Unbeaten

Yesterday was Alan Quinn's 38th birthday, and as we always do, we posted a list of his Irish caps on twitter and facebook

Happy birthday Alan Quinn(8 caps), 38 today! 🎂 #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/rHO9L9O0fZ

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) June 13, 2017

One of the followers of our facebook page pointed out that the Republic of Ireland team had never lost a game where Alan Quinn played, which led us to wonder if he was the player with the most caps, who never lost a game. It turns out that yes, the midfielder's eight unbeaten caps is higher than any other unbeaten player, including current squad member Harry Arter who is yet to taste defeat after five appearances for the Boys in Green

Player	Caps
Alan Quinn	8
Bernie Slaven	7
Paddy Bradshaw	5
Joey O'Brien	5
Harry Arter	5

Conversely, of the players who lost every game they played,Eamonn 'Chick' Deacy had the worst luck, finishing on the losing side in all four of his caps.

Player	Caps
Eamonn Deacy	4
Paddy O'Kane	3
Jackie O'Driscoll	3
George Moulson	3
Charlie Lennon	3
Alf Rigby	3

2016/17 Irish Abroad Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for the 2016/17 Season

Wins
Aberdeen's extended season, that began on 30th June 2016, means that Adam Rooney and Jonathan Hayes started the most wins in 2016/17. The striker finished on the winning side 32 times, with his midfield compatriot winning 30 of the 44 games when he lined out for the Dons. In England, Ciaran Clark started 25 wins, despite being injured a month before the season ended

Draws
Bradford's on loan midfielder Josh Cullen started 16 draws in League One, one more than Gary Dicker's 15 draws in Scotland for Kilmarnock

Losses
Darren O'Dea started 21 losses in 2016/17, including one final appearance for FC Toronto, only just avoiding relegation with Dundee

Starts/Completed Games
Despite being unavailable for four games in 2016/17, Richard Keogh still managed to start more than any other player, the defender started 48 of the 52 games Derby played across the season and only failed to complete 90 minutes in one of these!

Substitutions/Introductions
Rooney was substituted in 23 of the 43 games he started for Aberdeen, one more than Wes Hoolahan. No other player was substituted more than Liam Kelly's 14 times in 2016/17. Shane Long came off the bench 26 times (13 both home and away) in this past season, Callum O'Dowda(20) and James McClean(21) were the only other players to come off the bench 20 times or more.

Stayed On Bench
Once again, goalkeepers dominate the players who were left on the bench by their managers during the season, with Jack Bonham(43), Aaron McCarey(39) and Shay Given(29) taking the top three places. Of the outfield players, Olamide Shodipo(21) was the only outfield player to be left on the bench for more than 20 games

Goals
Adam Rooney's 20 goals during the season, including five penalties (two more than any other player), was the most goals scored by an Irish player in 2016/17 across the top divisions in England and Scotland. Honourable mentions for James Collins' 22 goals for Crawley, Simon Cox's 16 goals for Southend and Graham Carey's 15 goals from midfield for Plymouth

Discipline
Greg Cunningham was shown 13 yellow cards in his 44 appearances (all starts)

May 2017 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for May 2017

Wins
In the final month of the season, only Adam Rooney started three wins, the only player to start more than two

Draws
Keiren Westwood was the only player to draw more than once in May, and curiously no striker started a draw

Losses
Partick Thistle midfielder Adam Barton finished the season with four losses in May, and no goalkeeper started a loss for the final four weeks of 2016/17

Starts/Completed Games
Joe Shaughnessy, Darren O'Dea, Carl McHugh, John O'Shea, Gary Dicker, Adam Barton, Jonathan Hayes, and Conor Sammon all started four games in May, with O'Shea, O'Dea, Shaughnessy, McHugh, Dicker, Barton, and Sammon going on to complete 90 minutes in each one

Substitutions/Introductions
Marc Wilson was substituted in each of the three games he started in May, while Darron Gibson was introduced in each of the three games he started on the bench in May

Stayed On Bench
Goalkeeping pair Darren Randolph and Aaron McCarey were unused substitutes in three games in May, while Dean Ebbe and Declan Rice was the only outfield player to be left on the bench in more than one game - both players spent two games without seeing a minute of action

