In Memoriam

As our followers on social media know, we mark the birthday of every current Irish player with a birthday greeting. There's no hard and fast rule for who is remembered, but in general it's for players currently under contract at an English, Scottish or MLS club. Should the player in question also have earned caps at international level, then they will always receive a greeting, and it includes a graphic with each game they appeared in, including any goals scored, e.g. for Martin Rowland's recent 39th birthday.

Happy birthday Martin Rowlands(5 caps), 39 today! 🎂 #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/2Sn7qnFRAZ

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) February 8, 2018

We've been aware since this feature was first started a few years ago, that eventually we would have to deal with players who had passed away, and have considered the question of how to remember them since then, either on their birthday, or on the anniversary of their death.

With Liam Miller's tragic passing on Friday, only days before what would have been his 37th birthday on Tuesday, we have had to deal with this far earlier than had been anticipated.

With that in mind, we have decided to pay tribute to a former international on significant anniversaries of his death, with the same graphic as his birthday. For now this is after 12 months, 5 years, 10 years, and then every 10 year anniversary following (20 years, 30 years, 40 years, etc).

There is no easy answer to how to remember a player correctly, and we appreciate any feedback you may have on this.

Thank you.