Losses to lower ranked opposition

The 1-0 loss to Luxembourg was a new low for the Republic of Ireland, in more ways than one. Currently ranked 98th in the world by FIFA, Luxembourg are the lowest ranked side to have defeated the Boys in Green in a senior home international.

The first loss to a lower ranked side came less than a year after FIFA introduced the rankings, when Spain, then ranked 14th in the world, won 3-1 at Lansdowne Road against the ninth ranked Irish, in the final home qualifier for the 1994 World Cup in the USA. The build up to the game had focussed on a win for Jack Charlton's team and qualifying for a tournament in front of the home fans for the first time. The team had been on an eight year unbeaten run at Lansdowne Road, having not been beaten at the venue since Charlton's first game in charge against Wales in 1986, but three first half goals - more goals than the team had conceded in the qualifiers until that game - put paid to this record, with Sheridan's goal in the second half the only consolation.

The following two losses to lower ranked sides were by the same scoreline, 59th ranked Czech Republic beat twelfth ranked Ireland in June 1993, and 40th ranked Austria beat tenth ranked Ireland 3-1 in June 1995, the same scoreline the Austrians would beat Ireland by in Vienna three months later.

The loss to the Austrians was the last loss to a lower ranked side in a competitive game until Switzerland, then ranked 55th in the world won 2-1 at Lansdowne Road in October 2002, in a game remembered as the last game of Mick McCarthy's first reign in charge.

The previous loss to the lowest ranked side came in May 2016, when Belarus, then 77th in the world, won 2-1 at Turner's Cross in a warm up game for the 2016 European Championships in France. 

If the UEFA Nations League is counted as a competitive international, then that would mean the Stephen Kenny is the first manager to lose two competitive games to lower ranked sides since Jack Charlton, having already lost 1-0 to 58th ranked Finland in September 2020

Ireland face 58th ranked Qatar tonight in a friendly - will things improve for Stephen Kenny?

Date	Level	Home	Rank	Score	Away	Rank
13-October-1993	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	9	1-3	Spain	14
5-June-1994	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	12	1-3	Czech Republic	59
11-June-1995	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	10	1-3	Austria	40
29-May-1999	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	38	0-1	Northern Ireland	69
16-May-2002	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	15	1-2	Nigeria	27
16-October-2002	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	14	1-2	Switzerland	55
24-May-2006	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	31	0-1	Chile	64
31-May-2016	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	31	1-2	Belarus	77
5-September-2017	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	29	0-1	Serbia	42
6-September-2020	UEFA Nations League	Republic of Ireland	34	0-1	Finland	58
27-March-2021	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	42	0-1	Luxembourg	98

Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 20th March 2021

Saturday, 20th March 2021

Premier League

Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0 Newcastle Utd

Ciaran Clark started a game for the 250th time in his career

Championship

Bristol City 0-2 Rotherham

Callum O'Dowda started a game for the first time since Saturday, 26th December

Millwall 1-0 Middlesbrough

Dan McNamara was booked for the first time in two months in his first start since Tuesday, 2 February

Preston North End 0-1 Luton

Joe Rafferty started a game for Preston for the first start time in six weeks

Swansea 0-1 Cardiff

Conor Hourihane made his 400th career start

League 1

Portsmouth 2-1 Ipswich

Marcus Harness scored his first goal since Saturday, 28 November
Ronan Curtis assisted a goal for the first time in two months
Stephen Ward was named in the Ipswich starting XI for the first time in six weeks

Rochdale 3-3 Peterborough

Jimmy Keohane scored his first goal in eight weeks

League 2

Newport Co. 0-1 Leyton Orient

Conor Wilkinson scored his first goal since Tuesday, 29th December, and was booked for the fifth time

Bolton 2-1 Walsall

Eoin Doyle scored his 15th goal of the season

Cambridge United 1-0 Forest Green

Wes Hoolahan scored his fifth goal of the season, this was the midfielder's first goal since Saturday, 30 January

