I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the Republic of Ireland Mens National Team's 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Armenia - did we deserve anything from the defensive performance, or did spending 90 minutes not trying to create a goalscoring opportunity mean Hallgrímsson's side came away from Lisbon with exactly what they deserved? Armenia came to Dublin looking to finally leave Aviva Stadium with three points, but the team seem to have lucked into a new tactic at home - getting an opposition player sent off!
The Mens Under-17 side kicked off their qualification campaign for the 2026 UEFA Under-17 Championship in Austria, facing the hosts, the Faroe Islands, and Kosovo, and came away with a 100% record without conceding a goal - what did we think of the performance of the team under interim coach Paul Osam and can this side emulate the 2025 squad and qualify for the 2026 Under-17 World Cup?
Finally, Carla Ward has named her squad for the Womens' National Team Nations League promotion play off against Belgium. Without their first choice goalkeeper, and following another retirement, can the team win promotion to League A next year, and what bearing does the result of the tie have on qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup?
I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to discuss the upcoming games across all four men's teams age groups.
With the senior team flying out to Lisbon before facing Armenia at home, we ask should revenge be the primary motivation for players, or should the three points on offer be enough to drive them to a positive result?
The U21s have opened their qualifying group with two wins from two games. With England all but certain to top the group, a win in their next qualifier against Slovakia will go a long way to guaranteeing second spot for Jim Crawford's team.
With the U17 team that qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup preparing for their appearance at the finals in a months' time, we look at the current U17 squad ahead of their qualifying round group fixtures against hosts Kosovo, the Faroe Islands, and Austria.
Finally, the U19s face Albania in two friendlies as part of their preparation for their 2026 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifying group in November.
A lot to look forward to in the next few days for fans of Irish football!
It's taken myself, Mark, and Philip this long to calm down enough after the two qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia to be able to record our thoughts on the games. After taking one point from the opening fixtures of the qualifying campaign, is it already over? Did any players come out of the games well? And what affect will our next fixture, the hardest fixture of the qualifiers away against Portugal in Lisbon, have on the home crowd for the return game against Armenia three days later?
I'm joined again by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to discuss the squad selected by Heimir Hallgrímsson to face Hungary and Armenia in the opening two fixtures of the qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. How do we think the team is going to line out in Aviva stadium, and what players in the Hungarian side will Irish fans have to watch out for? Jim Crawford has selected the U21 squad to face Moldova and Andorra. Does opening the campaign for the 2027 UEFA U21 Championship against two minnows give the manager some scope for experimentation in the squad? With senior experience and fresh faces at this level, how do we think the team will do over their opening two fixtures, ahead of their first real challenge against Slovakia in October?
Myself, Mark Kennedy, and Philip Flanagan are back after a summer rest to discuss what fans of Irish football can look forward to in the coming months as the new season kicks off across Europe - what transfers have caught our eye, is there a manager already in trouble, and who will be looking to make an impact for the national side as the qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins?
I'm joined again by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to discuss the final two games of the Republic of Ireland Women's Team's Nations League campaign - with six points on offer from the games against Turkiye and Slovenia, can Carla Ward's team earn promotion to League A, or will we face the play offs in October?
The final two friendlies for the mens team represent the last chance for experimentation by Heimir Hallgrímsson before the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers start in September. With four new faces in the squad, how do we think the team will line out against Senegal and Luxembourg, and what challenges will the two sides pose for the Boys in Green?
Finally, with the group stage draw completed for the Under 17 World Cup being held in November, we take a look at the sides Colin O'Brien's team will face in Qatar and evaluate our chances of progressing into the knock out stages
Note - this episode was recorded before the updated mens squad was announced, so contains some discussion on where we expected Sammie Szmodics to play in the two friendlies
I'm joined again by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to review the Republic of Ireland senior men's team's play off against Bulgaria, we've picked up one bad habit under the new manager, but also seem to know how to recover from it.
With the women's team needing to bounce back from two underwhelming performances, and one particularly bad result, in their opening games of the Nations League, and facing a Greek side looking to get their first points on the board for their campaign, how do we think it'll go over the two games for Carla Ward's side?
Finally, the U19 and U17 qualifying campaigns reached their climaxes, with a disappointing result for the U19s in Germany, but the U17s will play in their first World Cup in Qatar this November. What did we think of the performances from both sides, and who do we think is going to worth looking our for at the end of the year?
(note this was recorded before the women's team's first game against Greece)
In the latest of our series of speaking to fan podcasts from clubs around the world with an Irish player, myself and Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick are delighted to welcome Adam Pace of Brisbane Football Review to the show to discuss the sporting culture in Brisbane, the history of Brisbane Roar, and their current Irish players. We go into the similarities between the A-League and the League of Ireland, and what solutions have been approached by both competitions to resolve the issues that both competitions face.
