Tuesday, 8 October 2019

Will the real 100th Irish goalscorer in the Premier League please stand up?

In his first Premier League start at the weekend, Aaron Connolly scored twice against Tottenham Hotspur, and was later announced by the Match of the Day twitter account as the 100th Irish player to score in the league since it launched in 1992
But is he? MOTD appear to have taken their lead from the statistics available on premierleague.com. If you open the Player Stats link on the website, and change the filter settings to the following:
  • Filter By Season: "All Seasons"
  • Filter By Nationality: "Ireland"
you'll get a list of 101 Irish players to have scored in the competition, including Connolly, and Conor Hourihane who scored later the same afternoon.

However, here at Irish Abroad, we have a list of 107 players, either born in Ireland, or who have earned FAI caps at senior or underage level, who have scored in England's top division.

So, who are these six players who are not registered as Irish on premierleague.com, and who is the real 100th Irish player to score in the Premier League?

1. Lee Power
The Norwich forward was only 20 when he scored his first goal for Norwich in the Premier League against Crystal Palace in August 1992, and scored five more time for the Canaries in the league in the 1992/93 season. Qualifying to play for the Republic through his Waterford-born grandfather, he played thirteen times for the U21 side, scoring twice, and in a B international against Denmark in 1992, but never earned a senior cap

2. Mike Milligan
Manchester born Milligan appeared for Oldham and Norwich in the Premier League, scoring three times for the Latics in 1992/93, and twice for the Canaries in 1994/95. He represented Ireland at U21, U23, B, and once at senior level when he replaced Denis Irwin against the USA in a friendly in April 1992

3. Andy Turner
Turner set the record as the youngest goalscorer in the Premier League when, at 17 years and 166 days, he scored the first of his three league goals in the 1992/93 season. The record would stand until May 1997 when it was broken by Michael Owen. Turner earned several caps for the Ireland U21 side, but never played at senior international level

4, Jon Goodman
Goodman scored eleven times for Wimbledon in the Premier League across the 1994/95, 1995/96, and 1996/97 seasons. He qualified to play for Ireland after his father, who had been adopted, discovered links to Galway when tracing his heritage. Once it was clarified that this meant Goodman was eligible to play for the Republic, he was called up by Mick McCarthy and made his debut against Wales in 1997. Goodman would go on to earn three more caps for the Boys in Green

5. Liam Daish
Daish made the first of his five appearances for Ireland in February 1992 against Wales while playing for Cambridge in the then-Second Division, now rebranded as the Championship. He appeared in the Premier League for Coventry in 1995/96 and 1996/96, scoring once in both seasons. The move to the Sky Blues resulted in his recall to the Ireland squad, where he earned three caps in 1996

6. Gareth Whalley
Whalley started his career at Crewe, where manager Dario Gradi recommended him to Mick McCarthy during his first tenure as Ireland manager. McCarthy subsequently called the midfielder into several senior squads, but he never earned a senior cap. Following a move to Bradford in 1998, he went on to appear in the Premier League for the Bantams in the 1999/2000 and 2000/01 seasons, scoring once in the former

7. Matthew Rush
Qualifying through his Irish-born mother, Rush was called into the Ireland U21 side in 1991, going on to make four appearances. After returning from a loan during the 1993/94 season, Rush scored his first Premier League goal, and notched two more the following season.

So, taking into account that these Irish players have scored in the Premier League, who was the 100th Irish player to score in the Premier League? It's midfielder Harry Arter, who scored his first Premier League goal in Bournemouth's 3-1 loss to West Ham on Tuesday, 12th January 2016.

Full List of Irish Premier League goalscorers

#Player
1Bernie Slaven
2Eddie McGoldrick
3Denis Irwin
4Ronnie Whelan
5Niall Quinn
6Mike Milligan
7Lee Power
8Alan Kernaghan
9Steve Staunton
10Matthew Rush
11Andy Turner
12Andy Townsend
13Chris Morris
14Kevin Moran
15Ray Houghton
16Roy Keane
17Paul McGrath
18John Sheridan
19Jeff Kenna
20Tony Cascarino
21Liam O'Brien
22Phil Babb
23Terry Phelan
24Jon Goodman
25Liam Daish
26Graham Kavanagh
27Curtis Fleming
28Ian Harte
29Gary Kelly
30Jason McAteer
31Michael Evans
32Lee Carsley
33Damien Duff
34Gary Breen
35Gareth Farrelly
36Clinton Morrison
#Player
37Mark Kinsella
38Rory Delap
39Robbie Keane
40Paul Butler
41Stephen Carr
42Michael Reddy
43Stephen McPhail
44Gareth Whalley
45Andy O'Brien
46Alan Quinn
47Kevin Kilbane
48Dominic Foley
49Matt Holland
50Gary Doherty
51Alan Mahon
52Sean Thornton
53John O'Shea
54Mark Kennedy
55Jonathan Macken
56Jonathan Douglas
57Steve Finnan
58Willo Flood
59Steven Reid
60Stephen Kelly
61Richard Dunne
62Andy Reid
63David Connolly
64Stephen Elliott
65Liam Lawrence
66Daryl Murphy
67Stephen Ireland
68Stephen Quinn
69Shane Long
70Caleb Folan
71Stephen Hunt
72Kevin Doyle
#Player
73Liam Miller
74Anthony Stokes
75Keith Andrews
76Paul McShane
77Glenn Whelan
78Darron Gibson
79Andy Keogh
80James McCarthy
81Jonathan Walters
82Seamus Coleman
83Keith Fahey
84Kevin Foley
85Ciaran Clark
86Marc Wilson
87Stephen Ward
88Leon Best
89Simon Cox
90Conor Sammon
91Wes Hoolahan
92Anthony Pilkington
93James McClean
94Noel Hunt
95Joey O'Brien
96Robbie Brady
97David Meyler
98Damien Delaney
99Aiden McGeady
100Harry Arter
101Jeff Hendrick
102Kevin Long
103Shane Duffy
104Matt Doherty
105Michael Obafemi
106Callum Robinson
107Aaron Connolly
108Conor Hourihane

 

Further reading

Jon Goodman: 'I didn’t have an Irish accent or the heritage the boys had, but I’ve got to say they were very welcoming'
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