The legendary central midfielder has been the captain of Linfield since 2016 and is second in the club’s list of appearances, having made more than 750 appearances for the Blues. Only former defender Noel Bailie MBE (1,013) has made more appearances for Linfield. Mulgrew moved into second place on February 19, 2022, when he made his 661st Linfield appearance in a 1-0 home win over Portadown, surpassing Tommy Dickson on 660.

He is also Linfield’s all-time leading appearance-maker in European competition, having made almost 60 appearances across the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League. He is joint-second leading goalscorer in Europe for the Blues, alongside Glenn Ferguson, Arthur Thomas and Phil Scott on five goals. His goals have come against IF Fuglafjordur, B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands), FK Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), TNS (Wales), Pogon Szczezin (Poland).

Mulgrew has won the Irish Cup on seven occasions, all with Linfield. Only Bob Milne and Noel Bailie MBE have won more (eight). He has also won ten Irish League titles, as well as the League Cup on three occasions, and the County Antrim Shield twice, along with a NIFL Charity Shield.

A native of Bangor, Mulgrew started out with St. Andrews before coming through the ranks of Glentoran – with whom he started his senior career – making two appearances for their first team in the 2004-05 season before signing for Linfield upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2005. His debut came as a late sub in a 2-0 home win against Loughgall on August 20, 2005.

In his first season he was part of the legendary Linfield squad that did the ‘Clean Sweep’ under David Jeffrey, however a reoccurring medial injury meant he didn’t qualify for any medals that season.

The central midfielder has been capped twice at senior level of International football, making his Northern Ireland debut in a 2-0 defeat against Turkey in Connecticut, USA on 26 May, 2010. He also played in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Chile, four days later. Both caps came under the reign of Nigel Worthington.

In the summer of 2011, at a time when his Linfield contract was expiring, Mulgrew attracted interest from two MLS teams; Colombus Crew and Portland Timbers. Mulgrew travelled to America for separate trial periods with both clubs, however he ultimately decided to remain in Northern Ireland and subsequently signed a three-year contract extension with Linfield.

The midfielder had a Testimonial season in 2015-16, with his Testimonial match being played against a full-strength Rangers team at Windsor Park on September 3, 2016. He was named both the Ulster Footballer of the Year and the NI Football Writers’ Awards POTY in the 2016/17 season – a season in which he led Linfield to a League, Irish Cup and Co. Antrim Shield treble, ending a run of four consecutive seasons without a League title.

He has scored more than 50 goals for Linfield – the first of which came in a 4-0 win away to Lisburn Distillery on 4 November 2006. Winner of the Linfieldfc.com Player of the Year award in 2009/10, and winner of Linfield’s Goal of the Season award in 2022/23 season for his last-gasp equaliser against TNS in a Champions League qualifier.

Mulgrew reached the milestone of 750 appearances for Linfield when he started a 4-2 win over Warrenpoint Town in the fifth round of the Irish Cup on January 6, 2024.

As well as being a player for Linfield’s first team, Mulgrew has been the Head Coach of Linfield U18s since January 7, 2022.