Following the recent announcement of Heimir Hallgrímsson's first squad of 2025, I noticed that the number of players born after the turn of the millennium in 2000 has risen to 12 - more than half of the 23 players named in the initial squad, with 2003-born Andrew Moran replacing 2000-born Will Smallbone in the build up to the play off against Bulgaria.
That got me thinking - how far are we from the first Irish starting XI populated exclusively with players born after Y2K had stopped being something the world was worried about - and what were the first teams named with players born after the first day of the last few decades?
Starting with the first game where every starting player was born in the 1960s, "the decade of culture and counter culture", (or later) it did not occur until 34 years after 1st January 1960, in a friendly in March 1994 against Russia. This is mainly due to players like David O'Leary(born May 1958), Kevin Moran(b. April 1956), and Paul McGrath(b. December 1959) who were squad mainstays right up until the mid-90's. On that day in 1994, the lineup was made up of Packie Bonner(May 1960), Ronnie Whelan Jnr(September 1961), Tony Cascarino(September 1962), Liam O'Brien(September 1964), Eddie McGoldrick(April 1965), David Kelly(November 1965), Alan McLoughlin(April 1967), Brian Carey(May 1968), Phil Babb(November 1970), Jason McAteer(June 1971), and Gary Kelly(July 1974) - with Babb, Kelly, and McAteer all making their debuts.
Moving on to players born in the 1970s, "the pivot of change", it only took four years to go from a team of sixties-born players to one with players born at least five and a half months after the first moon landing, when Jeff Kenna(August 1970), Kenny Cunningham(June 1971), Mark Kinsella(August 1972), Gary Breen(December 1973), Gary Kelly(July 1974), Lee Carsley(February 1974), Gareth Farrelly(August 1975), Shay Given(April 1976), David Connolly(June 1977), Alan Maybury(August 1978), and Damien Duff(March 1979) took to the pitch against the Czech Republic in March 1998. Duff, Kinsella, and Maybury were all making their international debuts, with Robbie Keane, Rory Delap, and Graham Kavanagh joining them as debutants from the bench.
More than ten years would pass before the first Ireland team of early millennials would take to the pitch, when Limerick's Thomond Park hosted a friendly against South Africa in September 2009. Giovanni Trapattoni named Keith Andrews(September 1980), Liam Lawrence(December 1981), Caleb Folan(October 1982), Stephen Kelly(September 1983), Kevin Doyle(September 1983), Keiren Westwood(October 1984), Sean St Ledger(December 1984), Paul McShane(January 1986), Andy Keogh(May 1986), Darron Gibson(October 1987), and Eddie Nolan(August 1988) in the team that faced the Bafana Bafana, with Lawrence scoring his first goal for the Boys in Green.
Twelve years later, in October 2021, Ireland faced Qatar in a friendly to mark the centenary of the FAI, and Stephen Kenny named the first team with players born after the Cold War. Enda Stevens(July 1990), Conor Hourihane(February 1991), Shane Duffy(January 1992), Matt Doherty(January 1992), John Egan(October 1992), Jeff Hendrick(January 1992), Callum Robinson(February 1995), Jamie McGrath(September 1996), Chiedozie Ogbene(May 1997), Caoimhin Kelleher(November 1998), and Andrew Omobamidele(June 2002), with Robinson marking the occasion with a hat trick.
What does all this point to in regards the first Ireland XI of players born after 19 turned to 20? Personally, I think it'll be within the next two years, possibly in a friendly between qualification campaigns. It's been almost two years since six players born this century - Will Smallbone(February 2000), Michael Obafemi(July 2000), Nathan Collins(April 2001), Jason Knight(February 2001), Gavin Bazunu(February 2002), and Evan Ferguson(October 2004) - lined out against Gibraltar in June 2023, and since then no more than five players have ever been named in a starting XI - v Greece in October 2023 and v Switzerland in March 2024. A reasonably strong team of players born in the early 00s could be named from the recent squad, but would have an average age of around 23 years of age, a little inexperienced in international standards.
I'm joined
again by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The
Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the squad announced by Republic of
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson to face Bulgaria in the 2024/25
UEFA Nations League Relegation Play Off and give our predictions on how
the two legged tie will finish.
Carla Ward's first two games in
charge of the Womens Team ended in a home win and an away loss, but how
did we rate the performance under the new manager, and what do they mean
for the upcoming games against Greece?
Finally, with the U21s due
to play two friendlies in Spain as part of their build up for the 2027
U21 European Championships qualifying campaign, how do we think the
current squad compares to previous U21 sides?
I'm joined again by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to look through the moves for Republic of Ireland players that caught our eye during the January 2025 transfer window, and with Carla Ward's first squad as manager of the Womens' National Team, we preview her first two games against Turkey and Slovenia
I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the highs and lows of Irish international football in 2024, and make some predictions for 2025.
Do you agree with our selection? What do you think will happen in the next 12 months?
Let us know!
