Irish Player Appearances in the Premier League 2015/16

Following the final whistle at the postponed game between Manchester United and Bournemouth at Old Trafford, and with it the completion of the Premier League 2015/16 season, we've started to compile the end of season appearance statistics for Irish players for the season, starting with the number of appearances for Irish players in the top division in England.

Player	Starts	Intro	Total
Glenn Whelan	37	0	37
Robbie Brady	34	2	36
James McClean	27	7	34
Damien Delaney	32	0	32
Wes Hoolahan	25	5	30
James McCarthy	29	0	29
John O'Shea	23	5	28
Shane Long	23	5	28
Seamus Coleman	27	1	28
Jonathan Walters	18	9	27
Robert Elliot	21	0	21
Harry Arter	21	0	21
Ciaran Clark	16	2	18
Eunan O'Kane	6	10	16
Stephen Ireland	0	13	13
Darron Gibson	2	5	7
Darren Randolph	6	0	6
Marc Wilson	1	3	4
Kevin Toner	3	1	4
Shay Given	3	0	3
Josh Cullen	0	1	1
Total	354	69	423

Unfortunately, it's bad news for fans of the boys in green, with five less players appearing in Premier League games, and the total appearances down almost 15% from 497 in the 2014/15 season to 423.

Between relegation, transfers, retirements, and Jack Grealish, 12 Irish players from the previous season did not appear in 2015/16, and were replaced by 7 players who didn't appear in the Premier League last season - James McClean, Wes Hoolahan, Harry Arter, Eunan O'Kane, Darren Randolph, Kevin Toner, and Josh Cullen.

Of the players that remained in the Premier League, five had more appearances than in 2014/15 - Robert Elliot, Glenn Whelan, Robbie Brady, Damien Delaney, and James McCarthy - with Newcastle's Player of the Season Robert Elliot taking advantage of the injury crisis at St James' Park  to play 18 more games, before unfortunately getting injured himself on international duty. Eight players played less games - Darron Gibson, Shane Long, Stephen Ireland, Jonathan Walters, Seamus Coleman, Ciaran Clark, John O'Shea, and Marc Wilson - with Wilson's injury hit season meaning he played 23 times less than in 2014/15

Following the relegation of Aston Villa, Newcastle and Norwich, their Irish players Ciaran Clark, Kevin Toner, Robert Elliot, Wes Hoolahan, and Robbie Brady (relegated for the second season in a row!) will all be plying their trade outside the top division next season, with Burnley's Stephen Ward and Kevin Long replacing them. Fellow promoted side Middlesbrough have no Irish players in their squad, while Play Off Finalists Hull City have David Meyler and Brian Lenihan facing off against Sheffield Wednesday's Keiren Westwood and loanee Aiden McGeady, who will be returning to parent club Everton following the end of the season.

One crumb of comfort is that the players who did appear in the Premier League this season played, on average, one game more than those in 2014/15