I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the end of year friendlies for the Republic of Ireland men's team against Norway and Malta, and the women's friendly against Morocco as their preparation for the World Cup in 2023 begin
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 12th November 2022
Saturday, 12th November 2022
Premier League
Bournemouth 3-0 Everton
After making his senior debut midweek, Tom Cannon came off the bench to make his Premier League debut - the 200th Republic of Ireland Player to appear in the competition! made his first appearance in the competitionChampionship
Hull City 1-2 Reading
Shane Long was named in the starting XI for the first time in ten weeksJeff Hendrick was booked for the first time this season
Preston North End 2-4 Millwall
Dan McNamara assisted a goal for the first time this seasonWigan 2-1 Blackpool
James McClean scored for the first time in three monthsLeague 1
Exeter City 3-2 Peterborough
Jack Taylor started a game for Peterborough for the 100th timeMorecambe 1-1 Portsmouth
Dylan Connolly was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next gameMK Dons 1-3 Derby County
Conor Hourihane assisted a goal for the first time in eleven weeksBurton Albion 3-3 Charlton
Ciaran Gilligan's start was his first appearance in eight weeksShrewsbury Town 0-1 Barnsley
Jordan Shipley was booked for the first time in two monthsLeague 2
Crawley Town 1-0 Barrow
Niall Canavan made his 150th appearance in the competitionScottish Premiership
Kilmarnock 1-0 Hibernian
Alan Power was booked for the first time in ten weeksScottish Championship
Dundee 2-0 Raith Rovers
Ryan Nolan's introduction was his first appearance since Saturday, 1st OctoberSunday, 13th November 2022
Championship
Burnley 3-0 Blackburn Rovers
Josh Cullen's start was his 250th career appearanceWednesday, 9 November 2022
Episode 49 - Gareth Maher, Away Days, and Scoring Goals In The Dark
Myself and Mark Kennedy are joined by Gareth Maher, author of Away Days - Thirty Years of Irish Footballers in the Premier League and Claire Shine's Scoring Goals In the Dark to discuss the history of Irish players in the Premier League, and Claire Shine's recovery from addiction and mental health issues
Tuesday, 8 November 2022
Round Up for weekend of Friday, 4th November 2022
Friday, 4th November 2022
Scottish Premiership
Aberdeen 4-1 Hibernian
Liam Scales assisted a goal for the first time in three monthsFA Cup
Hereford FC 1-3 Portsmouth
Ronan Curtis assisted a goal for the first time since Tuesday, 9th AugustSaturday, 5th November 2022
Premier League
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Brighton and Hove Albion
Connor Ronan came off the bench to make his Premier League debut - the 199th Irish player to appear in the competition, this was the midfielder's first appearance since Saturday, 30th April Everton 0-2 Leicester City
Seamus Coleman was named in the Everton starting XI for the 350th time!Championship
Sheffield United 5-2 Burnley
Enda Stevens assisted a goal for the first time since December 2021 in his first start in three monthsQPR 0-1 West Bromwich Albion
Jayson Molumby's start was his 50th appearance for West Bromwich AlbionRotherham 1-2 Norwich City
Chiedozie Ogbene was booked for the first time this seasonSwansea City 2-2 Wigan
Michael Obafemi's start was his 50th appearance for Swansea CityArmstrong Oko-Flex was named in the Swansea starting XI for the first time, this was his first start since Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Ryan Manning scored his fifth goal for Swansea City
Will Keane scored his 60th goal of his career, this was also his 15th goal in the Championship
Scottish Championship
Ayr 1-1 Greenock Morton
Sean McGinty's start was his 50th appearance for AyrPartick Thistle 2-3 Dundee
Ryan Sweeney scored his fifth goal for DundeeFA Cup
Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Barnsley
Kieran Sadlier started a game for the first time in seven weeksWilliam Hondermarck's introduction was his first appearance since Tuesday, 20 September
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Rochdale
Glenn Whelan's introduciton was his first appearance in a monthWycombe Wanderers 0-2 Walsall
Oisin McEntee made his first appearance for WalsallCrewe Alexandra 1-0 Leyton Orient
Shadrach Ogie was booked for the first time this seasonBarrow 0-1 Mansfield Town
Stephen McLaughlin was named in the Mansfield Town starting XI for the 100th timeChippenham Town 1-0 Lincoln City
Paudie O'Connor was booked for the first time since Tuesday, 13th SeptemberNewport County 2-0 Colchester United
Alan Judge's start was his 50th appearance for Colchester UnitedMK Dons 6-0 Taunton Town
Dawson Devoy scored his first goal for MK DonsSunday, 6th November 2022
FA Cup
Torquay United 2-2 Derby County
Eiran Cashin was sent off for the first time in his careerAustralian A-League
Brisbane Roar 3-1 Sydney
Jay O'Shea assisted a goal for the first time since Wednesday, 31st AugustSwedish Allsvenskan
AIK 0-1 Elfsborg
Zachary Elbouzedi was booked for the first time in four monthsIndian Super League
Mumbai City 2-2 ATK Mohun Bagan
Carl McHugh scored his first goal of the seasonSaturday, 5 November 2022
How Many Caps Does Katie McCabe Have?
With the build up to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the first qualification for the Republic of Ireland Women's team, already in full swing, we have started compiling appearance statistics for the women's team, similar to the data we have published for the men's team, and this has led to something unexpected.
With almost 50 years of games to compile, fact checking can be a little time consuming, so it was decided to focus on a single player from the current squad, before expanding to the rest of the team, and then finally previous squads and games, and current captain Katie McCabe was the obvious choice.
After adding the lineups from McCabe's first cap against Hungary in 2015 until the her most recent cap in the play off against Scotland to the database, it was time to compare that data to an existing, trusted, source.
