LOI players to UK

dreamers75

Article in todays sun called "Conveyor Belt".

Tbh i was shocked there were 61 ex LOI playing in England, thought maybe 20 or so.

IF Giovanni Trapattoni is to be believed, ‘there is no league in Ireland’.

Any manager in Britain worth his salt knows better because the domestic game has provided a conveyor belt of talent across the Irish Sea.

SunSport has trawled through the squad lists of the 92 English league and 12 SPL clubs to assess just how big an exporting market the League of Ireland has been.

And our figures show there are a staggering SIXTY-ONE players on the books of 48 different clubs.

After taking charge of Celtic, Neil Lennon demanded his scouts pay closer attention to Ireland, explaining: “We probably took our eye off the ball as far as the League of Ireland is concerned.

“You look at players like Keith Fahey, Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Conor Sammon — and top of the list would be Roy Keane.

“There are players who maybe missed the boat or go to clubs early, don’t succeed, come back and find their feet in the League of Ireland.

“Sometimes there are late developers who go on to have great careers, like Paul McGrath and Kevin Moran. There is a constant stream of players coming out of Ireland and they’re hungry to succeed.”

Keane himself shopped in the League of Ireland with mixed results. Sunderland are set to make a 15-fold profit on David Meyler, whom he brought in from Cork City, but Roy O’Donovan — who made the same move — did not live up to his near €500,000 price tag.

At Ipswich Town, he bagged Brian Murphy on a free from Bohemians with the keeper establishing himself as No 1 at Portman Road.

Keane reasoned: “It’s a tough league here and if players can deal with the physical side of it they have a good chance of making it in England.”

His old rival Mick McCarthy was another to realise the value to be had. At Sunderland he snapped up Waterford United’s Daryl Murphy, and at Wolves recruited Stephen Ward and Matt Doherty from Bohs and Aaron McCarey from Monaghan United.

He felt their background helped shape their characters.

McCarthy said: “A bit of humility goes a long way with me. I think where they’ve come from helps. Standards are set early in life when you are brought up, whether it’s your family or your job. If you don’t have everything given to you and you have to work for it, you appreciate it.”

McCarthy also smashed the transfer record for an ex-League of Ireland player when he paid almost €8million to bring Doyle to Wolves from Reading in June 2009.

It was Doyle who sparked the sudden interest in the league from British clubs, with all but eight of the 61 players making the cross-channel switch after he joined the Royals from Cork City in 2005.

Leading agent Eamonn Collins — who brokered many of the deals — said: “When a club can get a player for £100,000 who goes on to score almost 20 goals in his first season in the Championship, others are going to sit up and take notice.

“How well Kevin did gave the league credibility.”

Karl Sheppard followed in Doyle’s footsteps by joining Reading from Shamrock Rovers last year, but his only football has come on loan at Accrington Stanley.

Even so, he is happier in England now — after spells with Galway United and Rovers — than he was as an Everton trainee.

Sheppard, 21, said: “I wouldn’t say what Kevin did was a burden but it is hard when you’re being compared to him when you just want to be yourself.

“I want to make a name for myself here. When I was at Everton as a kid I was very homesick and ended up coming back. It’s easier now that I’m a bit older” Collins had worked with Doyle as assistant manager at St Patrick’s Athletic and subsequently served as Pat Fenlon’s deputy at Shelbourne.

And he recalled: “At the time a lot of the clubs were going full-time. The league had changed to summer football, results in Europe were improving so it was all good.

“As we were full-time, clubs were able to produce players that were physically ready to cope when they went across and there have been far more successes than failures.”

The traffic has continued. In the off-season, Seán Maguire moved from Waterford United to West Ham, Kevin Feely joined Charlton from Bohs and Stephen McLaughlin was snapped up by Nottingham Forest from Derry City.

Since retiring through injury, former Ireland goalkeeper Wayne Henderson has worked for Impact Sports Management.

The company was involved in the Maguire deal, with Henderson still believing there are hidden gems to be found in Ireland.

He said: “You can have someone like Seán who is out of the spotlight down the country.

“There is a wealth of talent that isn’t always spotted. Sometimes you have to be proactive.

“I’m from Cabra but went across the city to play for Cherry Orchard as I knew there’d be more scouts watching the Brenfer League.”

Irish exports

PREMIER LEAGUE (11) ASTON VILLA: Enda Stevens (UCD/St Pat’s/ Shamrock Rov).