Goals
Jonathan Hayes(3) and Wes Hoolahan(2) were the only players to score more than once in May, while Darren O'Dea and Conor Sammon were the only players to score a penalty

Discipline
Marc Wilson was shown three yellow cards in the four games he played in May. No Irish striker or goalkeeper was booked in May 2017

International Report Card

Friday, 2nd June 2017

International Friendly

Mexico 3-1 Republic of Ireland

So it's the first time in 222 games that Ireland haven't had a Dub in the team. And look what happens... #MEXIRL

— Neil O'Riordan (@noriordan) June 2, 2017

Starting Players
Darren Randolph made his 20th appearance for Ireland
Shane Duffy continued his record of only starting games for Ireland in his ninth appearance, his first since November 2016
John Egan and Conor Hourihane both made their second start in their second appearance for Ireland
James McClean made his 50th appearance for Ireland, becoming the second fastest player ever to reach the milestone, and was booked for the first time since March 2016
Callum O'Dowda made his first start for Ireland in what was his fifth appearance
Daryl Horgan made his first start for Ireland in what was also his second appearance for his country
Daryl Murphy's appearance in the starting XI (his 24th cap) was the Newcastle striker's first start since June 2016, and his first appearance since the following September
This was David McGoldrick's sixth cap for Ireland, his first start since May 2016, and his first appearance since November 2016

Substitutes
Congratulations to Kevin Long and Alan Browne on making their first appearances for Ireland!
Eunan O'Kane made his seventh appearance for Ireland
Wes Hoolahan's first appearance since Saturday, 12 November 2016 was his 38th cap for Ireland
Stephen Gleeson made his fourth appearance for Ireland, and scored his first goal for Ireland, ten years after making his debut - only Harry Duggan(10 years) and David O'Leary(14 years) waited longer for their first international strike

Sunday, 4th June 2017

International Friendly

Republic of Ireland 3-1 Uruguay

Starting Players
Darren Randolph made his 21st appearance for Ireland
Cyrus Christie scored his second international goal, almost two years after his first, in his tenth appearance for Ireland

Shane Duffy made his tenth start in his tenth appearance for Ireland
Kevin Long made his first start for Ireland in his second appearance at international level
Stephen Ward made his 42nd appearance for Ireland
Glenn Whelan made his 80th appearance for Ireland
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the first time since October 2016 in his 32nd cap
Harry Arter made his fifth appearance for Ireland in his first appearance since Saturday, 12 November 2016
Jonathan Walters scored his 13th goal for Ireland, his first since August 2016, in his 48th appearance for Ireland

Substitutes
James McClean scored his ninth international goal (his first since November) in his 51st appearance for Ireland
Aiden McGeady made his 89th appearance for Ireland
Daryl Murphy made his 25th appearance for Ireland
Alex Pearce made his ninth appearance for Ireland
Wes Hoolahan made his 39th appearance for Ireland
Keiren Westwood made his 21st appearance for Ireland

50 Cap Club

James McClean's start against Mexico was the Derryman's 50th cap for the Republic of Ireland, the 38th player to pass the milestone for their country.
We've examined the records and come up with some interesting facts about the other members of the list.

First
The first player to earn 50 caps for the Republic of Ireland was John Giles. It took the midfielder more than 17 years to amass the total from his debut against Sweden in 1959, only a few days short of his 19th birthday, until June 1977 away to Bulgaria. Giles also took the longest to earn his caps, although there were fewer international games during his career.

Fastest
Only Glenn Whelan earned his 50 caps in a shorter timespan than McClean. The midfielder's 50th international appearance came 1908 days after being given his debut by Giovanni Trapattoni, narrowly ahead of McClean's half century which came 1920 days after his first appearance by the same manager.

Starts and Introductions
John Giles, Mick Martin, Liam Brady, Packie Bonner, Ray Houghton and Steve Staunton started every one of their first 50 appearances. Shane Long is the only player to have started fewer games than McClean on his way to 50 caps, the striker started 23 and was introduced in 27 games, coincidentally a perfect reflection of McClean's 27 starts and 23 introductions.

Youngest/Oldest
Robbie Keane is the youngest player to reach the landmark. The striker earned his 50th cap against Romania in May 2004, aged 23 years and 10 months. John Giles was the oldest player to earn his caps, at 36 years, 6 months.

