However he had to wait until the 1996–97 season to establish himself as a regular first-team player, when he made 28 appearances that campaign.

He picked up a League Cup medal with Spurs in 1999 after contributing to a 1–0 win over Leicester City in the final. The 1999-00 Premier League season was arguably his best ever as far as his performances are concerned, as well as scoring a fantastic 35-yard screamer^{[citation needed]} against champions Manchester United.

Séamus John James "Shay" Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national team as a goalkeeper.

With 121 international caps over the last 15 years, Given has made more appearances for the Republic of Ireland than any other player in history. With more than 100 caps, he is thus a member of the FIFA Century Club. He gained his first international cap in 1996, and has rarely missed a full international game since. He played in goal during every match for his country during the 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, helping them to reach the knockout stage. He was later on the pitch in Paris when the Republic was controversially knocked out of the playoffs for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by France before helping his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.

Given started his playing career as a youth goalkeeper at Celtic in the early 1990s, leaving in 1994 having been deemed surplus to requirements, Given was part of the Sunderland team who won the Football League First Division title in 1995–96, while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. He was signed by Newcastle United in 1997, and it was there that he began competing to be a first-choice Premier League goalkeeper. Given was part of the teams who came runners-up in the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup campaigns, and was named in the Premier League Team of the Season for 2001–02 and 2005–06. He played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup with Newcastle, and was involved in the club's title challenge in 2001–02. Although he submitted a transfer request during the 2000–01 campaign after losing his position in the starting lineup, it was denied, and Given went on to regain his place.

Bryan Ruiz González (born 18 August 1985 in Alajuela) is a Costa Rican footballer who plays for Fulham in the Premier League. He is a left sided forward, with good ball control, heading and passing, who can play as a second striker.

He began his professional career at 18 playing for Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, in Costa Rica's top division. He formed a trio with 2 strikers, Rolando Fonseca and Froylan Ledezma, where he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker.^{[citation needed]} In Alajuelense, Bryan was nicknamed "la comadreja" (the weasel), for his ball-control ability.^{[citation needed]} He was on the team when it won regional titles such as the UNCAF Cup and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.^{[citation needed]}

In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed by K.A.A. Gent in a 4-year deal along with Randall Azofeifa from Deportivo Saprissa and Roy Myrie from Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.^{[citation needed]}

He scored his first hat trick playing for the Gent on December 8, 2007 against Lokeren. In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.