Harrogate Town 0-1 Morecambe

Simon Power made his tenth start for Harrogate Town

Mansfield Town 2-2 Grimsby

Stephen McLaughlin assisted a goal for the first time since Tuesday, 3 November in what was his 250th appearance in English football

Scottish Premier League

Hamilton Academical 1-1 St Mirren

Conor McCarthy was booked for the fifth time this season. This was his 50th appearance for St Mirren, remarkably starting each one

Kilmarnock 4-1 Motherwell

Alan Power completed an assist for the first time since Wednesday, 12th August

Scottish League Two

Queen's Park 3-0 Stranraer

Luca Connell assisted a goal on his first appearance for loan club Queen's Park. Connell's start was his first appearance since Tuesday, 13th August 2019

FA Cup

Bournemouth 0-3 Southampton

Gavin Kilkenny's introduction was his first appearance since Saturday, 9th January

Sunday, 21st March 2021

Bulgarian Championship

Beroe Stara Zagora 1-0 CSKA Sofia

Graham Carey was named in the CSKA starting XI for the first time since Sunday, 13th December

Round Up for midweek of Tuesday, 16th March 2021

Tuesday, 16th March 2021

Championship

Derby County 2-2 Brentford

Louis Watson started a game for the first time in his career
In the same game, Jason Knight started a game for the 60th time in his career

Middlesbrough 2-0 Preston North End

Alan Browne was sent off for the third time for Preston North End - this was his first red card since Saturday, 21th October 2017

League 1

Oxford United 3-0 Doncaster Rovers

Olamide Shodipo scored his first goal in six weeks

Fleetwood 2-0 Ipswich

Stephen Ward's introduction was his first appearance in five weeks

League 2

Salford City 0-0 Colchester

Richie Towell's introduction was his 50th appearance for Salford City

Crawley 1-1 Walsall

Emmanuel Osadebe scored his first goal for Walsall, this was his first goal since Saturday, 12th October 2019

Port Vale 2-1 Newport Co.

Padraig Amond was named in the Newport starting XI for the 150th time

Mansfield Town 1-1 Carlisle United

Stephen McLaughlin scored his first goal since Sunday, 10th January

Wednesday, 17th March 2021

Championship

Blackburn 0-0 Bristol City

Max O'Leary's start was first appearance since Wednesday, 10th February

League 1

Accrington Stanley 0-2 Sunderland

Aiden McGeady started his 100th game for Sunderland

Report Card for weekend of Friday, 12th March 2021

Friday, 12th March 2021

Premier League

Newcastle Utd 1-1 Aston Villa

Ciaran Clark's start was his 196th appearance in the Premier League, overtaking Dean Kiely as the Irish player with the 29th most appearances in the Premier League

Championship

Blackburn 0-1 Brentford

Darragh Lenihan started a game for the 200th time in his career, coincidentally, this was also his 200th appearance for Blackburn

👏 @darragh_lenihan makes his 200th #Rovers appearance and his 200th club career start tonight!#ROVvBRE 🔵⚪️ https://t.co/jf8yLZff7R pic.twitter.com/b33bL6stch

— Blackburn Rovers (@Rovers) March 12, 2021

League 2

Walsall 0-1 Barrow

Emmanuel Osadebe was booked for the first time since Tuesday, 10th November

Saturday, 13th March 2021

Championship

Luton 0-1 Swansea

Conor Hourihane scored his fifth goal for Swansea

Birmingham City 0-3 Bristol City

In his first appearance since December 26th, Callum O'Dowda scored his first goal of the season

Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Preston North End

Daryl Horgan was shown his first yellow card in two months
Sean Maguire started a game for the first time since Saturday, 16th January

League 1

Bristol Rovers 0-0 AFC Wimbledon

Shane McLoughlin was named in the AFC Wimbledon starting XI for the 50th time

Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Burton Albion

John-Joe O'Toole's introduction was his first appearance since Saturday, 16 January