Player	First Appearance	50th Appearance	Starts	Intro	Age	Time Taken
John Giles	1 November 1959	1 June 1977	50	0	36 years, 6 months	17 years, 7 months
Paddy Mulligan	4 May 1969	29 October 1979	48	2	34 years, 7 months	10 years, 5 months
Don Givens	27 May 1969	30 April 1980	47	3	30 years, 8 months	10 years, 11 months
Mick Martin	10 October 1971	17 November 1982	50	0	31 years, 4 months	11 years, 1 months
Liam Brady	30 October 1974	26 March 1985	50	0	29 years, 1 months	10 years, 4 months
Frank Stapleton	13 October 1976	25 May 1986	49	1	29 years, 11 months	9 years, 7 months
David O'Leary	8 September 1976	27 May 1990	47	3	32 years, 0 months	13 years, 8 months
Chris Hughton	29 October 1979	2 June 1990	46	4	31 years, 5 months	10 years, 7 months
Kevin Moran	30 April 1980	2 June 1990	48	2	34 years, 1 months	10 years, 1 months
Mick McCarthy	23 May 1984	14 November 1990	49	1	31 years, 9 months	6 years, 5 months
Packie Bonner	24 May 1981	1 June 1991	50	0	31 years, 0 months	10 years, 0 months
Paul McGrath	5 February 1985	25 March 1992	45	5	32 years, 3 months	7 years, 1 months
John Aldridge	26 March 1986	18 November 1992	42	8	34 years, 2 months	6 years, 7 months
Ray Houghton	26 March 1986	28 April 1993	50	0	31 years, 3 months	7 years, 1 months
Ronnie Whelan Jnr	29 April 1981	29 May 1994	38	12	32 years, 8 months	13 years, 1 months
Tony Cascarino	11 September 1985	5 June 1994	28	22	31 years, 9 months	8 years, 8 months
Steve Staunton	19 October 1988	28 June 1994	50	0	25 years, 5 months	5 years, 8 months
Andy Townsend	7 February 1989	7 September 1994	45	5	31 years, 1 months	5 years, 7 months
Niall Quinn	25 May 1986	3 June 1995	37	13	28 years, 7 months	9 years, 0 months
Denis Irwin	12 September 1990	18 November 1998	48	2	33 years, 0 months	8 years, 2 months
Roy Keane	22 May 1991	24 March 2001	49	1	29 years, 6 months	9 years, 10 months
Gary Kelly	23 March 1994	16 June 2002	41	9	28 years, 0 months	8 years, 2 months
Jason McAteer	23 March 1994	21 August 2002	34	16	31 years, 2 months	8 years, 4 months
Gary Breen	29 May 1996	16 October 2002	46	4	28 years, 10 months	6 years, 4 months
Shay Given	27 March 1996	30 April 2003	49	1	26 years, 10 months	7 years, 1 months
Ian Harte	2 June 1996	19 August 2003	44	6	25 years, 11 months	7 years, 2 months
Kenny Cunningham	24 April 1996	6 September 2003	44	6	32 years, 2 months	7 years, 4 months
Kevin Kilbane	6 September 1997	11 October 2003	41	9	26 years, 8 months	6 years, 1 months
Robbie Keane	25 March 1998	27 May 2004	47	3	23 years, 10 months	6 years, 2 months
Damien Duff	25 March 1998	9 February 2005	41	9	25 years, 11 months	6 years, 10 months
Steven Finnan	26 April 2000	17 November 2007	40	10	31 years, 6 months	7 years, 6 months
John O'Shea	15 August 2001	19 November 2008	49	1	27 years, 6 months	7 years, 3 months
Richard Dunne	26 April 2000	1 April 2009	43	7	29 years, 6 months	8 years, 11 months
Aidan McGeady	2 June 2004	10 June 2012	31	19	26 years, 2 months	8 years, 0 months
Kevin Doyle	1 March 2006	18 June 2012	47	3	28 years, 9 months	6 years, 3 months
Glenn Whelan	24 May 2008	14 August 2013	48	2	29 years, 7 months	5 years, 2 months
Shane Long	7 February 2007	14 November 2014	23	27	27 years, 9 months	7 years, 9 months
James McClean	29 February 2012	2 June 2017	27	23	28 years, 1 months	5 years, 3 months