According to the database, McCabe has made 68 appearances for Ireland. That tallies with her total on wikipedia, and the amount listed on her profile on the FAI's website, so all is correct, right?
Well, maybe. According to this article on fai.ie, the midfielder earned her 50th cap against Belgium in April 2021 - McCabe proud to join WNT 50-cap club - and also includes the list of her appearances up to, and including, that game. There's just one problem - there's 51 games in the list! The list includes a 3-0 friendly loss against the USA Under 23s in January 2016, two days after facing the full USA Women's National team. Games against underage sides were not uncommon for the Women's team in the early 2000s, there were two friendlies against Iceland's U21s and four against Sweden's U21s, and a game against an Arsenal XI in 2008, but the game against the USA was the first against an underage side since facing Sweden's U21s in April 2005.
Training with a twist today as #IRLWNT play #USWNTU23 in a practice match. Good experience for young players! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/outmejIhg9
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) January 25, 2016
What is even stranger is that, according to this report on soccerwire.com - U.S. U-23 WNT downs Ireland 3-0 at National Training Center - McCabe didn't play in that game, she was an unused substitute!
If we take that this game was included in the list by mistake, then it's still valid that McCabe made her 50th appearance against Belgium in April 2014, and currently has 68 caps, right?
Well, maybe. Ireland played two friendlies against Wales in August 2016. Katie McCabe started the first, a 0-0 draw, and came off the bench at half time in the second, going on to score twice in a 2-1 win.
These games, and the two goals, are not included in the list of 50 appearances on fai.ie. The squad announcement itself - Sue Ronan names Wales training camp squad - describes the two games as "challenge matches", i.e. not full internationals, so it's correct that they are not included in the list of 50 caps.
But it looks like they have been included in the list of 68 caps. Since the game against Belgium in April 2021, McCabe has played in a further 16 games. Added to the 50 caps, gives us 66 caps. Do the two appearances against Wales in the challenge games make up the missing two?
If they are counted, then, since they took place before the Belgium game, she actually made her 50th appearance against Germany in December 2020.
Should the two games, including the goals, against Wales be counted in Katie McCabe's international record? If they are now, why were they omitted at the time of the Belgium game?
How many caps does Katie McCabe actually have?
Further reading
Thursday, 3 November 2022
2023 UEFA Women's Under 17 Championship Qualification Group A3
The Republic of Ireland Women's Under 17 team recently competed in the first qualifying round for the 2023 UEFA Women's Under 17 Championship, and topped their group ahead of Finland, Austria, and hosts Northern Ireland. But, due to the results in Group A3, the manner in which it was decided that the Girls in Green finished top of the group needs explanation.
The results in the group were as follows
| Date | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 October 2022 | Republic of Ireland | 0-1 | Austria |
| Finland | 2-0 | Northern Ireland | |
| 24 October 2022 | Finland | 2-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| Austria | 3-0 | Northern Ireland | |
| 27 October 2022 | Austria | 0-1 | Finland |
| Northern Ireland | 0-1 | Republic of Ireland |
These results left the Republic, Finland, and Austria all level on 6 points. So, how were the final positions in the group decided? First, only ties between the three level sides were considered, so the results from games against Northern Ireland were removed.
| Date | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 October 2022 | Republic of Ireland | 0-1 | Austria |
| 24 October 2022 | Finland | 2-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 27 October 2022 | Austria | 0-1 | Finland |
This left all three teams stilll level on three points, with a goal difference of zero. Austria were confirmed as the third ranked side at this stage due to only scoring once in their games against the other two sides, the 1-0 win against Ireland.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Finland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Austria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
This meant that the final deciding factor to order Ireland and Finland was their tie on Monday, 24th October. Since the Irish team beat the Fins 3-2, this meant that the Republic topped the group!
Tuesday, 1 November 2022
Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 29th October 2022
Saturday, 29th October 2022
Premier League
Bournemouth 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Mark Travers' start, his first in two months, was the 60th time he'd been named in the Bournemouth starting XIChampionship
West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Sheffield United
Enda Stevens' introduction was his first appearance in three monthsPreston North End 2-1 Middlesbrough
Congratulations to Alan Browne on reaching 350 appearances for Preston North End🙌 This afternoon, skipper @Alan__Browne is set to become the 16th player to reach 350 appearances for PNE!
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) October 29, 2022
Congratulations, Browney 💙#pnefc pic.twitter.com/XwXfqqQRz3
League 1
Port Vale 1-0 Lincoln City
Sean Roughan was booked for the first time in seven weeksDerby County 4-2 Bristol Rovers
Both James Collins and David McGoldrick scored their fifth goal for Derby County - McGoldrick's goal was the final goal of the first hat trick of his careerConor Hourihane was booked for the fifth time this season, six weeks after his previous booking, and is suspended for the next game
League 2
Stockport County 3-0 Sutton United
James Brown was booked for the first time in two months, and assisted a goal for the first time in ten weeksBradford City 1-1 Crawley Town
Mazeed Ogungbo's start was his first appearance in seven weeksWalsall 1-0 Rochdale
Liam Kinsella was named in the Walsall starting XI for the 200th timeScottish Premiership
Hibernian 3-0 St Mirren
Joe Shaughnessy's introduction was his first appearance in a monthSt Johnstone 1-0 Kilmarnock
Graham Carey's start was his first appearance in two monthsAustralian A-League
Brisbane Roar 0-0 Melbourne Victory
Jay O'Shea was booked for the first time this seasonSunday, 30th October 2022
Swedish Allsvenskan
Mjällby 1-2 AIK
Zachary Elbouzedi's was named in the AIK starting XI for the first time in two months
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