EVERTON: Séamus Coleman* (Sligo Rov), Ben McLaughlin (Dundalk).

NORWICH CITY: Wes Hoolahan* (Shelbourne).

QPR: Brian Murphy (Bohemians).

READING: Noel Hunt* (Shamrock Rov/Waterford Utd), Karl Sheppard (Galway Utd/Shamrock Rov), Pierce Sweeney (Bray Wands).

SUNDERLAND: James McClean* (Derry City).

WEST BROM: Shane Long* (Cork City).

WEST HAM: Sean Maguire (Waterford Utd).

CHAMPIONSHIP (17) BIRMINGHAM CITY: Keith Fahey* (Drogheda Utd/St Pat’s).

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION: Gary Dicker (UCD).

BURNLEY: Daniel Lafferty** (Derry City).

CHARLTON ATHLETIC: Kevin Feely (Bohemians).

CRYSTAL PALACE: Damien Delaney* (Cork City).

DERBY COUNTY: Conor Sammon (UCD/Derry City).

HULL CITY: David Meyler* (Cork City), Stephen Quinn (St Pat’s).

IPSWICH TOWN: Daryl Murphy* (Waterford Utd).

MILLWALL: David Forde* (Galway Utd/Derry City).

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Stephen McLaughlin (Finn Harps/Derry City).

PETERBOROUGH UTD: Daniel Kearns (Dundalk).

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: Paul Corry (UCD).

WOLVES: Matt Doherty (Bohemians), Kevin Doyle* (St Pat’s/Cork City), Aaron McCarey (Monaghan Utd) Stephen Ward* (Bohemians).

LEAGUE ONE (13) BRENTFORD: Jonathan Douglas* (Monaghan Utd).

COVENTRY CITY: Roy O’Donovan (Cork City).

DONCASTER ROVERS: Paul Keegan (Drogheda Utd/Bohemians).

LEYTON ORIENT: Leon McSweeney (Cork City), David Mooney (Shamrock Rov/Longford Town/Cork City).

MK DONS: Shaun Williams (Drogheda Utd/ Dundalk/Finn Harps/Sporting Fingal), Jay O’Shea (Bray Wands/Galway Utd).

PRESTON: Graham Cummins (Cork City).

SCUNTHORPE UTD: Jordan Keegan (St Pat’s/Monaghan Utd).

SHREWSBURY TOWN: Dave McAllister (Drogheda Utd/Shelbourne/St Pat’s).

STEVENAGE FC: Don Cowan (Shamrock Rovers/Longford Town).

YEOVIL TOWN: Paddy Madden (Shelbourne/Bohemians), Kevin Dawson (Sporting Fingal/Shelbourne).

LEAGUE TWO (9) ACCRINGTON STANLEY: Padraig Amond (Shamrock Rov/Kildare County/Sligo Rovers).

BRADFORD CITY: Carl McHugh (Dundalk).

BRISTOL ROVERS: Mark McChrystal (Derry City).

BURTON ALBION: John McGrath (Limerick).

CHELTENHAM TOWN: Alan Bennett* (Cork City).

EXETER CITY: John O’Flynn (Cork City), Jimmy Keohane (Wexford Youths).

ROCHDALE: Brian Barry-Murphy (Cork City).

SOUTHEND UTD: Graham Coughlan (Bray Wanderers).

SPL (11) ABERDEEN: Niall McGinn** (Derry).

CELTIC: Paddy McCourt** (Shamrock Rov/Derry City).

DUNDEE UTD: Sean Dillon (Longford/Shelbourne), Richie Ryan (Sligo Rov).

HIBERNIAN: Gary Deegan (Shelbourne/ Kilkenny City/Longford Town/Galway Utd/Bohemians), Eoin Doyle (Shamrock Rov/Sligo Rov).

INVERNESS CT: Richie Foran (St Pat’s/Shels/Home Farm), Conor Pepper (St Pat’s).

ROSS COUNTY: Sam Morrow (Derry City).

ST JOHNSTONE: Alan Mannus** (Shamrock Rov).

ST MIRREN: Graham Carey (Bohemians).

TOTAL: 61.

* Ireland internationals; ** Northern Ireland internationals.

