Irish youth team's record

Hairy Homer

Dustaz, you asked about the Irish youth teams and how they did in tournaments over the past few years in a thread that unfortunately got closed because of some idiot swinging his handbag at all and sundry.

In 1997 the Irish under-20 team came third in the World cup for that age group. Damien Duff was the star player. He remains the only one of that team to have made it to full international level. Others who are still playing football include some league of Ireland stalwarts like Glenn Crowe, Trevor Molloy (did he go to Carlisle?) and Dessie Baker.

In the years immediately following, the under 18s won The European Championship and so did the Under 16s. Robbie Keane played for the under 18s when they won theirs.

One victory in the final was against Italy, the other against Germany. Can't remember which. Nor can I remember which one was a penalty shoot out.

Just goes to show that we have the talent. We have the people willing to train and coach them (Brian Kerr was coach of all three teams). But then if they fail to make the grade in England they either give up or come back to the under funded, under supported much derided League of Ireland.

At the risk of repeating myself, (and we know how much the ever erudite WhiteWashMan hates that) if the people of Ireland want to maximise their soccer team's potential then they'll just have to get off their arses, turn off the sky decoders and get out and start getting involved with their local teams.


We don't need a League to rival the Premiership. THat is after all one of Europe's great leagues, up there with Italy, Spain and Germany. But how many other countries have NEVER had a team in the Champions League Group stages?

go on tell me. I know Azerbaijan is one. And Maybe Malta. But other small countries can all manage it. Greece, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic. etc etc

tHE vAGGABOND

apart from that one good bunch of players I bet you would struggle to find another good group of results of Irish under aged teams...

Apart from the group you mention, all I can think of is Niall Quinn's under 21 team beating England 4-1 or something in Cork..

Pigman

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
apart from that one good bunch of players I bet you would struggle to find another good group of results of Irish under aged teams...

Apart from the group you mention, all I can think of is Niall Quinn's under 21 team beating England 4-1 or something in Cork..

Sorry to make you lose your bet vaggabond but Liam Tuohy's underage sides of the early 1980s qualified for 3 European championships and a world cup and in fact only narrowly missed the final of the world cup itself. (arguably as good an achievement as Kerr, if not better)

I agree with Hairy Homer, if we could develop the Eircom league into even one of the top 20 leagues in Europe we would have a platform to develop some of these players who basically get lost in the English system by the time they hit 21.

I would try following Norways model who have proved that a country as small as us can get teams into the latter stages of the Champions League and have players who can be sold more for laughable fees like 50 grand.

Dustaz

Thanks Homer, i just couldnt remember for the life of me the age group of the lads in Malaysia (afair, it was the u-16s who played Italy, went to a shootout i think)
Duff was great in that tournament, i just hope he doesnt suffer the same dip in form that he had after that.

Hairy Homer

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
apart from that one good bunch of players I bet you would struggle to find another good group of results of Irish under aged teams...

They were three distinct groups of players, Vaggabond. The Under 20s achievement came before the Under 16s and Under 18s so they were effectively mutually exclusive anyway.

Like I said, Duff was the only member of the under 20 team to make it to full international status. The England team in that tournament were eliminated out before the Irish. How many of these names do you recognise? They all played in it.

Michael Owen, Danny Murphy, Jamie Carragher, Kieron Dyer, Ronnie Wallwork (Man Utd) Jody Morris (Chelsea) Matthew Upson (Arsenal). Plus a few others whose names are vaguely familiar.

As somebody said, look at what Norway have done. They have a similar population to ours, granted they don't have rugby or GAA. But with a little bit of grass roots support, some investment in coaching and stadium infrastructure (which to be fair seems to be happening) and a little bit of realism in setting goals. (eg appreciate the likes of Tolka Park for what it is and don't expect it to look like Old Trafford) we could build a respectable league here.

Sure, the best will go to England like they always did, and good luck to them. But why do we have to send kids to play for the likes of Huddersfield and Grimsby when they could play for similarly sized clubs here?

Ciaran

There are a number of problems with the Eircom League: money, interest, laziness and the FAI being the main ones.

The lack of money in the game what is really stopping clubs from being more competitive in Europe. Having to sell players for ridiculous prices, I mean £50,000 is pathetic, because the club can't afford to keep them really holds back the league from getting the results it deserves.

The lack of TV and media coverage is another major problem. People don't read about the league and so assume that it's crap. If the league was given a quarter of the coverage that is given to the English league (even games like Southampton-Leicester get more coverage than the whole Eircom League), it would be seen as a viable alternative to sitting in a pub discussing the merits of Gerard Houllier's defensive tactics. Eddie Jordan putting his money into $eltic is a perfect example of this. I'm sure the idea of investing in an Irish club never even occurred to him.