Ipswich 1-0 Plymouth

In his 20th career start, Troy Parrott scored the first goal of his career

League 2

Carlisle United 3-1 Bradford City

Paudie O'Connor scored his fifth goal for Bradford City, three months after his last goal on Saturday, 12th December

Crawley 1-0 Mansfield Town

Stephen Quinn was booked for the tenth time this season

Exeter 0-1 Cheltenham

Sean Long started his 50th game for Cheltenham

Port Vale 0-1 Bolton

Zachary Elbouzedi's second half introduction was his first appearance since Tuesday, 9 February

Southend United 0-0 Stevenage

Alan McCormack was named in the Southend starting XI for the first time since Saturday, 23 January

Grimsby 0-0 Colchester

James McKeown's start was his first appearance since Saturday, 30 January

Episode 26 - A Serbian Episode

With the qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2022 about to start, I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the players we'd like to see Stephen Kenny call up for the first two qualifiers against Serbia and Luxembourg, and the friendly against Qatar. What difference will new coach Anthony Barry make to the preparations and tactics for the games, and who will play against Wales in the U21s friendly?

Note - this episode was recorded before it was announced that Darren Randolph would not be available for the games in March

Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 6th March 2021

Saturday, 6th March 2021

Championship

Coventry 1-0 Derby County

Jason Knight was booked for the fifth time this season

Millwall 0-2 Blackburn

Dan McNamara's second half introduction was his first appearance in a month

League 1

Sunderland 2-0 Rochdale

The two teams named eight Irish players in their respective starting XIs, the most to start a game in English football since Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday started with nine Irish players in their starting XI

8️⃣ Between them, @SunderlandAFC and @officiallydale are starting eight @FAIreland players - the most to start a game in English football since Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday started nine players in a League Cup game in August 2010#COYBIG #SAFC #RAFC pic.twitter.com/7dckMRg7cP

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) March 6, 2021

League 2

Barrow 2-0 Mansfield Town

Ryan Sweeney was sent off for the second time for Mansfield Town, 18 months after his previous red card in August 2019

Bradford City 1-1 Bolton

Anthony O'Connor completed his first assist since Saturday, 5 September

Colchester 0-2 Newport Co.

Padraig Amond scored his first goal in three months

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 0-0 Hamilton Academical

Tommie Hoban was booked for the first time in a month

Rangers 3-0 St Mirren

Jake Doyle-Hayes was named in a starting XI for the 60th time in his career
Dylan Connolly's start was his 25th appearance in the SPL
Joe Shaughnessy was booked for the fifth time
Jamie McGrath was booked for the first time since Wednesday, 16 December

Scottish Championship

Alloa 1-1 Inverness CT

Daniel Devine was s first booking since Saturday, 19 December 2020(78 days)

Hearts 2-1 Dundee

Aidan White's introduction was his first appearance in a month
Jonathan Afolabi second half introduction was his 25th career appearance

Sunday, 7th March 2021

Premier League

West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Newcastle Utd

Jeff Hendrick's start was his first appearance in a month

Tottenham 4-1 Crystal Palace

Matt Doherty was booked for the fifth time this season, and completed his fifth assist for Tottenham

Australian A-League

Wellington Phoenix 3-0 Perth Glory

Andy Keogh was named in the Perth Glory for the first time in a month

Western United 0-1 Western Sydney Wanderers

Simon Cox was booked for the first time since Wednesday, 30th December

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 2nd March 2021

Tuesday, 2nd March 2021

Championship

Millwall 2-1 Preston North End

Jayson Molumby was booked for the first time in a month

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Luton

James Collins' introduction was his 75th appearance in the competition

League 1

Gillingham 3-2 MK Dons

Thomas O'Connor was named in the Gillingham starting XI for the 50th time
Warren O'Hora scored his first goal for MK Don, 17 months after his last goal, in October 2019

Accrington Stanley 1-2 Ipswich

Seamus Conneely was sent off for the first time since Saturday, 7th September 2019