TOP EXPORTERS:

11: Cork City (old club & new). 9: Derry City (old club & new), Shamrock Rovers. 8: Bohemians, St Pat’s. 7: Shelbourne. 4: Drogheda Utd, Dundalk, Galway Utd*, Longford Town, Sligo Rovers, UCD. 3: Bray Wanderers, Monaghan Utd*, Waterford Utd. 2: Finn Harps, Sporting Fingal. 1: Home Farm*, Kildare County*, Kilkenny City* Limerick FC, Wexford Youths. *no longer a league club.

It seems only a matter of time before another Impact Sports client, Chris Forrester of St Pat’s, is picked up, but Collins is not sure as many players will be signed in the years to come.

He explained: “Most of the best players have gone by now and it’s harder because most of the clubs are part-time again so it’s a bigger gamble to sign them.”

Of the 61, 17 are in Britain for the second or third time after rebuilding their career back home.

But Collins said: “If you were a young lad being released by a Premier League club, coming home was an option five or six years ago because the money was good.

“That’s not there now so you’re more likely to go to League One or League Two, where you might still be able to get a contract for £50,000 or £60,000 a year.”

Those who played in the League of Ireland do tend to appreciate their time there. Carl McHugh — in action for Bradford City against Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the League Cup last night — spent the second half of the 2011 season on loan at Dundalk from Reading.

And McHugh said: “Dundalk was a great experience for me. It was probably as happy as I have been in my career because I got a lot of games under my belt.

“You can play all the youth and reserve games you want but it’s not the same as proper man’s football when there are three points at stake. It was a really important part of my education.”

And perhaps Trap should educate himself too.

As well as four senior Northern Ireland internationals, another 14 of the 61 players have been capped by the Republic of Ireland, 12 of them by him.

No league, eh?

gimmick

62. Kevin Long who is at Burnley I think.

Impressive list in fairness.

Paully D

Roy O'Donovan.

Thanks for that OP, I had blanked out every memory of him and come to realise he was a figment of my imagination and no professional player could be that bad, but it has all come flooding back now :mad:

I remember on his debut he had argued with three players within 10 minutes about where he should actually be standing :pac:

applehunter

Paully D wrote: »

Roy O'Donovan.

Thanks for that OP, I had blanked out every memory of him and come to realise he was a figment of my imagination and no professional player could be that bad, but it has all come flooding back now :mad:

I remember on his debut he had argued with three players within 10 minutes about where he should actually be standing :pac:

You have had a lot of players like that as far as I can see.

Zebra3

dreamers75 wrote: »

LOI players to UK

Probably a good few in the Irish League and all players playing for Derry City are playing in the UK.

NIMAN

To be fair to the Trap, it would be hard to cap players while they are playing in the LoI.

Surely it is a different matter when they are employed as full-time professionals by full-time clubs, who have proper training regimes, physios, fitness coaches, nutritionists, coaches etc?

Then they are much better prepared to play at international level.

Don't think that anyone would argue that all the players who left the LoI became better players when they went to being a full-time professional, and hence received the call-ups.

Corholio

NIMAN wrote: »

To be fair to the Trap, it would be hard to cap players while they are playing in the LoI.

Surely it is a different matter when they are employed as full-time professionals by full-time clubs, who have proper training regimes, physios, fitness coaches, nutritionists, coaches etc?

Then they are much better prepared to play at international level.

Don't think that anyone would argue that all the players who left the LoI became better players when they went to being a full-time professional, and hence received the call-ups.

The problem with that is a lot of the players were talked about or actually called into squads by Trap only a few weeks after getting off the magic plane to the UK. But I'm sure they have some sort of super machines there that turn players into full time professionals in a few weeks right?

losthorizon

Paully D wrote: »

Roy O'Donovan.

Thanks for that OP, I had blanked out every memory of him and come to realise he was a figment of my imagination and no professional player could be that bad, but it has all come flooding back now :mad:

I remember on his debut he had argued with three players within 10 minutes about where he should actually be standing :pac:

You must have caught Roy on a bad day because with City he was excellent and would often eclipse Long or Doyle or Even the better O'Flynn who was so much better until he got his injury. He played his best football in Ireland and in Europe.

Strangely enough I firmly believe most of the best LOI players arent picked up and thankfully so.

applehunter

I think Roy is blessed with incredible speed and this separated him from most other players growing up and at Cork City.

What he doesn't have is the overall game to compliment this.

He had a hot scoring streak up front when Doyle moved on and got his big move. He has made a good living in the last 4/5 years but from a footballing perspective its been a bit of nightmare for him I'd say.

O'Flynn pre injury was a superior player for me.