The appalling incompetence of the FAI's handling of the Marney affair last year set the league back a long way from gaining respectability among sports' fans in this country. The sheer stupidity of ignoring an unregistered player for most of the season is unsurpassed. Not only that but after their well researched:rolleyes: move to playing the league in the summer, they have done NOTHING to publicise it. I don't know how many times I have been asked is it this year or next year that summer football starts. It looks as if once again the massive interest in football in Ireland after a good World Cup campaign is going to be wasted and not translated into people going to matches in the Eircom League.

Apologies for the rant but this really does annoy me.

Gink

Reasons are that its similar ot the northern irish league, not full proffessional and all decent irish players are picked up by the english. The sole reason is that english clubs are so much better that nobody will ever bother about the irish clubs. My only suggestion is that some decnt youth infostructure is employed here at home by the fai. We have dione fantastically in youth competitions in the past but all the players were english based...
Ireland must be one of the only sides in the world cup to have no players playing in their home country.....There just isnt the interest with the premiership so handy. In norway it isnt the same, they have to do it for themselves.

Bateman

I'm a great one for going on eL rants, but the main points are simple, and need not be repeated.

The FAI need to set up an academy like Lilishall for VERY talented young Irish footballers. The elitism will always be there, some kids will get to go to train at the best facilities, some won't. But at least the elitism won't be that kids go to England without a Leaving Cert, some cases even a Junior Cert. Less of the child abuse.

Glen Crowe Glen Crowe was always carrying a bit more weight than R Keane at Wolves, but the fact remains that one was given a chance and one wasn't, following a much-publicised change of coaches.

Like Touhy's youth sides, even the senior team came VERY close to qualifying for major tournaments before Charlton's tactics set Irish football back 10 years.

The FAI is incompetent, yes. Will the Marney fiasco ever be truly put to bed? No. The FAI is corrupt, yes. Will kids of 12 changing kits around Ireland move from bunkers to proper dressing rooms? No. Will top FAI personel (see a previous thread explaining "Who are the FAI?") have sparkling new cars next month? Yes. The FAI is poor, YES. Will the FAI have more money due to increased Irish domestic gate receipts this summer, as the Irish people try to help the game? No.

The FAI (not the best examples above!) are incompetent, corrupt, and knacker poor. Guess which one WE can do something about.

Although the reigns of Menton and Hyland have been unmitigated disasters, the top brass FAI are not all corrupt bástards (only most of 'em). Nor are they worth defending (as an organisation). Fúck it, its no use. Come Friday week, the stadia(?) of domestic Irish soccer will be next to empty, while Irish people pour money into the coffers of the English FA, packing out pubs to see a show, not a football game. A television programme, not a trip to a real stadium.

Bateman

Ireland must be one of the only sides in the world cup to have no players playing in their home country

---

Actually, the only one. But no matter how much I argue, I know that Glen Crowe isn't international class. But the thing that bugs me is that neither is David Connolly.

Malaysia time, the players were not all Engish based. Hawkins, Molloy, and Morgan were all at Athlone. Their careers since then have been interesting.

Pigman

Originally posted by Bateman
Ireland must be one of the only sides in the world cup to have no players playing in their home country

---

Actually, the only one. But no matter how much I argue, I know that Glen Crowe isn't international class. But the thing that bugs me is that neither is David Connolly.

Malaysia time, the players were not all Engish based. Hawkins, Molloy, and Morgan were all at Athlone. Their careers since then have been interesting.

In fact, not only were we the only squad to not have a single player from their domestic league but we also had the distinction of being the only squad whose ENTIRE panel was drawn from one single country!

Pigman

Originally posted by Bateman
Ireland must be one of the only sides in the world cup to have no players playing in their home country

---

Actually, the only one. But no matter how much I argue, I know that Glen Crowe isn't international class. But the thing that bugs me is that neither is David Connolly.

Malaysia time, the players were not all Engish based. Hawkins, Molloy, and Morgan were all at Athlone. Their careers since then have been interesting.

In fact, not only were we the only squad to not have a single player from their domestic league but we also had the distinction of being the only squad whose ENTIRE panel was drawn from one single countrys domestic leagues!

Ciaran

Originally posted by Bateman
I know that Glen Crowe isn't international class.

Absolutely but what grates is that unlike other players who weren't international class, he wasn't given a chance to prove himself in a friendly.