Hull City 2-0 Rochdale

Conor Shaughnessy was sent off for the first time in his career
Rochdale named six Irish players in their starting XI(Bazunu, McShane, O'Connell, Keohane, Shaughnessy, and Grant) - the first team to do so since Ipswich in March 2010(Delaney, Murphy, Walters, Garvan, Murphy, and O'Connor)

Shrewsbury 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Shane McLoughlin was booked for the fifth time this season

League 2

Bradford City 1-0 Mansfield Town

Niall Canavan made his first assist of the season, a year after his last assist on Tuesday, 3rd March 2020

Australian A-League

Perth Glory 1-2 Central Coast Mariners

Andy Keogh completed an assist for the first time in six weeks

Wednesday, 3rd March 2021

Premier League

Sheffield United 1-0 Aston Villa

David McGoldrick scored his sixth Premier League goal of the season - the first Irish player to score more than five goals in England's top division since Shane Long scored ten in 2015/16

Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United

James McCarthy started his first game in a month

Championship

Stoke City 1-2 Swansea

Ryan Manning was booked for the first time this season

Thursday, 4th March 2021

Premier League

West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Everton

Dara O'Shea was booked for the first time in five weeks

Fulham 0-1 Tottenham

Matt Doherty's start was his 25th appearance for Tottenham

Round Up for weekend of Satuday, 27th February 2021

Saturday, 27th February 2021

Premier League

Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United

Darren Randolph start was his first appearance in seven weeks

West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion

Aaron Connolly made his 25th start for Brighton and Hove Albion's senior team

Championship

Preston North End 3-0 Huddersfield

Greg Cunningham was booked for the first time since Saturday, 3rd October 2020

Rotherham 0-1 Reading

Trevor Clarke came off the bench for his first appearance since Saturday, 9 January

League 1

AFC Wimbledon 0-3 Hull City

Sean McLoughlin's introduction was his first appearance in League One

Fleetwood 1-1 Accrington Stanley

Seamus Conneely's start was his 250th appearance for Accrington Stanley

MK Dons 1-1 Oxford United

Joe Mason's start for MK Dons was his 300th career appearance

Rochdale 0-2 Burton Albion

Eoghan O'Connell made his 150th appearance in British football

Swindon Town 2-1 Northampton Town

Alan Sheehan's start was his 450th career appearance

Alan Sheehan chalked up his 𝟒𝟓𝟎𝐭𝐡 career appearance yesterday!

Congratulations on the milestone, @sheezdogg 👏 pic.twitter.com/WgAixJ7Tnw

— Northampton Town (@ntfc) February 28, 2021

League 2

Mansfield Town 1-0 Morecambe

Ryan Sweeney was booked for the first time in seven weeks

Scunthorpe 0-2 Cheltenham

Mason O'Malley was named in the starting XI for the first time in a month

Southend United 0-0 Salford City

Alan McCormack was shown his first yellow card in six weeks

Walsall 1-2 Bradford City

Callum Cockerill-Mollett started his first game since Saturday, 21st November

Port Vale 0-1 Cambridge United

Wes Hoolahan made his 25th appearance for Cambridge United

Scottish Premier League

Kilmarnock 1-1 Dundee Utd

Mark Connolly was booked for the first time in a month

St Mirren 1-0 Ross County

Jamie McGrath scored his tenth goal for St Mirren

Bulgarian Championship

Ludogorets 1-0 CSKA Sofia

Graham Carey came off the bench for his first appearance since Sunday, 6th December

Sunday, 28th February 2021

Premier League

Sheffield United 0-2 Liverpool

Enda Stevens was named in the Sheffield United starting XI for the 150th time

Championship

Wycombe Wanderers 0-2 Norwich

Adam Idah scored his fifth goal for Norwich, this was his first goal since Saturday, 12 September

Polish Ekstraklasa

Wisła Płock 1-3 Wisła Kraków

Cillian Sheridan's introduction was his first appearance since Monday, 14 December