[3] He made his first-team debut against Burnley in a Division Two game at Burnden Park on 28 November 1992, finishing on the winning side in a 4–0 triumph.

Reading took a 2–0 lead in the first half and led the match until the 86th minute when Bolton scored a late equaliser to make the game 2–2 and force extra-time.

[5] Early in the 1995–96 season, McAteer joined Liverpool in a £4.5 million deal after he played against them in the 1995 Football League Cup final for Bolton.

[6] He made his Liverpool debut on 16 September 1995 in a 3–0 win against Blackburn at Anfield, coming on as a late substitute for John Barnes.

[9] He played in the 1996 FA Cup final against Manchester United in which Liverpool lost to a single goal scored by Eric Cantona.

McAteer was part of the group of 1990s Liverpool players known as the "Spice Boys" for the tabloid attention towards their private lives.

During his time with Rovers, McAteer had a vicious argument one day with manager Graeme Souness, and said of him in 2002: "He almost ruined my career and I cannot help but despise him for it.

[17] In July 2004, McAteer was close to a one-year deal at newly relegated Leicester City, which was called off due to unforeseen circumstances.

He was made club captain by manager Brian Little, skippering the side to the League One play-off semi-finals, where they eventually lost on penalties to Hartlepool United.

And when he needed to obtain an Irish passport, an official from the Football Association of Ireland told him to pick a name at random from some McAteers from Co.Down of an appropriate age, to claim as his grandfather.

[24] He was capped 52 times between 1994 and 2004 making his debut on 23 March 1994 in a 0–0 draw against Russia in a friendly match at Lansdowne Road and was selected by manager Jack Charlton for the Republic's 1994 World Cup squad.

[29] Anecdotes spread about McAteer's purported low intelligence, including that he had asked for a pizza to be cut into four pieces and not eight because he was not hungry;[30] he confirmed in 2005 that this story is true.

[33] McAteer said that while he was at the 2022 UEFA Champions League final with LFC TV, his wife and 22-year-old son were assaulted and robbed amidst the chaos.

[32] In 2006, McAteer became an investor in Golf Punk magazine, alongside former Sunderland teammates Phil Babb, Michael Gray, Thomas Sørensen and Stephen Wright, saving the publication from closure.

and Liverpool/Manchester United Legends in aid of Autism Ireland, McAteer clashed with Dublin GAA goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton.